A question..

[duckfan96]

who do you think was the best all around passer at Oregon? Of the ones I have seen I would say Joey, Akili, Dennis his senior year, Clemens and Fife. Joey seemed to be able to drop passes into guys hands while they were in stride. The pass to Sammy in the Fiesta was beautiful. Yes he was surrounded by good players but he did have to get them the ball. What say you?

[duckgrad99]

If you want to go back further, you have to consider Fouts. If you're talking more the modern era, then I would say Harrington.

[maxduck]

Didn't get to see Akili in person but Dan Fouts would be very hard to beat.

[buckmarkduck]

Akili and it's really not that close. The knock on Smith in the NFL never had anything to do with physical skills, it was that he couldn't read a D and was easily confused against the complex NFL D.

Joey was a great leader, but he had an avg. arm and should have been a 3rd round pick. Anyone who watched him for his whole career at UO knows he shouldn't have been a top 10 pick and I seriously think he would have been a lot better in the NFL, if he could have sat on the bench for 2-3 years then became a starter.

Smith had a cannon and his SR year he was awesome, if the '98 team had a decent "D" they would have been playing against UT for the NC. Really until Chip showed up, it was the best offense to take the field at Oregon when all the players were healthy.
Basically Akili had a arm as strong as Masoli's, had Dixon's running ability and also had very good touch on his deep balls.

[duckgrad99]

Akili and it's really not that close. The knock on Smith in the NFL never had anything to do with physical skills, it was that he couldn't read a D and was easily confused against the complex NFL D.

Joey was a great leader, but he had an avg. arm and should have been a 3rd round pick. Anyone who watched him for his whole career at UO knows he shouldn't have been a top 10 pick and I seriously think he would have been a lot better in the NFL, if he could have sat on the bench for 2-3 years then became a starter.

Smith had a cannon and his SR year he was awesome, if the '98 team had a decent "D" they would have been playing against UT for the NC. Really until Chip showed up, it was the best offense to take the field at Oregon when all the players were healthy.
Basically Akili had a arm as strong as Masoli's, had Dixon's running ability and also had very good touch on his deep balls.

I don't think arm strength means better passer. Besides, the question didn't ask who had the strongest arm. Accuracy is a big part of being a good passer.

[VinnyKnuckles]

During his senior season, Akili was the most talented Oregon quarterback I have seen, by a pretty significant margin.

[UOducksTK1]

Hard for me to say since I've only really watched oregon football from about 1999 til now..

But Akili has a rocket arm..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQa7gRaW-j0

40 yard laser.

[buckmarkduck]

I'm pretty sure 99, that I didn't only say he had a strong arm. Akili threw for 3700+ yds, 32tds and completed 60% of his passes and only 9 ints, all much better stats than anything any other QB has done in a single season at UO. Mind you all this was done without Ruben, who went down in the 4th game giving him no running game at all the rest of the year, to go along with one of the worst D in MB tenure. Yet he carried that team to 8 wins. In fact that 98 team also lost Sirmon, who was a beast on D and Hartley (who was having a great year at WR) ended the year on suspension.

[echo31]

AKILI

[Destroyer77]

If we had Akili Smith for CK's spread offense, he would win the Heisman in a landslide.

[northbeachsf]

would have to agree...Akili, and it's not even close

[desertduck]

When I went to U of O Norm VanBrocklin was the man. You youngsters most likely never saw him play but he was great. More
recent era I'd say Fouts or joey H are the best.

[sickaduck]

When I went to U of O Norm VanBrocklin was the man. You youngsters most likely never saw him play but he was great. More
recent era I'd say Fouts or joey H are the best.

Wow..."more recent era = fouts".

Desert, you are an experienced duck.

[duckfan96]

Thanks for all the responses...a variety of different names. I think Joey got overlooked by some people cause he had two 1,000 yd runners behind him...without those two back I am pretty sure he would have put up more passing yards. All of the qbs listed were awesome while at UofO!!!

[liberalduck]

I'll stick to the "modern" era since I didn't see Fouts and Van Brocklin and others play.

In my opinion, Joey was very good. He had a lot of the intangibles. He was a good leader on and off the field. He definitely had a knack for winning and especially for doing it in dramatic fashion. But he didn't have a great arm and wasn't super mobile. I still thought he would make it in the NFL and do well. Shows you how much I know. Who knows, maybe he still will. Here's to hope.

For pure talent, however, I would say Akili Smith was the best. Akili could run, had a rocket for an arm, and was accurate with all types of passes. He would have been phenomenal in CK's offense. I was very surprised he didn't make it in the NFL. It just goes to show you that there is so much that goes into being a successful NFL QB, including being fortunate to be on the right team at the right time, not to mention the whole mental side of the game.

Masoli could become very good. He is tough, has a strong arm, decent speed and seems to play with great confidence and without fear. He just needs to become more consistent with his throws, especially the long ball. And, oh yea, grow a few inches.