Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

I think, without a doubt, we can all agree Marcus is the best Duck football player Oregon has “ever” seen. His importance and contributions to the team through his play and leadership. His off the field actions and his willingness to give back to the fans and oh yea….. Oregon’s first Heisman Trophy.

I am curious to who people think is the second best “ever” is. “Ever” and “goat” are two words the are used out of context and highly based on a persons age. Most of us did not see Norm Van Brocklin play so we can only go off the word of others and stats, but we are confident he was a great one. Nearly all of us saw LMJ play and know how good he was but does that qualify him for best ever when we didn’t watch older players? Also, think about complete college and Pro careers, how they contributed to advancing the Ducks brand. Fouts was not as great as others while a Duck but he is in the NFL Hall of Fame and a long time football media face, he helped the Duck brand. With that said please do not discount pure player athletic ability. DAT was a super star while at Oregon but never really helped the Ducks brand after college, yet imo, he needs to be included in the poll as does Fouts. I am sure I forgot some great RB’s.

I will set up a poll just to see who was second best by percentage, as chosen by the fans here. I hope I don’t miss someone obvious.

Chip Kelly did a lot for the Duck Brand…… not a player

From all accounts, Ngata was an even more dominant player than Mariota, he just doesn't get the same credit because the team didn't experience the same success and he played a position that didn't rack up stats. However, Geoff Schwartz once said that they sat Haloti out of some practices, because they couldn't get good reps in while he was playing, because he'd consistently blow up plays before they could happen. In his first spring game, he had 2 sacks and 2 TFLs in his first 5 plays and was taken out. The guy was an absolute monster and should be an NFL HOF on top of that.

I think technically speaking, both Haloti and Penei would be up there. They were so elite at their respective positions.

I'd argue Penei was the best OT since Orlando Pace.

That said, as far as true impact on the game and being able to take over in a more dominating fashion, I think I would choose LMJ.

Alan wrote:I think, without a doubt, we can all agree Marcus is the best Duck football player Oregon has “ever” seen. His importance and contributions to the team through his play and leadership. His off the field actions and his willingness to give back to the fans and oh yea….. Oregon’s first Heisman Trophy.

I am curious to who people think is the second best “ever” is. “Ever” and “goat” are two words the are used out of context and highly based on a persons age. Most of us did not see Norm Van Brocklin play so we can only go off the word of others and stats, but we are confident he was a great one. Nearly all of us saw LMJ play and know how good he was but does that qualify him for best ever when we didn’t watch older players? Also, think about complete college and Pro careers, how they contributed to advancing the Ducks brand. Fouts was not as great as others while a Duck but he is in the NFL Hall of Fame and a long time football media face, he helped the Duck brand. With that said please do not discount pure player athletic ability. DAT was a super star while at Oregon but never really helped the Ducks brand after college, yet imo, he needs to be included in the poll as does Fouts. I am sure I forgot some great RB’s.

I will set up a poll just to see who was second best by percentage, as chosen by the fans here. I hope I don’t miss someone obvious.

To me this is a strictly what you did in Eugene question (as this is a tangent from Great Offensive Duck) as we have something like the 8th most NFL HOFers and Herbert is on a trajectory to be the Greatest Duck FB player ever when you include College and Pro (though Marcus does have a chance at a revival in Atlanta!). Cliff Harris for example probably has the greatest CB career in Eugene.

So if I'm picking an Oregon Roster after picking Marcus at #1 and I can take any Duck in History to build out a team I think I'd probably go with Haloti and then LMJ.

Hard not to play "woulda-coulda-shoulda."

If Dixon doesn't get hurt, he wins the Heisman and we debate for eternity who was the better Heisman between him and Mariota.

If Herbert had better players around him, the sky's the limit.

lukeyrid13 wrote:I think technically speaking, both Haloti and Penei would be up there. They were so elite at their respective positions.

I'd argue Penei was the best OT since Orlando Pace.

That said, as far as true impact on the game and being able to take over in a more dominating fashion, I think I would choose LMJ.

It was a Ngata/Sewell/LMJ battle for me. Ngata won.

For me it was clear

1. H. Ngata
2. P. Sewell
3. M. Mariota

You remove the “skill player” stigma it’s simple and clear.

rsbgduck wrote:For me it was clear

1. H. Ngata
2. P. Sewell
3. M. Mariota

You remove the “skill player” stigma it’s simple and clear.

Matt Mariota 3rd? That's a bold take.

Why is Ngata getting so many votes given the criteria described in the original post?

The obvious answer is Dennis Dixon.

Duck07 wrote:

rsbgduck wrote:For me it was clear

1. H. Ngata
2. P. Sewell
3. M. Mariota

You remove the “skill player” stigma it’s simple and clear.

Matt Mariota 3rd? That's a bold take.

It’s Marcus, it is my opinion and I stand by it.

dd10snoop28 wrote:Why is Ngata getting so many votes given the criteria described in the original post?

The obvious answer is Dennis Dixon.

The criteria is all over the place, so I honestly just went with the best player, which is the subject line. I loved Dixon and I see what you're saying about him helping push the brand forward with the new offense, but in the end, he had 3 mediocre seasons and 1 great one that unfortunately didn't even last the whole season. Based on that, with only a 9 game sample of great play, I couldn't consider him the 2nd best player in Duck history.

dd10snoop28 wrote:Why is Ngata getting so many votes given the criteria described in the original post?

The obvious answer is Dennis Dixon.

For me that 1 great season doesn't overwhelm the previous seasons of underwhelming play.

rsbgduck wrote: It’s Marcus, it is my opinion and I stand by it.

Would you care to elaborate?

Joey Harrington. Started three years, won three bowl games (at a time when bowl game wins were not very common for the Ducks), each a step higher than the last, culminating in the biggest win in program history to date. Not the second best in terms of skill (probably Ngata for me), but in terms of leadership and importance to the program's advancement, I would put him number two, just ahead of LaMichael and Justin.