GoDucks349
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Should be a good game. I don't think I've ever seen a good Auburn fan forum (that was free)... Kinda surprising.
I think we find out just how good Herbert for Oregon is. Auburn’s D is supposed to be outstanding this year and with this as a showcase game in Jerry’s World Herbert. This game will determine if he either gets in line with Tua and Lawrence for the Heisman or he never recovers and doesn’t make it to NYC in December. The same could be said for Auburn and and Gus. If Auburn loses to start the season, plus it being to a PAC12 squad then Gus and Auburn May not recover. They’d be staring at best case 8-4 with road games against Texas A&M, LSU , Florida, plus you still get UGA and Bama.
I don't think there is much doubt about how good Herbert is, he's very, very good. Question mark has been does he have receivers that can catch the bullets he sends their way.
The thing about Gus's Auburn teams is that he needs excellent or near excellent (not just good) QB play in order to have a satisfying year. When he gets excellent QB play, Auburn is a national-title level team. 2010 when he was OC, 2013, and 2017. When he doesn't get it, Auburn is a 7 or 8 win team, no matter how good the defense is or how good the weapons around the QB are. It's a huge weakness of his offense and overall coaching style. So no pressure, Joey Gatewood...the season basically depends on you. It's also worth noting that every great season of QB play Gus has had has come from a transfer QB (Cam, Nick Marshall, Stidham). He's never gotten notable production from a kid he's recruited out of HS.I think we find out just how good Herbert for Oregon is. Auburn’s D is supposed to be outstanding this year and with this as a showcase game in Jerry’s World Herbert. This game will determine if he either gets in line with Tua and Lawrence for the Heisman or he never recovers and doesn’t make it to NYC in December. The same could be said for Auburn and and Gus. If Auburn loses to start the season, plus it being to a PAC12 squad then Gus and Auburn May not recover. They’d be staring at best case 8-4 with road games against Texas A&M, LSU , Florida, plus you still get UGA and Bama.
When he gets excellent QB play, Auburn is a national-title level team. 2010 when he was OC, 2013, and 2017... It's also worth noting that every great season of QB play Gus has had has come from a transfer QB (Cam, Nick Marshall, Stidham). He's never gotten notable production from a kid he's recruited out of HS.
Another good point. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.Gus always succeeds in with a transfer QB in his first year as a starter. Newton didn't stick around for 2011, and Marshall and Stidham both dropped off a lot in '14 and '18, respectively. It seems like the longer Gus has to work with a QB the worse that QB performs.
Like @LouderVol said, I’m really not familiar with any of Oregon’s skill guys or many of your guys on the roster. I just know that Herbert is the guy that drives the bus. And for right or wrong, like most QB’s, he’ll receive the most criticism or praise for his play. I definitely think that game will be one the best of the first weekend. I think it also has has the greatest amount unknowns as well.
Here are three givens for the Oregon offense
RB: CJ Verdell Gained over a 1000 yards and had over 300 yds receiving last year. At 5-9 209 he's a bit small but he'll probably get the majority of the plays from the RB position.
WR: Juwan Johnson graduate transfer from Penn State at 6'4" caught 54 passes for a bit over 700 yards last year. He's a stud and much needed by the Ducks.
The offensive line..... This group just makes me very happy.
Plenty of room for others, but yea, not a lot of guys with five stars or proven big game capabilities. Still the focus seems to be on over powering opponents at the line, win in the trenches and wear the opponent out.
Thanks, sounds like a pretty good group to be optimistic about.
Also, 2018 recruiting class ranked #13 nationally and 2019 ranked #7 nationally, so the young guys have talent. Probably the biggest name coming in this year is DE Kayvon Thibodeaux 6'4" 239 five star. I think ESPN listed him as the #1 recruit in the country.
Here are three givens for the Oregon offense
RB: CJ Verdell Gained over a 1000 yards and had over 300 yds receiving last year. At 5-9 209 he's a bit small but he'll probably get the majority of the plays from the RB position.
WR: Juwan Johnson graduate transfer from Penn State at 6'4" caught 54 passes for a bit over 700 yards last year. He's a stud and much needed by the Ducks.
The offensive line..... This group just makes me very happy.
Plenty of room for others, but yea, not a lot of guys with five stars or proven big game capabilities. Still the focus seems to be on over powering opponents at the line, win in the trenches and wear the opponent out.
I'm not so sure about O overpowering the Au Dline; rated by some as the best in the Country. But if Auburn can't control the ball some and keep them fresh, I could see that maybe in the early fourth Q. IF the Au QB plays well, this is a last possession FG type game. The ? is, "Is Oregon ready for some Football" ? lol
I don't think I said anything about Oregon overpowering the AU Dline. Auburn has a great Dline..... with depth. All I'm saying is Oregon has a very very good offensive line. The rankings I've seen put them some where in the top 5 offensive lines in the country. Usuallly, Clemson, Georgia and alabama are receiving similar offensive line
rankings.
