Ward's a cool Bay Area dude--would love see him box like 7-8 years ago. Kovalev is a beast.

ttp://www.espn.com/blog/dan-rafael/post/_/id/16860/ward-opens-training-camp-for-kovalev-showdown

As part of our "5-star Week" we are breaking down each position and taking a look at which guys have panned out the best. Of course, Jonathan Stewart makes the cut and comes in at No. 3.

His section:

Why he’s No. 3: At the time Stewart left Oregon, he was No. 2 in the program’s history in rushing yards. After being a first round NFL Draft pick by the Panthers in 2008, he has carved out a very successful career as a professional. Last year he was an integral part of the Panthers' run to the Super Bowl.

Back when we met him: Stewart was a star in high school and shocked many when he chose the Ducks over USC and Notre Dame. In addition to being a standout running back, he was also an accomplished track athlete. His combination of speed and size are very rare and that’s why he’s been able to translate his success into a long NFL career.

You can read the full article here.

Boise State is the frontrunner but if Oregon offers then the Ducks could take the lead..

https://n.rivals.com/news/four-star-wr-bryan-thompson-has-favorite-after-visit

From CBS Sports

http://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...ing-away-and-needs-to-move-on-from-its-coach/

Front Page on the site.

Corey

I wondered why not Nick at the time as well. Thoughts? 20/20 hindsight thoughts?

http://fishduck.com/2016/10/5-losse...stakes-for-mark-helfrich-and-oregon-football/

For the sake of comparison, thought the more avid Duck fans might want to visit a time when things looked much brighter.

Oregon was #3 in the nation and the WSU defense was ranked as one of the worst in college football.

Also, this game was carried live by OSN and Joe Giansante and Anthony Newman teamed up to bring the action to us Duck fans.

Enjoy.

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Time for him to go out and come back with the football equivalent of DA!

Looks like he is on a different level against decent Oregon competition:

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I had a great interview with Lamar yesterday. This is an .mp3 audio of it.

DSA exclusive: One-on-one with Winston

If you look at the replays the left guard is consistently out of position or just plain whiffing on blocks. Repeatedly. Big kid and I guess at times he pancakes his guy...if he can hit him...but if he causes so many negative plays why have we not seen Brenner?

Tom Herman and Jon Gruden are pipe dreams.

I say PJ Fleck

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/goducks?source=feed_text&story_id=922498411189162

I know I am out on an island here but as much as I understand it's for the players and recruits I can't help but wonder if all this "new", "cool" stuff has gotten out of balance. It sometimes seems like it is the most important identity and I guess tough, hard nosed, disciplined as well as creative football would be my choice for what we are known for.

Thoughts?

We are swimming in Trey Lowe's for 2018. Scott caught up with the one from Tennessee.

Lowe plans Oregon visit

Quick and easy poll. What say you DSA members? Should Helfy be swept aside after the season... making way for a new coach, and possibly entirely new defensive staff, to emerge?

Thank you Brandon for the post on DB recruiting. It gave good info (I love those kinds of posts). Unfortunately, it also started me thinking (visualize my wife shaking her head as she quickly leaves the room).

I looked at our defense. I looked at our commit list. I thought.....

...and, when I woke up, I figured I'd share what I think we still need in this class (defense only).

DBs: Our staff is doing a REAL good job with Lenoir, Redd & Douglas already committed. If we can add even one of Graham, Gates or Molden, we'll be sitting in REAL good shape at CB this cycle. I'm not as worried about safety with Schooler, Oliver, Leiato, McGraw and Breeze still being young.

