Best 2-deep since...

[StevensTechU]

There's always a bunch of hyperbole around players and position groups at the beginning of every season, which is great, but is also fan-atical. I wanted to go through a thought experiment of looking at how long its been since we had as good or better 2-deep as what we are expecting from the current 2021 team.

QB: 2020 - With AB still on the roster, the question is whether Shough is better than Butterfield, and if Brown has improved so much in the last year to make up any difference between those two. Overall, I think I have to say Shough/AB is probably better than AB/Butterfield, but at least equal. If not 2020, definitely 2019 when Herbert was the starter and Shough was the backup.

RB: 2020 - Same guys (Verdell and Dye), and there isn't really much reason to believe they'll improve from last year.

OL: 2019 - Even though the names won't change much from last year, those guys were experiencing their first seasons as starters and should be improved this season. The 2019 starters featured 4 guys (Sewell, Hansen, Throckmorton, Lemieux) who now play in the NFL, and featured pretty good other guys in Warmack and Aiello. I like the freshmen better now than I did then, but I'm definitely taking that two-deep over this one if I'm building a team for the upcoming season.

TE: 2018 - This year's two-deep is sort of a question mark with McCormick battling to come back and DJ Johnson not practicing yet for an unspecified reason, so I'm going to pretend one of those two is good to go and Spencer Webb is the second guy. In 2018, we were looking to go into the season with Breeland and McCormick, both guys with fantastic hands and ample blocking. I think this might be the best tight end room overall since Pharoah Brown, Mundt, and Baylis in 2016, but in the two-deep I don't think you have to go back that far.

WR: 2015 - This is one where I'm going to say "even" rather than "better." I love our WR talent right now. In 2015, Oregon had Bralon Addison, Darren Carrington, Byron Marshall, Devon Allen, Dwayne Stanford, Charles Nelson, and Jalen Brown, which is one hell of a bunch. Would you rather have Addison or Pittman? Marshall or Redd? Carrington or JJIII? 2016, when Addison and Marshall moved on but the other guys got a year older and added Dillon Mitchell, wasn't too shabby, either.

DL: 2020 - While optimistic, it's difficult to say this year's group is better than last year's when the main difference is that FatMac and Austin Faoliu have moved on and the rest is the same. That group ended up underwhelming despite Faoilu's and Scott's production in prior years, so this year's group definitely could wind up better than 2020. For what it's worth, I'm counting the "Joker" OLB as DL, otherwise DL would be down and LB would be up just by virtue of Thibodeaux changing groups in the new scheme.

LB: 2020 - This one is tough with Sewell getting a year older, ISM transferring out, and Flowe hopefully staying healthy this year. The linebackers were not a pretty sight last year, with walk-on Nick Wiebe getting a lot of run late in the year and frankly looking better than the scholarship guys. That might be Micah Roth this year (transfer from D-II Azusa Pacific). Fact is, Oregon hasn't had talented, experienced linebackers since Kiko and Michael Clay in 2012. I would bet 2022 might be the best group since that year, but in 2021 these guys are going to take their lumps in all likelihood.

DB: 2020 - With Deommodore moving onto the NFL but the rest of the guys getting a year older, I'm tempted to say this group is "even" with last year. 2019 was definitively better in my mind, with now-NFLers Jevon Holland, Thomas Graham, Brady Breeze and the aforementioned Lenoir covering the field. The 2021 group probably ranks among the lowest overall of any of the last 10-12 years (going back to the DBoyz), only firmly ahead of the last group(s) John Neal ran out before his departure. Since Oregon has routinely turned out NFL talent in the defensive backfield, it's hard to go back very far without finding a better two-deep.

Feel free to drop your agreements and disagreements below.

[lukeyrid13]

RB is also adding in: Cardwell, Benson and Seven. We will have a better RB room this year for sure.

[karlhungis]

RB: 2020 - Same guys (Verdell and Dye), and there isn't really much reason to believe they'll improve from last year.

Seems like there are plenty of reasons to believe they will be better than last year. They are older, more experienced in the system, healthier, coming off a legitimate spring and summer conditioning program....etc.

