Ty Thompson looked OK in his first action against Stony Brook last season. But the next 2 games, against Pac-12 teams and in the spring game this year, he looked terrible. Now, he didn't get a lot of snaps (except in the spring game), so there isn't much live action to make a judgment there were plenty of times last year when Anthony Brown was playing poorly enough to warrant a chaage, but it never happened. Most blamed that on Cristobal, but as Schwartz said, Mario was gone by the Alamo Bowl and the staff didn't want Ty to play. it was pretty much a done deal that when Nix transferred in he was going to be the starter. And contrary to a lot of the chatter, other than one bad interception, I don't think Nix played bad, at all. The Ducks were just outmatched and never started a drive in good field position because the Duck defense was horrible. That's not on Nix I've been told, although it was at the level of rumor and whisper, that when we heard about Duck QB's throwing a lot of interceptions in training camp scrimmages, it was mostly Thompson. That he is still having trouble with reads, progressions, and speed of the game. That doesn't mean he won't put it all together at some point; he has a good arm and decent mobility. But it does sound like he's not ready mentally yet and being in his 2nd season, that's a concern; although it is a new offensive system this year
that doesn't work anymore. Most offenses run some version of spread; and almost all of those have high-tempo packages. Chip was part of that innovation, but it's been copied, over and over, not only in the NCAA but in high schools. Meaning that defenders and defensive coaches are much better prepared for spread and tempo....they've been seeing it for years and it's not zigging when everybody else is zigging instead of zagging. Ironically (and expectedly), the newer version of zigging-while-everybody-else-is-zagging is running power schemes with multiple tight ends. That's how Stanford was effective. But even that is more common now in many fundamental ways, Chip's offense was a tactical gimmick. Teams just couldn't prepare for it in the 3 practices they held in a week between games. But when teams had more time to prepare, like in bowl games, those advantages Oregon had were gone. Chip certainly wasn't a guru in the NFL, and he only has a 19-23 record at UCLA. Things are a lot harder when Mike Bellotti isn't handing him a team with elite talent and depth
Losing the game was not a referendum. The way they played (and it wasn't just Nix) most certainly is. How much evidence do you need that this is not a good team and Nix is not a particularly good QB? Besides, the original question was why the former "5 star prospect" can't get off the bench. Even giving Nix the benefit of every doubt, he is hardly the second coming of MM or Herbert. No coach with half a brain would bury a true talent behind a "meh" QB like Nix. If Nix isn't that great, but is better than Thompson, then Thompson can safely be written off as undeserving of the hype and a flop.
oh please OMG. Was TT (or Butters) going to start his first D1 game on the road vs Georgia? It was to no one's surprise that Bo Nix (a former 5* himself) started this game as he had both D1 experience and time within this offense under Dillingham. If they stick with Nix through meh results as the games progress, that indeed will be an indictment against their other QBs talent as they should be ready by now. STOMP
Fine let him start. We are not disputing that but after we were getting killed we couldn’t at least try the other 5 star kid?
Butterfield was also on the verge of 5* status when he committed to Oregon Spring 2019. He then shut it down and didn't do any camps the summer following his Junior year and slowly slid down in the rankings despite having a great Senior season. If at some point this season they move on from Nix, don't be surprised if it isn't TT who gets the snaps STOMP
Yes, I'm sure a different quarterback was going to make all the difference against that smothering defense. The Ducks were clearly playing Georgia even at the other 10 positions. No, you don't throw the inexperienced youngster out against a national champion after a 3-year SEC starter gets embarrassed. You let the overmatched senior play out the string and start prepping for next week. Nothing good would have come from putting Thompson out there.
Ducks land another stud for the D in 6'4 220 LB Blake Purchase of Colorado https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2023/blake-purchase-270981 STOMP
In Nix's freshman year at Auburn the OC was current Ducks OC Kenny Dillingham... they went 9-4. The next two seasons with different Coordinators they were 12-12 combined or 21-16 overall. During those same 3 years Oregon was 24-9. Obviously from his point of view this offseason, transfering to Oregon was a step up or he wouldn't have made the move. STOMP
obviously, it wasn't a 'step down' in Bo's mind the theory is that players should commit to the school; technically, that's what they do. The reality is that players commit to coaching staffs and develop relationships with individual coaches. Keep in mind thees are 17-22 year old young men. They are looking for mentors. Nix already had a strong relationship with Oregon's OC, Kenny Dillingham. Nix talked about that. And he was obviously comfortable with the offensive scheme Dillingham was set to implement. And, importantly, he had graduated from Auburn (in 3 years). It's entirely possible the UofO has a graduate program Nix wanted personally, I think a lot of the criticism of Nix is bogus. Take away that 2nd interception, and he played a decent game, on the road, against an incredible suffocating defense. He's not a Mariota or a Herbert, few are. But he can play at the level of a Kellen Clemmons or a Darron Thomas. And he's better than Jeremiah Masoli, who himself was a very effective Duck QB. And better than Anthony Brown who had the Ducks in the playoff hunt until the team began to realize Cristobal was going to leave, and then fell apart against Utah
I re-watched the game for this very purpose. He actually had some really nice throws. His 2nd interception was idiotic, no excuse for it, but I have seen much better QBs than Bo do the same. No doubt the Ducks have issues to correct, but I am not that concerned with Bo.
Just to be clear, the original point here was more about TT than Nix. Brown and Nix may be perfectly adequate, average QBs - but TT was supposed to be more than that. If the coaching staff sees him as an inferior option to Nix, that is discouraging. A real blue-chip prospect doesn't get pushed aside by average players.