DL: We have several big bodies on the roster already and we seem to have the makings of a couple of good pass rush specialists at the DEs. What we don't seem to have is many big guys who can set the edge against the run and contain while collapsing the pocket. Right now, Jelks is the only guy who fits that description at WDE. Kampmoyer and Cumberlander might by next year (Cumberlander - to me - seems to be emerging as the heir apparent to Mondeaux's SDE spot) and Young (if he can add 10-20 lbs) could be a beast-mode WDE, too (VERY impressed with him so far). SO...we need at least one big (265+), strong, fast monster to force running plays back inside while pressuring the QB when he drops back. Those aren't real common (I realize that), but, to work well, the 4-3 needs them and we need them this cycle so they'll be available before Mondeaux graduates.

OLB: Dye - mentally, emotionally, physically - seems to be the prototype of what our coaches want at OLB (although, I suspect Hoke would like him to be about 230-235). Winston and Briscoe both have similar physical tools, so I'm hoping they can pick up their level of play and move into the rotation later this year. McDowell is small (remember, he came from a JC and was a WR to begin with) but has a huge heart. If he could bulk up without losing speed/quickness, he'd help our depth immensely. Same with Apelu who, in his only PT this year on defense, ended up with 5 total tackles (that's a heckuva first game for a young walkon). He suffered from the injury bug in HS, so he's still kind of learning on the fly here. He, too, needs some extra muscle mass, but I have hopes for him if he can add that. Niu doesn't have the length of some of the others - but he's a flat out player and I'd love to have someone like him introducing RBs to the Autzen turf as an OLB.

ILB: Hotchkins is a good player, but he's having to learn the scheme AND how to play it at this level on the fly, so to speak. We, honestly, don't have much backing him up right now. Simms/Swain would be my choices to get some minutes to see about building a corps at the ILB instead of retooling every year. Right now, Franklin is listed as an ILB but he's not very big and that's a major obstacle for success at that position. I see him moving to OLB before too much longer. Phillips and/or McBride would be immediate (and major) impact players if we get them. We need at least one. If we get neither, we better hope we can find an old-school FB/TE willing to continue knocking heads but from the other side of the LOS. No single position on D can make or break what we're trying to do as much as the MLB. With it - we're golden. Without it - more like tin foil.

So...there is my rationale. That is what leads me to this conclusion:

We need - in addition to what we already have committed for this cycle:

ILB - at least 2 capable of playing at our level (size, speed & instincts)...and I'd prefer not hoping on a position change to fill that slot (TE/FB to MLB, for instance).
DE - at least 2 that are 3-down players, not just pass rushing specialists. (We may need to hit the JCs for at least one of these).

We're (IMO) actually really close to having the right personnel to do a good job with the 4-3....but, close isn't good enough and, until we get those people in place, we're going to be compromising everything we try and that is always a path to frustration.

What do you think now?

As we wait patiently for the 13th straight Oregon victory over the Huskies, I thought that I'd switch to the sport in which Oregon wins national championships.

The new 2016/2017 track roster has been released. There are some big surprises.
On September 30 Oregon's superstar JC sprint LOI signee, Cravon Gillespie announced that he had decided to go pro instead of competing for the Ducks. This is really bad news. Also Oregon horizontal jumpers Nate Moore and Travonn White do not appear on the roster. Moore was ranked #1 in both the triple jump and the long jump in high school. White was the junior college national champion in the long jump....and top ranked in high school. Obviously that is more bad news.

There is some unexpected great news on the roster. 200/400 sprinter Elexus Guster is listed as a senior transfer from Iowa. She was a Big Ten Conference Champion and a second team All American. UO track fans were not expecting this. With the return of Olympic finalist Dejah Stevens, two time NCAA 800 champion, Raevyn Rogers, incoming California 400m high school champion, Hannah Waller, and Georgia State 400m champion Mackenzie Dunmore, the UO women's 4x400 relay team will be in strong contention for a national title!

Perhaps the biggest and most exciting surprise on the men's roster is a junior transfer long jumper, Demarcus Simpson from Chadron State. He has jumped 26'3! This makes him an immediate threat to score at the NCAAs. Demarcus is the NCAA div II national champion in the long jump. He was the Georgia state high school long jump champion as a prep.

