2012 College Football Offseason (teams, NCAA, Texas, conference)
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Darron Thomas, 23-3 as the Duck starter, has declared for the NFL draft- rumors were heard early today, but overall shock in Duckland. Frankly, I am not convinced he will even get drafted. His mechanics are terrible and he is slow. However, the kid is a winner. I doubt he would improve all that much this year and he is close to graduating, so I guess he figured he'd go fot it. DT, thanks for the great run.
For those who will say we are done, a little lesson for you. The last time we were left with a Sophmore QB, that kid led us to the National Championship. So let the Bryan Bennett or Marcus Mariota (kid is unreal) era begin!
Mariota has all the tools (very Dennis Dixon like):
Darron Thomas, 23-3 as the Duck starter, has declared for the NFL draft- rumors were heard early today, but overall shock in Duckland. Frankly, I am not convinced he will even get drafted. His mechanics are terrible and he is slow. However, the kid is a winner. I doubt he would improve all that much this year and he is close to graduating, so I guess he figured he'd go fot it. DT, thanks for the great run.
For those who will say we are done, a little lesson for you. The last time we were left with a Sophmore QB, that kid led us to the National Championship. So let the Bryan Bennett or Marcus Mariota (kid is unreal) era begin!
Mariota has all the tools (very Dennis Dixon like):
Cal's recruiting class is starting to fall apart now that X-box Tosh pathetically left town at the las minute. Sounds like Ellis McCarthy is off to UCLA, Arik Armstead will decide tomorrow (but is not going to Cal), and Shaq Thompson is now considering UW. Wow!
I don't think Darron Thomas' departure is going to slow down the Ducks offensive attack one iota, and I agree that he's a bit delusional if he thinks he's going to be ready to be an NFL QB. Nothing against Thomas personally, but I just didn't see 'NFL QB' written all over his jersey when I saw the guy play. I liked watching him and the Ducks, but just don't think he's going to be 'it' in the NFL. RG3, on the other hand...whoa nelly.
Anyway, the Ducks will be fine. The genius of Chip Kelly's offense is the relative simplicity of its play design. Not saying I could run it, but I think that compared to some of the offenses around football these days, it doesn't seem to depend on players memorizing hundreds of complex offensive plays (although I'm sure it's more complex than it looks); it just seems to rely more on flawless execution and giving the quarterback a handful of options which somehow always seem to be available. The cognitive load on the QB is probably moderate but not overwhelming. It just requires that everyone does their part, from blocking to route running and then the QB making good reads and decisions with the ball. Kelly relies more on good running backs who have excellent spatial senses and vision, such as LaMichael James.
That being said, I sometimes wonder if Kelly might one day want to tweak this approach a bit. I think Kelly's short field strategy works great against 9 out of 10 opponents they face, but sooner or later, there's going to be a team that can keep offenses in front of them. In this day and age, the recruiting is too even to load up on the run and short pass. Even with the biggest, most bad-ass offensive lineman, that strategy won't work against everyone.
In another interesting twist, looks like LSU won't get Gunner Kiel after all. Word is that mommy and daddy didn't want Kiel to leave Indiana and all but practically tied him to his bed so he couldn't leave for Baton Rouge a few days ago. He's now expected to make his way to Notre Dame instead.
Tough loss for the Tigers if it holds up. They needed some security at the quarterback position, especially in light of the disastrous play at that spot in the BCS title game against Alabama. Even so, I don't think that's the biggest priority at the moment. It could be if their transfer stud goes down during the season, because the Tigers are not particularly deep at that position. However, they could probably get another good or above average QB and make things work with their strength at tailback -- where they're loaded. I guess it's a difficult defection for symbolic reasons more than anything else. As an LSU fan, I'm concerned that some of the top tier recruits might look at that BCS game and want to be a part of Nick Saban's machine rather than LSU, or some offensive prospects might look at the game and think that there's nothing in that system that would work for them, developmentally.
That aside, I would also like to see the Tigers go out and get bigger, more physical guys on the lines to match the strength of Alabama. As much as LSU fans want to blast Jefferson for his horrendous play and Miles for keeping him in the game, people are blowing that out of proportion. In truth, LSU lost the game to Alabama on the lines, and I don't care if they go out and clone Joe Montana or Andrew Luck. Without line strength, they're not going to have any more success against Alabama or the rising powers of Arkansas and Georgia until they can overwhelm teams on the line. They were good on the lines, but not dominant. The 2007 squad was stronger in that regard, IMO.
People are saying that LSU is the pre-season number 1, but I'm not drinking that kool-aid again. I don't see how Alabama isn't the number one in pre-season next fall. I don't care if they lose Trent Richardson and some guys on defense. Their line strength is till there. They'll miss Kirkpatrick for sure, but I think they'll figure it out over time. Their defense is so good and their so deep that they can regress and still be strong enough to compete with anyone else. I don't see anyone in the SEC that can really be any better than Alabama right now.
If I had to guess, I'd say Alabama will probably end up facing either Oregon or USC in next year's title game. Though still potent, the loss of Thomas means Oregon might be in trouble against a more experienced USC team and, thus, the edge has to go to USC now in the Pac 12. OU, OSU, and Texas will also be in the mix, but I think the Pac 12 and SEC's best are better than the Big 12's best. The Big (10) is gradually making a return to the national stage, too. Michigan is moving forward; Michigan St. is good though probably as good as they're going to get. Wisconsin's hanging. And you know that Urban Meyer's going to turn Ohio St into a national powerhouse in another two years' time.
Last edited by chickenfriedbananas; 01-17-2012 at 12:13 PM..
I'm very pumped for Signing Day. Oregon is bringing in...wait for it...wide receivers! The heavens are shining down and hell has frozen over. Soon, the Ducks may not be known solely for their running game. And, we just may steal a kid from one of those programs who lock up their players early.
Thomas Johnson (#4-8 wr in nation), a UT decommit, is tripping to Eugene and rumors are a whirl that we'll be able to lock him up. We have a nice little pipeline beginning in Texas. Someone has to win with Texas players.
Oregon is pulling in another top 10 class. Wow, lil' ol' Oregon starting to bring in top talent. Must be that gimmick offense and snazzy uniforms.
Now, if we can get a few more DTs.
Somebody better tell TJ to shut up on his Twitter - he tweeted this the day after he visited your Ducks:
Somebody better tell TJ to shut up on his Twitter - he tweeted this the day after he visited your Ducks:
LMAO!
Classic! Actually we give out the money after LOI day. And from what I have heard, he could just be a silent- or he goes to A&M to get smacked around- LOL
Classic! Actually we give out the money after LOI day. And from what I have heard, he could just be a silent- or he goes to A&M to get smacked around- LOL
Still holding out hope for Arik Armstead.
True, he's a punching bag if he goes to A$M.
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