Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Since this class has pretty much wrapped up the way we thought and we are all excited to get the players we got, I would like to ask a question or two.

Please do not answer if you know little or nothing about the players (like me) and/or have only green tinted sunglasses in your glove box and can do little more than tell me to take a hike because I am not a real "Duck fan".

Also, YES, I know the coaches know what they are doing.
The stars do not mean anything.
Every 2* we got should have been a 4 or 5*.
Igor Oshansky was a 1* and Chung was a 2*.
yada yada yada.

Question #1. In 2007 and 2008 these are some of the linebackers we snagged (along with their national rankings by position:

Terrance Pritchett #2 MLB 2007
Dewitt Stuckey #13 WLB 2008
Malachi Lewis #6 SLB 2007

Why are we so sure that these guys:

Michael Clay #14 WLB
Boseko Lokombo #10 MLB

are saviors? Pritchett was #2 in the freakin country (according to Scout). I would have to think that if he was in this class we would proclaim him the star of the bunch and an impact player next year. Were these guys mismarked, not developed, or are they right on track to live up to their billing?

Question #2. Here are a few of the recent OL recruits:

Darrion Weems OT #25
Charlie Carmichael OG #11
Carson York OT #8

Now we get these guys:

Trevor Fox OG #35 OG
Everett Benyard #32 OT

I am assuming that the guys in the first group are going to start to contribute now that the Kendalls and Ungers are gone. Why the drop off in national profile? BTW, the Phillip to OAC thing REALLY pisses me off. Far worse than losing Kenny's cousin.

Question #3. What is going on with John Boyett? Of all the recruits last season he is the one that really got my attention (well, maybe Hamani too). I have heard and read nothing about him and his progress. Is he going to live up to MY lofty expectations of him?

I look at the LOI lists for school like Stanford and UCLA and have to figure that our days are numbered. SC will always get theirs and ASU is almost impossible to recruit against. Who here would honestly not want to trade classes with at least 4 if not 5 others in the Pac-10 right now.

I know these questions are a bit random and not very well worded, but I hope I can get some informed answers or insights.

Question one: I don't think anyone ever said they were saviors. If they did, then your question is correct (which doesn't make sense, except that number one was really more of an opinion). People are just excited because even though no one likes to admit it, people love stars. And we got three 4* at LB.

Question two: I don't know what you mean exactly. Are you talking about the difference in our OL commits' rankings from last year's? So the guys we got were like ten or twenty spots lower. It doesn't really matter that much. Either the coaches saw something they liked in these guys, or we whiffed on some bigger time guys. Some combination of the two is what likely happened.

Question three: I dunno.

As to the "our days are numbered" comment, no, that's not true. A recruiting class does not and never will equal wins. Oregon State is a great example of this. They get shitty classes annually, and yet almost always compete with us. Notre Dame is another one. They never ever ever get a bad class, and look how good they are. It's easy to tell if you just watch the Ducks for the last few years that we're on the upswing.

I dont think anyone has ever called Clay and Lokombo "saviors". They are nice additions to the defense and add depth to the LB core and special teams. Lewis isnt a LB at Oregon. Stuckey is a Sophmore now and if Clay is RShirted he will be a RS Sophmore during Stuckeys senior year. Thus adding depth, a key part of a succusful program. Pritchet I believe is a SLB now that can be played at the MLB position. Leaving Mathews and Showalter the only MLBs on the roster. Lokombo adds depth and skill for the future and more talent on special teams. Basically the key to success in college football is depth, and we are now starting to buld that at the UofO. With the OLine we have I think 6 seniors this coming year, adding depth is key once again. John Boyett RShirted. Im sure you will see alot of him this spring and fall. He got some praise for his work on the scout team.

High ranking recruiting classes mean nothing if the players arent developed or if the scheme doesnt fit the player. Notre Dame is a perfect example. They've had some of the best recruiting classes the last couple of years and nothing has been produced on the field. Oregon State year after year has low ranking recruiting classes but coaches up the players that they do get and put a good product on the field. Oregon has done much of the same thing. They find those diamond in the rough guys like Olshansky and Chung and help them become they best players than can be. Stars mean nothing.

Tray Dub wrote:Question one: I don't think anyone ever said they were saviors. If they did, then your question is correct (which doesn't make sense, except that number one was really more of an opinion). People are just excited because even though no one likes to admit it, people love stars. And we got three 4* at LB.

I think the excitment that we got three 4*'s is a good point. However the other 3 mentioned were also. Why the emphasis on LB's this year? Are the others not going to be the contributers they were thought to be? What is really interesting is that all of our main LB minutes went to non-4* players.

featherbutt wrote:

Tray Dub wrote:Question one: I don't think anyone ever said they were saviors. If they did, then your question is correct (which doesn't make sense, except that number one was really more of an opinion). People are just excited because even though no one likes to admit it, people love stars. And we got three 4* at LB.

I think the excitment that we got three 4*'s is a good point. However the other 3 mentioned were also. Why the emphasis on LB's this year? Are the others not going to be the contributers they were thought to be? What is really interesting is that all of our main LB minutes went to non-4* players.

Last year we were just as pumped for them. It's just exciting to get new recruits. And Casey Matthews was a 4* star I believe.

Mathews was a 3 star MLB, but Boyd was a 4 star SS coming out of HS. Paysinger was the only 2 start athlete that played lots of minutes, but he wasnt recruited to play LB from the start. A lot of the guys that were young highly rated LB prospects that we got the past couple of years got minutes in clean up games and were key contributors on special teams

Wasn't Pritchett suspended last year?

He left the program to get his life straight.

Linebacker's usually take time to get used to our Defensive schemes. Hence why Matthew's was phased in over Bacon. If you remember his minutes last year he was physically ready to play but often looked confused. I expect it to take some time for the new guys to break in as is usually the case with a lot of our LB recruits.

ARGHimaPirate wrote:He left the program to get his life straight.

Wow, this is something that I hadn't heard yeat. Is Pritchett going to come back or is he going to phase out. I was pumped when we got this guy. I hope he is coming back this year.

I believe he's already back.

snapt wrote:I believe he's already back.

Yes, he is. For those that want more information on Pritchett returning to the team and the reasons for him leaving for a bit, refer to the following Moseley blog entry:

http://blogs.registerguard.com/cms/inde ... -saturday/

featherbutt wrote:I look at the LOI lists for school like Stanford and UCLA and have to figure that our days are numbered. SC will always get theirs and ASU is almost impossible to recruit against. Who here would honestly not want to trade classes with at least 4 if not 5 others in the Pac-10 right now.

You still have to play a football game. Our days are definitely not numbered.

Well your problem is your using Scout.com, Rivals is much more accurate & realistic.