[StevensTechU]

It seems like every year Verdell starts healthy but is "nicked up" by his 3rd carry. Since he and Dye are both in their 4th years, I don't see a lot of growth left, so I'm saying 'even' with last year. I totally agree on the room as a whole. Subtracting Jayvaun and adding McGee and Cardwell is a huge net positive, but for this, I was focusing on the 2-deep as those are the guys who are going to see the overwhelming amount of the action.

[GrantDuck]

I think AB is going to be significantly better than Shough was at the #1 spot, which(hopefully) we only play 1 QB this year except in blowouts. This to me is the one position where the #1 matters a lot more than the 2 deep, so I think I'd say 2019 hands down instead of 2020.

LBer will be better by the 2nd half of the season hands down.

Secondary could be brutal given suspensions and what we saw in the spring game.

[buckmarkduck]

Sounds like Ty impressed the most of the QBs yesterday. The OL had a hard time vs the DL, which put a lot of pressure on Brown. Hopefully that’s because our DL takes a big jump this year, and not because the OL hasn’t improved from last year.

[StevensTechU]

Yea, boy, what a mixed bag those reviews from the open scrimmage have been. Brown looked pretty crappy. Thompson looked great. Manning looked ok but Bridges looked great. OL got abused by the DL.

I'm going to try to not jump to too many conclusions until we get a bigger sample size.

[buckmarkduck]

From reports, I think this will be our best WR group since 07. The Fr are all looking really good. The forgotten man, Brevard just had 3 TDs last night, and his catch radios is off the charts. Crazy how quickly a real WR coach can turn the group around.

[GoDucksTroll]

Early camp stuff usually favors the defense, so I’m usually not concerned with reports of the offense struggling. I’ve also been beating the “Anthony Brown will surprise people with how good he will be” drum, while keeping the beat on the “Thompson is probably far from ready” drum. I’d love to be wrong, at least in regards to Ty. Good to hear he’s getting run with the second team offense.

Related to the thread - I agree with the WR group looking like the best since 2015. Maybe they’ll be better, but the Carrington/Addison/Nelson/Stanford group was solid even with Marshall and Allen going down with injuries. I think we know what to expect to from Redd and JJIII, it will depend on Devon Williams and Mycah Pittman being what we expect them to be, and then Hutson/Delgado/Franklin/Thornton/Brevard adding that extra punch.

RBs have to be the best since Royce was here, Verdell and Dye haven’t gotten worse (hopefully) and with Cyrus being replaced by anyone who can consistently get positive yards it has to be better.

Everything else - let’s see how they’ve developed.

[duck023]

RB: 2020 - Same guys (Verdell and Dye), and there isn't really much reason to believe they'll improve from last year.

Seems like there are plenty of reasons to believe they will be better than last year. They are older, more experienced in the system, healthier, coming off a legitimate spring and summer conditioning program....etc.

These guys peaked as freshmen although I'd love to be wrong. There was a time when I thought Verdell could be a future Lamichael or Barner but that was a long time ago. I just don't want Verdell to get worse at this point and same with Dye because I could argue that they've been worse then they were as freshman.

[duck023]

I'm not really confident this season. I remember the good ole days in 2010 when I predicted an undefeated season and everyone laughed at me and thought I was a crazy homer but I was right. I'm not predicting an undefeated season but if they can scratch and claw their way to the playoffs I'd be really happy.

[GoDucksTroll]

Interesting stat on RBs: Verdell and Dye have the most combined career rushing yards out of any returning duo in college football.

If I’m not mistaken Verdell entered 2020 with the most 20+ yard runs out of any returning RB.

In 2019 Dye finished 2nd and Verdell 3rd in the conference in yards per carry. Last season Dye was 3rd behind ASU’s Rachaad White (skewed 400 yards total with a 93 yard run and a couple of 50 yarders) and the tragic Ty Jordan.

It’s a shame Sean Dollars is injured but as long as Cardwell/Benson/Seven are better than Cyrus, which I’m certain of, then the RBs should be the best we’ve seen them since 2017 with Freeman/TBJ/Kani Benoit.