I'm glad we got him back, I honestly don't think much of our other RBs, but Barner isn't much of a drop off from James. I get the feeling Barnes will be a better NFL back, but I think Barnes really stayed to elevate his stock.
Good interview. Next years team may not have the power at RB, but we'll be as fast as any team in the nation.
huh? They lose LJ but gain Marshall who is bigger and Carson will be a year in... thats plenty of power. As far as team speed goes, they'll be getting big time upgrades over last year at TE and WR. Lyerla is much faster then Paulson and Christian French is even faster then Colt. The speedy Wide Receivers coming off Redshirt years include Tacoi Sumler who is faster then D'AT who (btw) should see his role expand. Lineman on both sides of the ball are better athletes then those who proceeded them. Barner is just relaying the truth here. Prior to this year's Rose Bowl they were rebroadcasting a lot of great Duck games from the past. Watching the Masoli years it struck me how much faster this year's team was across the board both in the pace they played at and individual talent. The fastest team in college football is going to take it to another level STOMP
Power: I'm not concerned with our OL at all, but losing 6'7", 325# Mark Asper (led all OL with a 500 pound squat) and 6'5", 302# Darrion Weems (second best OL bench press) does take away some 'power'.
As guys get older they tend to get stronger. Like Asper before him, Hamani Stevens went off on a Mormon mission so he's an older underclassman. I thought he looked like a pretty awesome roadgrader at OG this year and expect as a 22 year old Sophomore he'll see a lot more action next year. Fisher was great as a top backup, Clanton looked solid... serious depth and all of their guys have at least good listed size. Outside of Carson York's rehab progress, I'm not concerned about the OLine STOMP
more concerned then last off season when you were predicting all sorts of bad snaps and general disarray from the new center? Next season's DLine seems pretty solid to me. They lost 2 guys out of their 8 man rotation and they're adding Ebert, Kamp, and Koa Ka-ai... what exactly are your concerns? STOMP
That's true, I did. And I feel I had good reason to be concerned, thank you very much. As it turns out, he played very well.
The only position that I'm concerned about for next year is the most important one, QB. Yes the two guys in line are probably better run jump athletes then DT, but I really valued his cool head and willingness to stand tall in the pocket and deliver even when guys were about to crush him. If whoever wins the job demonstrates that ability as well as an accurate arm, next year's club should be elite STOMP
Stomp, was it just me, or did DT really not improve much between his sophomore and junior season? I felt his passing wasn't really improved and while he ran effectively, he could had ran more. All that to say, I had no reason to think he'd improve much for his senior season. All THAT to say our first 4 games against patsies will give the new QB plenty of time to acclimate.
You don't have to be a good pocket passer to run the ducks offense. You need to be able to make quick reads and keep up with the pace, but DT really only threw to wide open players. It's a good offense for QBs who are great athletes but only have so-so QB skills. I would be very suprised if Darron Thomas even get's drafted. That guy ain't gonna do shit in the NFL, and most likely will not even make a team's roster.
just as the meat of the schedule came he was sidetracked by the leg injuries. He missed a couple and was noticeably slowed from that point on, yet statistically he was a little bit better then 2010 despite also being shorthanded at receiver. His 1st year starting he showed he was a good QB, his 2nd year he showed he was a solid playmaker even with some of his athletic gifts taken away. Probably benefiting from some rest, I thought he was great in the Rose Bowl. STOMP
I think this is how Oregon ran the offense because it's what they had at QB. If/when they get a player who's a great passer, I think we'll see more passes. Thomas excelled at doing some things, but throwing the ball was not one of them. I agree that he's not really much of an NFL prospect. Ed O.
