it's interesting looking at Oregon's list of elite recruits and judging who lived up to that status. Based upon composite rating: 1) Thibedeaux - lived up to rating but an injury and early departure limited his impact 2) Justin Flowe - mostly a bust; was terrible in pass coverage and consistently missed assignments and failed to plug gaps 3) Haloti Ngata - was an absolute monster in the middle (along with Igor Olshansky) 4) Jonathon Stewart - lived up to rating but was somewhat limited by chronic turf toe 5) Noah Sewell - didn't quite live up to rating; bad in pass coverage and missed a lot on gap coverage 6) Cam Colvin - bust 7) DeAnthony Thomas - electrifying his first two seasons; disappointing after Chip left 8) Josh Conerly - starting to live up to rating; rare for an O-lineman to shine as a freshman 9) Arik Armstead - lived up to rating (although he was rated highest as an OT) 10) Canton Kaumatule - total bust; too upright and couldn't stay healthy 11) Thomas Tyner - showed flashes but never ascended to elite as a RB; disappointment 12) Jurrion Dickey - will likely redshirt as a freshman this season; that may or may not mean anything 13) Elijah Rushing - time will tell 14) Lache Seastrunk - complete bust for Oregon; two 1000 yd seasons at Baylor 15) Dontae Manning - high 4 star rating with average 3 star talent; disappointment 16) Royce Freeman - lived up to rating and then some 17) Kingsley Suamataia - bust for Oregon; starter at BYU 18) Ty Thompson - been a disappointment as a QB but is a high quality young man; easy to root for 19) Troy Franklin - probably surpassed his rating 20) Matayo Uiagalelei - starting to show flashes of his rating but good luck spelling his name without a cheat sheet (the first 15 on the list were composite 5-stars; after that, 4-stars) the good thing is even the 'disappointments' like Sewell, Manning, & Tyner contributed. And yes, successful programs consistently bring in top classes because the failure rate is much lower the ratings services do a decent job of evaluating top talent at the high school level, especially when that talent is playing for highly rated HS programs (those services are influenced by the offer lists of players; kind of a chicken/egg thing). Where the composite has a much higher failure rate is in the lower rated players in smaller high schools. They label a lot of 4 and 5 star talent as 3 star. I can go back to 2011 at 247's composite and see how Oregon players were rated 3-star: Marcus Mariota, Jake Fisher, Tyson Coleman, DeForest Buckner, Alex Balducci, Dwayne Stanford, Elijah George, Johnny Mundt, Joe Walker; Jake Pisarcik (2-star), Charles Nelson, Jalon Jelks, Tyrell Crosby, Henry Mondeaux, Justin Hollins, Shane Lemieux, Calvin Thockmorton, Ugo Amadi, Fotu Leiato, Jacob breeland, Gary Baker, Jake Hanson, Gus Cumberlander, Brady Breeze, Justin Herbert, Troy Dye, Jacob Capra, Jaylon Redd, CJ Verdell, Popo Aumavae, Alex Forsythe, Jordon Scott, Johnny Johnson, Verone Mckinley III, Travis Dye, Jamal Hill, Brandon Dorlus, Trikweze Bridges, Bennett Williams, TJ Bass obviously, the list of 'failed' 3 stars would be a lot longer. And if I could still go back to Mike Bellotti years, the number of 2-stars & 3-stars & unrated players that became 4-star and 5-star talent at Oregon would be a lot bigger. For about 10 straight season during the Bellotti years the Ducks ranked #1 in the country at over-achieving their class ratings what is also obvious is that the position(s) with the most variance between rating and college career is along the OLine. Oregon, under Steve Greatwood led the PAC in rushing for something like 11 straight seasons. And they did it by recruiting tall rangy kids on the OLine and building them into all-PAC players as juniors and seniors I think there is a lot of 'tail-wagging-the-dog' going on between schools and rating services. I know Mario Cristobal chased after player based upon their rating, and still does. Of course, these coaches work long hours as it is, it's next to impossible to thoroughly evaluate every player
if there are any old-time Duck fans with a sub to The Athletc, they have a great article about ex-Duck and NFL HOF QB Dan Fouts and Air Coryell https://theathletic.com/5006028/2023/11/03/chargers-dan-fouts-don-coryell/
Two things in sports that don’t make sense to me. QBs getting an INT for a WR popping the ball up. NBA players not getting an assist when they make a pass that leads to free throws.
Nasty weather. I had a feeling the block was offsides just from how quick he got there. But on the bright side, they probably make the kick so we kept 3 points off the board even with the penalty.
You can’t really see the rain in the sideline camera but holy shit you can see it from those other angles.
