DJ James in the portal

[StevensTechU]

I guess we will mis his experience. But he seemed to be beat or get called for PI a lot this year.

Was the best corner on the team the second half of the year.

[buckmarkduck]

I guess we will mis his experience. But he seemed to be beat or get called for PI a lot this year.

Was the best corner on the team the second half of the year.

Probably. But I felt the CB got asked to do to much because the lack of coverage skills by the LBs and safeties once injuries pilled up. I’m guessing if we get Lanning, he returns. Unless he really just loves Mario.

[alxtw]

It felt like James and Wright made very good plays followed by very bad plays and penalties. The other CBs were just mediocre to bad. CB play in general has regressed the past few years...

[buckmarkduck]

Wish we could get Neal back as DB coach to be honest. I know he’s happy in retirement, but our DB play has regressed without him.

[GrandpaDuck]

Wish we could get Neal back as DB coach to be honest. I know he’s happy in retirement, but our DB play has regressed without him.

He was also the best talent evaluator of DBs regardless of their star ratings.

[mrpd21]

Seemed he was a little stickier than Wright this year. Wright regressed.

This was one of the biggest head scratchers for me, I thought he would be the alpha DB this year.

[GoDucksTroll]

I guess we will mis his experience. But he seemed to be beat or get called for PI a lot this year.

Was the best corner on the team the second half of the year.

Probably. But I felt the CB got asked to do to much because the lack of coverage skills by the LBs and safeties once injuries pilled up. I’m guessing if we get Lanning, he returns. Unless he really just loves Mario.

No matter how much he loves Dan Lanning or anyone Oregon hires I think DJ James is gone, he was removed from the roster before this portal news broke - makes me think it’s beyond help.

I agree with Buckmark for the CB issues/pass defense in general. CBs suffered due to injuries and subpar play at other positions.

Verone McKinley was mostly great - he was a Thorpe Award finalist (our second after Ifo), led the country in interceptions, and is a consensus first team All American. Bennett Williams was great bar times as well until he went down.

But was our pass defense really that bad? Ohio State killed us in yardage, but they did that all year long and our guys made plays when necessary. Fresno, Oregon State, and Wazzu were all good to decent. Stanford at the start and end of the game. But other than that they were pretty good, especially since stopping the run (which we were great at against teams not named Utah, yards per carry was elite - before Utah’s 4.8 in the coaches are gone championship game the best was Cal at 4.8.

My biggest issue with Pac-12 refs, beyond rarely calling holding on the OL, is that everything is DPI. The receiver pushed you down and stomped you, lit your house on fire, slept with your sister, and kicked your dog? That’s a defensive pass interference if you looked at him. West Coast DB recruits have mentioned this, Elias Ricks listed it as a reason for not wanting to play in the Pac-12.

[rockthief]

^^^^that is ace posting right there

[chapelhillduck]

James felt a lot like Troy hill. Talent there, but total lapses sometimes. Was hoping he would pull it all together like Troy did

[Duck07]

Keep in mind that Fowler and Herbstreit we're both closing the P12 refs in the title game going so far as to say certain penalties wouldn't be called in the SEC.

[OregonFan4Life]

Is it possible James was worried Manning might take his starting spot next year?

[OregonFan4Life]

Keep in mind that Fowler and Herbstreit we're both closing the P12 refs in the title game going so far as to say certain penalties wouldn't be called in the SEC.

Herb is my favorite commentator cause of his brutal honesty, he doesn’t hold back to avoid being controversial. He’ll call out FSU for running into the locker room after the Rose Bowl, Mario and Co for not getting Oregon ready/motivated for a PAC-12 championship, and PAC-12 officials.

However despite Herbstreit and others calling out the officials, nothing will happen. Kliavkoff is Larry Scott 2.0 and won’t get anything done. The “alliance” will end up being a mess and something we wished didn’t exist, like the PAC-12 network; and he’ll just coast after that and will collect a free paycheck. Never hire someone who runs a casino unless you want to be taken advantage of financially. The fact that Kliavkoff meets weekly with officials yet does nothing is proof he doesn’t care about the conference.

Unfortunately PAC-12 officials will continue to not know what pass interference is and it’ll be hard for Oregon to pull in quality CB’s.

[thatbpguy]

I guess we will mis his experience. But he seemed to be beat or get called for PI a lot this year.

Was the best corner on the team the second half of the year.

Probably. But I felt the CB got asked to do to much because the lack of coverage skills by the LBs and safeties once injuries pilled up. I’m guessing if we get Lanning, he returns. Unless he really just loves Mario.

No matter how much he loves Dan Lanning or anyone Oregon hires I think DJ James is gone, he was removed from the roster before this portal news broke - makes me think it’s beyond help.

I agree with Buckmark for the CB issues/pass defense in general. CBs suffered due to injuries and subpar play at other positions.

Verone McKinley was mostly great - he was a Thorpe Award finalist (our second after Ifo), led the country in interceptions, and is a consensus first team All American. Bennett Williams was great bar times as well until he went down.

But was our pass defense really that bad? Ohio State killed us in yardage, but they did that all year long and our guys made plays when necessary. Fresno, Oregon State, and Wazzu were all good to decent. Stanford at the start and end of the game. But other than that they were pretty good, especially since stopping the run (which we were great at against teams not named Utah, yards per carry was elite - before Utah’s 4.8 in the coaches are gone championship game the best was Cal at 4.8.

My biggest issue with Pac-12 refs, beyond rarely calling holding on the OL, is that everything is DPI. The receiver pushed you down and stomped you, lit your house on fire, slept with your sister, and kicked your dog? That’s a defensive pass interference if you looked at him. West Coast DB recruits have mentioned this, Elias Ricks listed it as a reason for not wanting to play in the Pac-12.

The PAC12 refs are better at letting players play than 3-5 years ago. But still they're too easy to flag. I've always wanted DPI to be a reviewable play.

[StevensTechU]

Is it possible James was worried Manning might take his starting spot next year?

I can't speak for the coaches, but absolutely not. Manning has all kinds of athleticism but is one of the worst cornerbacks to see extensive playing time for the ducks in the last twenty years. Only guys I can think of that were worse were true freshmen.

It felt like James and Wright made very good plays followed by very bad plays and penalties. The other CBs were just mediocre to bad. CB play in general has regressed the past few years...

Yesa, I've been extremely skeptical of Rod Chance. Charles Clark was a very good DB coach, but it's been iffy the last several years. Good news is that there's talent, specifically with Avante Dickerson.

[greenyellow]

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