Darron Thomas was a capable leader who won 23 games. He made good decisions and limited his turnovers, distributing the ball effectively to a talented array of offensive weapons. The Ducks won two conference championships with Thomas at the controls, but now he’s gone, and it’s time for new leadership and a new look.
This is Kenjon Barner’s team now, and the mature, well-spoken senior will fly in the lead position for the Ducks, on the field and in front of the microphones. He’s a great fit for the leadership role as a player who’s excelled all three years with touchdowns and big plays, quietly in the background, making the most of his touches and opportunities. He slashes and accelerates into the hole. He’s a burner in the open field. He can make a big catch, and has a knack for the end zone. His presence takes a lot of pressure off a first-year starter at quarterback, whether Bennett or Mariota wins that derby. Kenjon will be the steadying influence and the playmaker, allowing De’Anthony Thomas and the quarterback to shine without the weight of being the man.
Photo right: An in-your-face leader when he needs to be, Kenjon Barner will be the heart of an Oregon offense with multiple playmakers and dimensions in 2012.
But the X factor in Oregon’s attack next year will be an improved passing game. Multiple reports from closed practices reveal clearly that both Bennett and Mariota can spin the rock with a more classic passing delivery, and for the first time in a long while, the Oregon quarterback will enjoy multiple speedy targets with big-play downfield ability, playmakers who can stretch the field in every direction and take advantage of the soft spots in coverage. Suddenly, every bubble screen or five-yard hitch is a potential big play, and Devon Blackmon, B.J. Kelley and Tacoi Sumler can catch the football.
Scott Frost had the three in special session before every Duck home game and at the Rose Bowl, running routes in uniform, working up a sweat before the early, hardcore fans, tutoring them in coverages, reads and patterns, teaching them their breaks and their assignments, always stressing the Oregon receiver mantra, “No block, no rock.”
All three are explosive talents. They were touchdown machines in high school, 20-yard a catch guys who could go up and get the football. Their highlight videos are a fireworks show of wide-open offense and confidence in motion. Before his senior year Sumler was clocked on video running the 40 in 4.24 seconds. That’s insanely fast, faster than DAT fast, and it’s only the beginning of his special ability. Although small at 5-9, Sumler has great timing to the ball and leaps 38-40 inches in the air, regularly coming down with it in traffic. His father is a youth football coach, and it shows in disciplined routes and great habits taking the ball. Sumler understands football and a receiver’s role in the offense, and he’s an elusive weapon in space.
Kelley is a smooth touchdown maker who averaged 23.98 yards a catch his senior year as a prep, amassing 16 touchdowns with 1,223 yards. Highly productive and dangerous after the catch, he had touchdown catches of 90, 80, 71, 70, and 61 yards, the kind of receiver who expects to make big plays. He’s a potential Samie Parker with high school track bests of 21.98 in the 200 meters and 14.71 in the 110 meter high hurdles, to go along with a 4.43 40. At 6-2, 175 (his freshman weight) he has the frame for a big receiver role, and the confidence to excel in it. Rocket80 is an awesome talent, a presence at wideout who’ll make his teammates more effective, especially after a year to mature and get acclimated with four years to play.
Devon Blackmon is such a versatile athlete and leader that he played quarterback for his high school team as a sophomore, making league MVP as a senior at tailback and receiver. He runs the 110 meter highs in 13.9, caught a 58-yard touchdown in the Under Armour All-America game against the best high school players in the country. Talented, talkative and charismatic, Blackmon is a natural leader and a game changer who loves pressure and competition. Lean and athletic at 6-1, 177 (again, his freshman weight) he should be sufficiently recovered from late-season shoulder surgery to take contact in spring practice.
These three, together with the now-veteran Josh Huff, De’Anthony Thomas in one of his Black Mamba-dangerous multiple roles, and returning junior college transfer Rahsaan Vaughn, now with a year to get acclimated and take a bigger role in the rotation. Vaughn, a 1,000-yard receiver at College of San Mateo before coming to the Ducks, never got going in his junior year. He made a great catch on a 46-yard post pattern early in the season but dropped a possible touchdown on a 4th-down bubble screen versus USC, open field with blockers in front of him. He played sparingly and DT never seemed to find him, just 14 catches and 184 yards, one touchdown for the season after being one of the stars of fall camp. At 6-2, 192 he has the moves, size and speed to be a 50-catch guy if he develops some rapport with his young quarterbacks.
2012 is a new year with a promising array of weapons in the passing game. Colt Lyerla also has big-play potential as the feature tight end, a guy who turned five of his seven catches last year into touchdowns while averaging 21 yards a catch. What’s clear is this: the Ducks have the speed and talent to stretch the field in every direction. Adding that to one of the country’s most potent running game, with two young quarterbacks who deliver a beautiful ball while posing a threat to take off and run if the defense leaves them a lane, and Oregon has more options and more flexibility. They become more dangerous and harder to defend on second and third and long, with more ways to strike quickly. Covering the field on those fake screen and four vertical routes becomes an awesome, almost impossible challenge. The safety has too much ground to cover, and if Bennett/Mariota learn to look him off, every choice is wrong for the guys in the wrong-color jerseys.
With an improved passing combination, defenses can’t go 8-in-the-box with the safety cheating up. With a quarterback who has confidence in his open-field running ability and constantly poses a threat to scramble out of the pocket and make a play with his legs, defenses have to be more careful in the pass rush, striving to maintain contain, at times even having to assign a spy to the quarterback. With multiple targets that can get deep and catch the football, double coverage becomes a game of Russian Roulette. And, with De’Anthony Thomas lining up all over the field, a constant threat to make a big play and create instant momentum, defenses have to scramble and adjust at the line of scrimmage, where is he? Whose got him? He’s in motion, no other there.
Their confusion is Oregon’s edge. Because if you get the opponent thinking at a blur-fast pace, somebody is open and gone before they can complete the thought. Provided Bennett/Mariota execute and chose their options correctly, the Oregon offense will be even more explosive and unstoppable in 2012.
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