Siaki Ika leaving LSU, entering transfer portal

[UOducksTK1]

I remember when Oregon was hard after him out of HS

[jimmy12]

He is a monster. I would love to see him as a Duck. I am guessing Utah more likely (especially with limited scholarships)

[Phalanx]

Leaving apparently as a result of LSU's shift from 3-4 to 4-3.

[GoDucksTroll]

If we have the room let’s go get him. I was disappointed in Big Joe for not closing him. Don’t let Utah get him, or in two years we’ll see him become their next great DL.

[Phalanx]

Sounds like he will be a hot commodity across the Pac 12. Are we in the market for an NT? None in this class.

[greenyellow]

Sounds like he will be a hot commodity across the Pac 12. Are we in the market for an NT? None in this class.

He's probably the best option besides JT and Foreman when it comes to a DL.

[StevensTechU]

So the argument for is that Jordon Scott will be moving on after this year, and Popo is as close to a true NT as we have on the rest of the roster. At NT, he'd compete with Kristian Williams and Keyon Ware-Hudson, each of whom is perhaps more in the mold of Austin Faoliu than FatMac.

The argument against is that our DL is big, young, and athletic. Does Ika really make a difference there? Would the scholarship not be better being used on a cornerback, a wide receiver, or an OL if some of the incoming class doesn't pan out?

This feels very much like a luxury pickup. With limited scholarships, do the Ducks have that luxury? I don't know. Could be convinced either way.

[GoDucksTroll]

So the argument for is that Jordon Scott will be moving on after this year, and Popo is as close to a true NT as we have on the rest of the roster. At NT, he'd compete with Kristian Williams and Keyon Ware-Hudson, each of whom is perhaps more in the mold of Austin Faoliu than FatMac.

The argument against is that our DL is big, young, and athletic. Does Ika really make a difference there? Would the scholarship not be better being used on a cornerback, a wide receiver, or an OL if some of the incoming class doesn't pan out?

This feels very much like a luxury pickup. With limited scholarships, do the Ducks have that luxury? I don't know. Could be convinced either way.

My initial thought was a luxury pickup. Then I saw LSU fans lamenting him being gone, and looked up his stats: 13 games with 23 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and 1 sack. Solid rotation player as a true freshman on a more talented team than Oregon against a higher level of competition. You tell Isaah Crocker or Chris Randazzo or someone to medically retire and you take Ika. We have enough WRs and OL in this class. More DBs are good, but can’t pass up a great DT/NT.

[lukeyrid13]

So the argument for is that Jordon Scott will be moving on after this year, and Popo is as close to a true NT as we have on the rest of the roster. At NT, he'd compete with Kristian Williams and Keyon Ware-Hudson, each of whom is perhaps more in the mold of Austin Faoliu than FatMac.

The argument against is that our DL is big, young, and athletic. Does Ika really make a difference there? Would the scholarship not be better being used on a cornerback, a wide receiver, or an OL if some of the incoming class doesn't pan out?

This feels very much like a luxury pickup. With limited scholarships, do the Ducks have that luxury? I don't know. Could be convinced either way.

My initial thought was a luxury pickup. Then I saw LSU fans lamenting him being gone, and looked up his stats: 13 games with 23 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and 1 sack. Solid rotation player as a true freshman on a more talented team than Oregon against a higher level of competition. You tell Isaah Crocker or Chris Randazzo or someone to medically retire and you take Ika. We have enough WRs and OL in this class. More DBs are good, but can’t pass up a great DT/NT.

Frankly, we are going to be push a number of guys out after this season. The issue is not having enough guys to push out, it's that you can only take in 25 incoming recruits in a 12 month cycle. We sit at 23 commits right now so we only have 2 spots for any other recruit or transfer.

[StevensTechU]

Frankly, we are going to be push a number of guys out after this season. The issue is not having enough guys to push out, it's that you can only take in 25 incoming recruits in a 12 month cycle. We sit at 23 commits right now so we only have 2 spots for any other recruit or transfer.

^^Nailed it

[ducks5ever]

Darn, but I think the two positions we lack talent at are DL (specifically the interior) and RB. All the rest of the positions have multiple guys headed to the league (now or in the not too distant future).

[GrantDuck]

Still think there's a large swath of Oregon fans sleeping on Trey Benson's talent level. Him with Seven is going to be absolute dynamite.

I'm less concerned with #'s. Odds are we get at least 1 deccommit. Ika would be a great fit.

[GoDucksTroll]

I agree with LukeyRid on the problem being the 25 counters limit. I read the pertinent part of the NCAA manual, and they closed some of the loopholes starting for last years class, such as backdating enrollees or not counting academic non-qualifiers.

The good news is I understand the rules better and learned some interesting things: for example, you can’t give a walk-on a scholarship until he’s been enrolled for two years or more. To prevent a blue shirt “walk on here and we’ll get you a scholarship ASAP” scenario - but a guy like Devon Williams doesn’t count as a regular walk-on, so not sure what his situation is currently.

Also, if a player leaves voluntarily before the first game and signs papers for that you free up the scholarship.

Those who leave for military service or a religious mission, like Logan Sagapolu, can count towards the class year they signed in or the one they enrolled in - which gives Oregon some flexibility. Luke Hill, who signed an NLI, might not be a counter if his criminal charges render him ineligible. I have no idea on how the NCAA would count that.

You can still count mid year enrollees towards that academic years 25, if you didn’t go over 25, up to 3 per year. That would mean there would still be room in this class, dependent on which academic year the 2018/19/20 newcomers were counted towards.

To sum it up: there’s a chance we can take more than 25 between recruits and transfers but if/how many depends on what happened on assigning academic years and how savvy our staff was.

[jimmy12]

The Ducks are deep in the mix here. If Mario wants Ika, he will be a Duck. He is built like Coach Joe and is a monster. If they take Ika, they will not be able to take Foreman (likely headed to the SEC), Wright (USC because of film school) or Foster (likely OU). In my opinion a bird in hand. Ika body types don't grow on trees. I believe they will take him and set 100% on signing JTT.

I also believe there will be some departures after this season. Randazzo and likely 3-4 others. This will give the Ducks some flexibility in their roster for next season to add transfers.

Can you imagine our DL for the next 2-3 years with Ika and JTT? These are SEC problems....

[lukeyrid13]

The Ducks are deep in the mix here. If Mario wants Ika, he will be a Duck. He is built like Coach Joe and is a monster. If they take Ika, they will not be able to take Foreman (likely headed to the SEC), Wright (USC because of film school) or Foster (likely OU). In my opinion a bird in hand. Ika body types don't grow on trees. I believe they will take him and set 100% on signing JTT.

I also believe there will be some departures after this season. Randazzo and likely 3-4 others. This will give the Ducks some flexibility in their roster for next season to add transfers.

Can you imagine our DL for the next 2-3 years with Ika and JTT? These are SEC problems....

We need to push out 6-7 guys actually. But the writing is on the wall for a number of guys unfortunately