Ward put up lesser numbers on a worse team. Are we assuming that Ward faced better defenses, or simply that Gabriel had better pieces around him?
for sure it's a juggling act clearly though, by far the most important position in college football is QB. A team can't become elite without high quality QB performance. So, it's pretty easy to justify a sizable chunk of the NIL budget going to a proven, quality QB. The other side of that is that NIL and the transfer portal has completely changed how teams, especially good teams, base their decisions on filling their QB units. There will be really good QB's entering the portal every year (and keep in mind there are two portals; one in December and one in the spring). I'm not sure if teams will be patient any more in developing young players that don't perform well, and show a lot, right away. And by perform well, I mean the ability to read defenses, go thru progressions, and minimize mistakes UCLA decided it couldn't afford more than about 3-4 games with Dante Moore as the starter, so they benched him and now Moore is in the portal a program having a 4-year starter at QB, like Justin Herbert, is going to be extremely rare going forward ********************************************************************************* from the Athletic: I'm not sure if the Day 1 numbers + the other 29 days of the portal will track last season. But if there was a 44% increase in day 1 entries, it's notable that over 2100 players entered last year's portal. If it tracks, that could mean nearly 3000 players entering this December....yeeeeesh ************************************************************************************************************** anyway, we know the big NIL bucks are headed to QB's. It would be interesting to know what positions after QB are the best paid: * I'm assuming WR's are a little higher on the food chain than RB's * OT's, especially LT's and maybe C's might be as valuable as WR's. For left-handed QB's (like Dillon Gabriel), RT's might be critical * my guess is that elite edge rushers and CB's might be competing for the 2nd most NIL money. Oregon played it's best this season when Dorlus and Burch were on the edges while Khyree Jackson and Jahlil Florence were healthy at the corners. In the CCG, Burch only played half of the first Q, Florence didn't even travel, and Jackson was hobbled
comparing Gabriel to Ward: Gabriel certainly put up better numbers on much better efficiency: for passing... Ward: Gabriel: and, for rushing.... Ward: Gabriel: ************************************************************************************************ I haven't heard anything from my 'source' about how Oregon views Gabriel vs Ward. I do know that the Duck coaches really liked that Bo Nix played all the snaps he did with a minimum of mistakes. QB mistakes can really kill a team, much like Ward's mistakes against Oregon last season killed the Cougars my hunches: * Oregon has Gabriel as the #1 want; Ward may not even be 2nd or 3rd * Oregon has weighted Gabriel's 4.8 TD/Int ratio vs Ward at 3.0 and found Ward wanting * I think there's some significant hidden meaning in the rushing numbers. Ward has been sacked, a lot. Now, one way to look at it is he had worse OLines and he was trying to make plays. But another way to look at it is that Ward was too slow in completing his reads and ended with indecision, causing many of those sacks. Meanwhile Gabriel moved quicker thru his progressions and was more decisive in either running or throwing the ball away and living to play another down when Ward was on he played at an elite level. When he wasn't he was often awful. And when he went into awful mode it wasn't for 2 or 3 quarters, it was for 2 or 3 or 4 games
Oregon Trikweze Bridges has entered the portal. That's the first significant departure, assuming he does depart
tOSU guys talk about Gabriel & Oregon I think this will take a while and I don't think Oregon is anywhere close to a lock for landing Gabriel
Agree QB will easily be the highest weighted position if you look at dollars spent for only one player on the field. The value of a great starting QB is huge. My question, is how much value does a backup QB have. For example, what would win Oregon more games: A backup QB making $1m - the value is he could come in with less of dip that most backups and might produce into a better QB in the future. An very good starting DL + DB + WR making a combined $1m. I would lean towards option #2 being the better use of resources.
What are the rules for how NIL is gathered? I’d create a ducks website with potential free agents and fans can donate to specific player NIL funds lol
I wonder if Liberty has any good players looking to move up to the power level and will transfer out this month.
Division Street is the one that gets all the big players. Ducks Rising is a separately ran, supplementary NIL that supports football and baseball. The best thing any Duck fan could do is donate to those because they've already got the back-channels dialed in.
I think nil is (on avg) QB DE OT DT C/OL LB CB WR RB Mainly because it’s easier to put a young player in at WR/RB/CB than those other places that really need weight room development. A truly elite, elite level corner or wr is probably above DT. I don’t see them making elite OT or DE money
Only one of them is being pushed off the team. If Gabriel was really that irreplaceable would they have told them this is Jackson Arnold’s team now? Or is Jackson that good?
I agree with the big fellas being in super high demand. That's why Oregon's strategy of hitting the trenches hard out of high school makes a ton of sense to me.
Think the Rob & Phil are pissed or concerned that Lanning has lost all big games to UW, especially with this with so much on the line?
Not really, Lanning is using NIL to fill out the team he inherited, we've yet to see the team he is building. He's recruiting at a higher level than Mario. I think Rob and Phil see a bright future.
