The New Look Ducks

When I heard that Oregon Junior quarterback Darron Thomas was going pro, my first immediate reaction was about him and not the team, which is very unusual for me. Ten years ago, no, even five years ago, my first instinct and reaction would have me thinking, Oh God, why? Who are we going to get at quarterback to replace all those wins? 2012 is a very different story. Depth is everywhere on the Oregon roster, excluding the newcomers who will be on the roster as well come fall.  Add them and this is an unbelievably talented, yet young team. If you look at the last three recruiting classes, you will know that Chip Kelly and his staff have recruited across the nation, not just the Pacific Coast, and have had major success.

Starting in 2010, recruiting at a major level has elevated the ducks, and many players now start or play major roles. This year’s starting quarterback at Oregon, Brian Bennett, from Crespi High School in Mission Viejo, California, was a 4-star recruit on Rivals.com, a major football recruiting site that rates players on a 1-5 scale, 5 being the best.

Oregon Signed ten 4-star recruits and a five-star recruit according to Rivals in 2010. This year will be the first year that fans will see many of these high caliber recruits for the first time, as they are coming off of redshirt seasons and moving up the depth chart.  Safety Troy Hill saw playing time in 2011, as did cornerback Terrence Mitchell. Josh Huff, a former high school quarterback from the Houston area, has been a clutch, go to guy for Darron Thomas the last two years at wide receiver. Huff was also a four star recruit.

The blue chip players that we have yet to see from the 2010 class are cornerback Dior Mathis from Detroit, Keenan Lowe from Jesuit High School, and Ricky Heimuli, who has seen time but has yet to peak fully. This could be the year that it happens at defensive tackle.  Heimuli is from Salt Lake City, Utah and the ducks worked hard to pull him away from Utah and BYU.

Eric Dargan, a safety from Pittsburg, California, James Scales, a cornerback from Greensboro, North Carolina, and wide receiver Eric Dungy, son of former Tampa Bay and Super Bowl winning Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, also are players from the 2010 class to watch for. Dungy played at Plant High School in Tampa Bay, Florida.

The 2011 class was surprisingly better, mostly due to the National Championship appearance that year. Kelly got letters of intent (commitments) from nine 4-star ballers, and two 5-star studs.  There are a few 2 and 3-star recruits mixed in the ’11 class but for the most part, it’s loaded with immense talent. And never count a 3-star recruit out due to the fact that the average NFL starter is a 3-star recruit.

The 2011 class starts and ends with the “Black Mamba”, D’Anthony Thomas, a 5-star athlete from South Central Los Angeles, California (Crenshaw High School). Thomas had 55 carries for 595 rushing yards, and 7 rushing touchdowns. Thomas also had 46 receptions for 605 yards receiving with 9 touchdown grabs.  Thomas was so versatile, he even had 983 yards on 36 kick returns.  He is the dictionary definition of the all purpose player. He, in my opinion, has a great chance of leaving Eugene with a Heisman trophy before his eligibility is used up. Thomas was a candidate for national freshman of the year, and was selected as part of the Pac-12 all-freshmen 1^st team.

The next best recruit in the class is 5-star athlete Colt Lyerla, a hometown product from Hillsboro (Hillsboro High School).  Lyerla now plays tight end for the Ducks and has probably earned the starting job due to his impact last season. Middle linebacker Anthony Wallace, from Dallas (Skyline High School), is a monster who moves like a lightning bolt to close gaps and gets to the ball every play.

One of the top wide receiver prospects, Devon Blackmon from Fontana, runs a 4.4 forty yard dash and is coming off of his redshirt year as a freshman.  Tacoi Sumler, another 4.4 guy from Miami, Florida, is lightning quick, and could be a deadly combination in space with D’Anthony Thomas.  Christian French, a 6’6 tight end who is very athletic, will see a lot of time this season as well.

Running back Tra Carson, from the same high school in Texarkana, Texas as former Duck legend LaMichael James, will see increased time and will be in his second year on the field as he did not redshirt last season. Neither did Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, a standout cornerback from Chino Hills, California. He played great as a nickel back all year in 2011.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota, from Honolulu, Hawaii is garnering a lot of praise with his play in practice. Some say he can throw a good or better deep ball than Bennett.  He will be an interesting back up this season.

The most glaring position of depth on the roster in 2012 is wide receivers. The impact should be enormous. Tacoi Sumler, Keenan Lowe, B.J Kelly, Rahsaan Vaughn, Devon Blackmon, Josh Huff, D’Anthony Thomas, Eric Dungy, Christian French, and Curtis White will all contribute in the passing game and fans will now know who they are instead of looking at the friend or lover beside them, asking “Who the hell is this guy and where did he come from?”