I am gonna do this as a board post only since I know we already have plenty of content ready for tomorrow.
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH FALO/FALANIKO
- This is the difficult part of taking information from multiple sources and piecing it all together, sometimes people are wrong. What happened with the two players is slightly different so I will start with Falaniko.
- The way I understand it is that USC actually expected a couple of more players, like Aubrey Solomon and Elijah Blades when they told Falaniko he should make sure to have a backup plan. He made the trip to Oregon and really did enjoy himself. Had Aubrey Solomon called USC last night and said he was in, Falaniko would have been out; he did not make that call, and USC was his number one school.
One source had indicated that Lang would be in ahead of Falaniko, so we made our call. That source was wrong, so my thoughts on the topic were also wrong. It sucks. But it happens.
- Falo. What went wrong? An 18 year old kid changed his mind. Sometime early this morning, USC sources still felt he was going to pick Oregon. I reached out to another source to ask about the 'mother preference' and have heard two different stories. In the end, this was never about what mom wanted, it was about perception.
I know that Oregon fans know very well the history of NFL ready tight ends; but most recruits do not really know who the heck Jeff Thomason, Justine Peele, George Wrightser, Tim Day or Donte Rosario are, so it has little effect on their thoughts of tight end development. Was the lack of a tight end coach harmful? Only a very little bit. The coaches were able to relay their ability to hire the best talent and put him in the best position available. In the end, the greater chance at early playing time was not as critical; Josh feels he can compete to start at USC from day one as well. Did it help that he was sick during his visit to Eugene? No. But I don't think that really affected his ultimate decision.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
- Just about everything else. Deommodore Lenoir; Jaylon Redd, George Moore and CJ Verdell were very big keys to this class. Holding onto Redd and Verdell are huge wins for this class. Redd is one of the absolute best athletes in the nation. Verdell is the kind of running back Oregon fans will love; think Maurice Jones-Drew with better speed.
Getting Lenoir back into the fold was also huge. It bumped the ratings, but it also ensured the Ducks had two extremely talented corner backs to go with Billy Gibson and Nick Pickett at safety. The defensive back class Oregon just snared is a special group.
- Defensive line was also a huge win for the Ducks.Rutger Reitmeier is an All-American who could make in impact as a true freshman. Jordon Scott is the kind of nose tackle Duck fans have dreamed of since Haloti left Eugene and Austin Faoliu is a very good prospect.
- Linebackers, despite losses of Artis and Falaniko down the stretch, also had a nice group with Sampson Niu, Isaac Slade-Matautia and Cyrus Habibi-Likio (hybrid). It would have been perfect had they been able to land Artis, but it's tough to win every battle.
- Offense added some nice pieces. The Cody Shear situation was very similar (in reverse) to the Falaniko situation. Coach Cristobal was waiting on decisions from Kirkland and Becton to be made to him before he offered because he knew for sure that Cody would be a Duck within seconds of being offered. He probably could not even finish his sentence before Shear said 'yes.' That moment came last night.
- George Moore is a huge pickup. He might even be as good as early JUCO target Eliot Baker.
- Clearly the wide receiver group added a ton with a guy like Johnson who is a bit bigger bodied, Daewood Davis who has great speed, along with McNeal, Burch, Felix and Judson.
- I get a feeling Braxton Burmeister is going to be a special player.
WHAT'S LEFT? (Hint: TIGHT END)
- I have reached out and contacted several 2017 tight end prospects, both high school and JUCO. There are very few JUCO prospects left who have not already signed with a team. Of the four I reached out to, none had yet heard from Oregon.
- Luke Wilson, from Churchill High School in Eugene did get back to me. There was some contact with the staff about joining as a preferred walk on, but of note, despite offers from Portland State and a late offer from Hawaii, Wilson has yet to sign with anyone. Keep your eyes out for movement on that front over the next few days.
- Also I will be keeping my ears to the ground regarding potential graduate transfers at the position.
- Other positions? I could see Terrance Lang looking at his options now that USC will be asking him to delay his enrollment by a term (at least). Because he has not signed a NLI, he is still able to be recruited by other schools.
I don't think the staff is concerned enough with this position to look for a graduate transfer or late JUCO guy. Not as much need here as at tight end.
Okay, all for now. I really had a blast today (not sure my boss would agree with how I spent my time, LOL!) and am really looking forward to the next 12 months.
Enjoy the rest of your day, I am going to have some wine!