The women also picked up a transfer long/triple jump star in Portland State sophmore transfer Chaquinn Cook. Chaquinn placed 3rd in the triple jump at the USATF Junior Championships! She won the Big Sky conference triple jump title as a freshman at PSU.

There are a couple of "near" surprises that actually leaked out a few weeks back. The men are getting Western Kentucky Senior Redshirt 100/200 sprinter Khyree King. He isn't a Cravon Gillespe, but he is a sub 10.3 100m and a sub 20.6 in the 200.

Another recent leak that is on the roster is redshirt senior transfer from Georgetown, distance star and three time All American, Samantha Nadel.

There are other unexpected new names on the roster. Many of them will not be factors in the NCAA Championships. Some might develop and end up becoming factors. I've named the ones that are most likely to have an impact on the program.

Take it from a guy who is a long time devoted Oregon track and Oregon football fan....Oregon football might pay the bills, but Oregon track delivers the thrills!

It's great to be an Oregon track fan!

Near Woodburn, I read. Like 3.0. How's that for some perspective? We're in West Linn on the Hill...Anyone else?. And the dog is barking. Yikes!

http://earthquaketrack.com/p/united-states/oregon/recent

So for this pst weekend I watched the game through SlingTV as they carry the network and I could sign up for free for one week. I have tried the free websites others have posted but the quality and speed were awful. At least with my POS computer.

Sooo...I am debating cancelling the membership BUT if more games this season as well as basketball will be on then I may just keep it until March and then cancel for the summer. It is only $25/month.

So my question is, does anyone have a clue as to how many more games will be on the Pac12 network? How many basketball games do they show?

Thanks!

Plenty of info in today's notes.

Monday notes

The Future: What we have next year (so far re: recruits) & my grades

Offense: B = Solid & Improving - still young but talented
Coaching: Strong but OC playcalling still a questionmark
QB: Herbert, Wilson, Jonsen
RB: TBJ, Benoit, Verdell, Felix
WR: Brown, Ofodile, Mitchell, Wallace, Nelson,
TE: Breeland, Bay, McKitty, Robinson-Carr, McCormick
OL: Hanson, Lemieux, Throckmorton, Aiello, Okun, Poutasi, Forsyth, Crosby (?), Capra, Bathke

Defense: D+ = VERY thin @ LB & needs talent upgrades - DBs strongest unit
Coaching: Avg to well below
DE: Jelks, Kampmoyer, Cumberlander, Young, Hollins, Mondeaux
DT: Manu, Maloata, Kirby, Carlberg, Kaumatule, George, Reitmaier
OLB: Dye, Moi, Winston, Swain, Briscoe, Apelu, Niu
ILB: Hotchkins, Simms, Mattingly
CB: Amadi, Robinson, Lovette, Lenoire, Redd,
S: Schooler, Oliver, Williams, Leiato, Breeze, McGraw

Special Teams:B = Excellent PK, Very good returners, Hopefully upgraded at Punter
Coaching: Above average
PK: Schneider, Emerson, Stack
KO: Emerson, Stack
P: Stack,
KR: TBJ, Redd, Nelson
PR: Redd, Mitchell, Nelson

Let's take roll call:

North:
UW with Peterson, major upgrade.
WSU with Leach, upgrade.
OSU with Anderson, downgrade.
Stanford with Shaw, upgrade.
Cal with Dykes, upgrade.

South:
Utah with Whittingham, upgrade.
Colorado with Mac, major upgrade.
UA with Rich-Rod, minor upgrade...maybe.
ASU with Graham, upgrade.
UCLA with Mora, upgrade.
SC with Helton, pretty much still a mess.

Meanwhile Oregon has gone from CK to Helf.....

This is my opinion (and I may not be alone) but, I think we are in the group with OSU and SC.

Here's hoping the next hire will be more......'inspired'.

Seems like you can still recruit.....

Corey

Welcome Mr. Redd!