Go Ducks! Hopefully this Cardinal team, as struggling as they are, can't keep the Curse of Stanford going.
Baker is a good looking prospect who Oregon is said to be after, but is in the following class of 2024. https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/brandon-baker-275257 The rational I've read on Klemm starting somewhat slow is that he's been in the NFL for the last 5 years and doesn't have the relationships established with the top kids and their families yet. Of course he did land Josh Connerly & Dave Iuli last year but it helped that both of those studs grew up relatively close. He is said to be a very good recruiter though & this year's Line is really showing well which bodes well for his recruiting pitches. I'm reading there are hopes/expectations of getting verbals from both guys who visited this weekend pretty soon STOMP
A surprise visitor for the weekend was Texas verbal and WR speedster Johntay Cook. He's rated a high 4* talent by the services STOMP
Franklin might be their best WR ever... Ferguson might prove to be their best TE as well. Lots of reasons to be optimistic about this season's chances. Thus far, they've fared pretty well with injuries too. STOMP
The health of their o-line is imperative to their success this year. Oh and I love Ferguson. Great blocking TE as well.
Franklin might be the most talented, especially after showing the hands he has so far this season. But hee's got a long ways to go to pass WR's like Sammie Parker, Tony Hartley, Keenan Howry, Demetrius Williams, Jeff Maehl, and Josh Huff. Ferguson has even farther to go than Franklin if he want to pass TE's like Russ Francis, Ed Dickson, Justin Peele, George Wrightster, & Josh Wilcox. Too bad Colt Lyerla was such a lost cause as a person in a somewhat related note, if Oregon can hold onto all of them (it's going to be a challenge), the trio of Dante Moore, Jurrion Dickey, & Dante Dowdell might be the best skill-position trio at QB-WR-RB the Ducks have ever landed in one class. Obviously recruiting rankings can be way off (just compare Marcus Mariota to Ty Thompson), but right now they are highly rated with Dowdell showing a ton of upside while being chased by teams like Alabama and A&M. Don't sleep on Kenyon Sadiq either; he might be a bigger, more physical version of Dickey
I've been a fanatic since I was a Freshman in 1985, so I've seen your everyone on your lists multiple times but Francis. A notable absentee was Dillon Mitchell who was both better and had at least as good of a Duck career as half the WRs you listed. Best is a subjective term but I expect Franklin to go higher in the NFL draft then any of those WRs. Dude is a cut above talent unlike any Duck receiver I've rooted for. He is also the 2nd highest WR recruit they've ever landed to oft injured Cam Colvin. Dickson went 3rd round iIrc. We shall see in a couple years but Ferguson has such length, agility and coordination for a guy his size. Given health, I expect he'll go in the top half of his draft as well. Hell, Moliki, Thornton and Cota are solid talents as well. Downplay whats in front of you all you want, but I'll step out to claim this is at least as good a receiving corps as I've ever seen Oregon feature. STOMP
l in 2001 Oregon had Sammie Parker, Keenan Howry, & Jason Willis at WR; and Justin Pelle & George Wrightster at TE. They also had Maurice Morris and Onterio Smith catching passes from the backfield. The following year they lost Pelle at TE and Morris at RB but stiill had Parker, Howry, & Willis at WR, but added Demetrius Williams; and also added Terrence Whitehead at RB lets see now, I wonder where Parker, Howry, and Williams rank in Oregon's receiving marks: so, on that team, they had guys who rank 1st, 4th, 5th, & 11th in career receptions. They also had a TE who spent 6 seasons in the NFL in 2011, they had De'Anthony Thomas, Lavasier Tuinei, Josh Huff, David Paulson and Colt Lyerla as receivers with LaMichael James and Kenyon Barner catching balls out of the backfield in 2012, they had De'Anthony Thomas, Byron Marshall, Josh Huff, Lyerla, Dwayne Stanford, Bralon Addison, and Keanan Lowe in 2014, (check this out), they had Byron Marshall (74 receptions that year), Dwayne Stanford, Devon Allen, Darren Carrington, Pharoh Brown, Charles Nelson, and Evan Bayless ****************************************** I like the current receiving unit. They are pretty good, although, IMO, there's too big a separation between Franklin and the rest of the WR's but this unit will need to do a lot more this season to come anywhere close to the 2002 or 2014 teams, or even the 2012 or 2001 teams. If Caleb Chapman could get healthy, that would help. But he's a senior, like Cota so they won't be around next season. Franklin should be though along with Thornton and Hutson. And the three sophomore TE's will probably be back. Then there is Jurrion Dickey, Ashton Crozart, and Kenyon Sadiq coming in. So next season's squad might be loaded
Stud Cornerback and LSU verbal Daylen Austin of California tweeted this out following his Stanford game OV... STOMP
Mike Bellotti talked about that. He even said that he, and his staffs, focused on recruiting kids for their NCAA potential and paid little attention to their NFL upside
Franklin has been special. Hutson has potential. Cota could end up being a Kupp type player. This is the best receiver group i can remember. Was too young to remember Bobby Moore as a Duck. But watched Ahmad Rashad as a pro. He's the Gold standard for Duck receivers IMO.
Headed to Tucson this weekend to see my oldest daughter. Ducks just happen to be playing the wildcats this weekend. I think our tickets are around the 40 yard line. First ncaa football game I will have ever gone to. Should be fun, although we are all under strict orders not to wear anything Oregon.