Here's one review of the Oregon offensive line. Plus remember Cristobal's offensive line at Alabama in 2015 was ranked the nations best.... The man loves himself an offensive line.
Penei Sewell
Shane Lemieux
Jake Hanson
Dallas Warmack
Calvin Throckmorton
These five names should be keeping Pac-12 defensive coordinators awake this offseason. These five names should allow Justin Herbert to rest peacefully through August. These five names certainly make Mario Cristobal’s job easy.
These five names return to man the Oregon Ducks offensive front along the line and represent five more-than-capable candidates for All-American status either preseason, midseason or postseason.
This story is brought to you by Eckrich, the Official Smoked Sausage of the College Football Playoff.
Kicking things off with left tackle Penei Sewell, who as a true freshman last season, was utterly dominant. Sewell went down with an injury in Week 7 but prior to that, looked all the parts of a lock for first-team All-American, again, as a true freshman. His reps in pass protection were only equaled by his efforts in the run game and though he did look like a shell of his former self in playing against Michigan State in the bowl game, he should return to his 84.0 overall graded self with a full offseason of rehab and rest.
Despite the injury, Sewell still finished as the nation’s highest-graded true freshman tackle, by a long shot. His 84.0 overall grade was a clear 10.0 points higher than the next closest tackle in Brady Christensen from BYU and a full 12.8 points ahead of the next closest Power-5 tackle. On 215 pass-blocking snaps from left tackle, he allowed just eight total pressures, only one sack and kept Herbert’s blindside protected more often than not.
Shifting inside to potentially the nation’s best returning guard, Shane Lemieux enters 2019 having logged a whopping 2,601 career snaps and improving his overall PFF grade each and every year as a Duck. His 2018 efforts marked a career-high in run-blocking and overall grade while his pass-blocking grade didn’t reach that of 2017, he still ranked in the top 50 among all returning tackles at the FBS level. All of that said, he allowed just 11 total QB pressures and only two combined sacks and QB hits a season ago as he heads into fall camp as the nation’s highest-graded returning guard.
Playing next to Lemieux for the fourth consecutive year, Jake Hanson mans the center position and enters his final season in Eugene with 2,739 career snaps to his résumé. His career-high in pass protection grade came a season ago and it ranks as the 10th-highest pass-blocking grade among returning centers. He allowed 12 total pressures but has not allowed a single sack during his entire career at Oregon.
The lowest-graded returning starter along the Ducks’ offensive line slots in at right guard, but by no means is that a slight towards Dallas Warmack, the former Alabama transfer. In his first season with the Ducks in 2018, Warmack finished with a 67.8 overall grade after starting the year slowly. In fact, his final three contests of the year saw him finish with game grades of 72.3 or higher, each of them finishing as his highest-graded performances of the year. In fact, Warmack’s 79.6 overall grade over the final three games of the season was the highest among all returning FBS guards entering 2019.
Rounding off the formidable front five of the Oregon Ducks offensive line is the man who needs no introduction to Oregon faithful, and a man who belongs in the conversation for top tackle in the country: Calvin Throckmorton. The Ducks’ Swiss army knife from a season ago, Throckmorton logged over 855 snaps for the third straight season but did so playing four different positions, including 111 at right guard, 395 at right tackle, 38 at center and another 371 at left tackle.
Throckmorton was routinely spotted blowing defenders off the line of scrimmage in the running game just as much as he was seen limiting rushers to just 13 total pressures on 487 pass-blocking snaps. His 87.4 pass-blocking grade returns as the third-highest in the country and his 84.0 overall grade mirrors his bookend tackle in Sewell as fourth-highest among the same group.
Collectively, the Oregon offensive line returns a ridiculous 9,254 snaps among just the five aforementioned individuals and that includes three of them with at least 2,600 career snaps. That amount of experience (and at a high level to boot) should only pave the way for bigger things and higher ceilings for the Ducks as an offense and in particular, their quarterback who should have legitimate Heisman Trophy aspirations this fall.
Aside from his ridiculous talent, the five offensive linemen in front of Herbert should also be one of the biggest reasons why he has the potential to collect some hardware this year. Those same five offensive linemen should also be able to collect some awards themselves, and that’s what should make this team so fun to watch in 2019
So cool that Phil Steele posts under the name @GoDucks349 . Welcome Phil!
Jk Duck349 you’re good people. Very informative post.
Presentation was easy.... cut here... paste there... type of thing. I prefer posting/quoting others that know more than I know, it avoids the "yea I know more than you do kind of stuff"
Well I agree. However, once you learn something ; even if someone else did the research, You know it; and could potentially know it all-- given time. Nothing wrong with Observing. "You can observe a lot by watching". Yogi Berra. (all that bs aside, I've decided to change my bet to Oregon)