I don't know if anyone else has brought this up so sorry if someone already mentioned this.
If we are not getting into the Rose Bowl by 2011, a pretty good consolation prize would be a mature Darren Thomas (all Pac10 hopefully) dissecting one of the top BigXII schools (but preferably Texas) in the Alamo bowl. I imagine there would be quite a lot of media attention about an Oregon QB from Texas coming back to town. Better yet would be if LaMichael James is a well know commodity by then and Blake Cantu makes his way in to the starting lineup. Perhaps our other RB by then would be The 4* out of Texas we have a shot at this recruiting cycle (Dontae Williams?). Potentially 3-4 Texans in prominent positions on a likely dazzling offense. Thats gotta catch the eye of more than a few High school football players.
This would be absolutely golden exposure for Oregon as a program in the South... With a win in this scenario, the dividends would pay off for years.....
2011 and 2012 thats the window
Stewart Mandel-"From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I much prefer to watch a good spread-rushing offense over a traditional Power-I offense, and Oregon's has been the most fun by far for the past several years. It's fast, its precise, and when Chip Kelly has the right quarterback (Dixon, Masoli) at the helm, the possibility of someone ripping off a 60-yard run exists on nearly every play."
I believe that when DT is a senior we will be NC. HE is the DD clone, but i think with the experience he has now, he will be better then DD so i think we are in for a good couple of years. (excluding the fact that injuries can occur)
I believe that when DT is a senior we will be NC. HE is the DD clone, but i think with the experience he has now, he will be better then DD so i think we are in for a good couple of years. (excluding the fact that injuries can occur)
I might get flamed for this but oh well... Is anyone else not totally sold on DT like Im not? Yeah, he looked good in one game last year against a prevent D bla bla bla... but from watching him play in some of the other games he just doesn't pass the "eyeball test" for me... I know he's young and inexperienced, but all the comparisons to DD seem a bit far fetched right now... DD was the best player/QB in the nation for 8 games and probably would have won the Heisman had he not gotten hurt. I can only speak for myself but Im not ready to put DT in that category yet.
I guess time will tell... I hope to high heaven that Im wrong and that I'll be eating crow, but unless he makes dramatic improvements in the next year or two I just dont see him living up to Duck fans expectations... hopefully Im wrong!
GO DUCKS
"How do we go from nine to one?" - Chip Kelly
“Our expectations are to win every game we play." - CK
I would love to see DT redshirt this if at all possible to get more seasoning.
If he's able to redshirt I think by the time his senior year rolls around, he could be a very, very good QB, maybe in the running for the Heisman. Just hope Costa's knee holds out.
I think if Costa's knee holds out this year, we could have the best group of QB's in the nation next year.
I believe that when DT is a senior we will be NC. HE is the DD clone, but i think with the experience he has now, he will be better then DD so i think we are in for a good couple of years. (excluding the fact that injuries can occur)
I might get flamed for this but oh well... Is anyone else not totally sold on DT like Im not? Yeah, he looked good in one game last year against a prevent D bla bla bla... but from watching him play in some of the other games he just doesn't pass the "eyeball test" for me... I know he's young and inexperienced, but all the comparisons to DD seem a bit far fetched right now... DD was the best player/QB in the nation for 8 games and probably would have won the Heisman had he not gotten hurt. I can only speak for myself but Im not ready to put DT in that category yet.
I guess time will tell... I hope to high heaven that Im wrong and that I'll be eating crow, but unless he makes dramatic improvements in the next year or two I just dont see him living up to Duck fans expectations... hopefully Im wrong!
GO DUCKS
You're not the only one, don't worry. At least that makes 2 of us. He definitely has the potential to and he works hard enough from what I hear but we'll see when he's put in game situations more consistently.
I like DT, but his play in the BSU game is way overhyped. Not because of the prevent D, but because he was so inaccurate on a lot of his passes. I remember his WR's saving his ass three or four times just off the top of my head. And his accuracy still isn't there, judging from what I saw at the practice on Tuesday.
DT is the future of the position for us. Masoli coming in being a factor a month later is such a rare thing. All QB's need seasoning. There should be a rule saying that "thou shall not play a true Freshman QB under any circumstances"...We broke this rule with Dixon (and DT) and it shortened his productive window by a year. Thomas and Dixon are equivilant for this point in their careers. Now its up to the coaches to do their things and show him the way. No one should be "sold" on DT as a starter right now, but everyone should be "sold" on DT as our future. He has as much raw ability at the position as anyone we have ever had.
Stewart Mandel-"From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I much prefer to watch a good spread-rushing offense over a traditional Power-I offense, and Oregon's has been the most fun by far for the past several years. It's fast, its precise, and when Chip Kelly has the right quarterback (Dixon, Masoli) at the helm, the possibility of someone ripping off a 60-yard run exists on nearly every play."
bigsugarduck wrote: He has as much raw ability at the position as anyone we have ever had.
Based on what? I hear this sentiment all the time, but just because someone says something over and over doesnt make it true. Everything I've heard and read about him in practice is that he's inconsistent, but "improving". Whatever that means... ambiguous comments aside...
Im not trying to be a hater, Im really not, Im one of the biggest Duck homers around, but I had to say something after constantly hearing about how great DT is and how our QB position is in good hands when he takes over in 2011. The DT cool-aid is made and sitting in the fridge, but Im not about to drink any just yet...
"How do we go from nine to one?" - Chip Kelly
“Our expectations are to win every game we play." - CK
bigsugarduck wrote: He has as much raw ability at the position as anyone we have ever had.
Based on what? I hear this sentiment all the time, but just because someone says something over and over doesnt make it true. Everything I've heard and read about him in practice is that he's inconsistent, but "improving". Whatever that means... ambiguous comments aside...
Im not trying to be a hater, Im really not, Im one of the biggest Duck homers around, but I had to say something after constantly hearing about how great DT is and how our QB position is in good hands when he takes over in 2011. The DT cool-aid is made and sitting in the fridge, but Im not about to drink any just yet...
You're absolutely right. People are simply anointing him as our future and claiming that he will lead us to Nat'l Championships and so far he has proven only that he needs a lot of work to get to that point. I would rather not set myself up for such a huge disappointment.
bigsugarduck wrote: He has as much raw ability at the position as anyone we have ever had.
Based on what? I hear this sentiment all the time, but just because someone says something over and over doesnt make it true. Everything I've heard and read about him in practice is that he's inconsistent, but "improving". Whatever that means... ambiguous comments aside...
Im not trying to be a hater, Im really not, Im one of the biggest Duck homers around, but I had to say something after constantly hearing about how great DT is and how our QB position is in good hands when he takes over in 2011. The DT cool-aid is made and sitting in the fridge, but Im not about to drink any just yet...
You're absolutely right. People are simply anointing him as our future and claiming that he will lead us to Nat'l Championships and so far he has proven only that he needs a lot of work to get to that point. I would rather not set myself up for such a huge disappointment.
Bottom line is that DT is our future! You can't argue that...he is going to be a starting QB for us. Unless we get a complete stud like Barkley or Pryor (not likely guys) who supplants him (also unlikely), he is going to start in 2011 at least. Get use to that thought people. People are excited about his raw talent which is as good as any QB we have had. If that raw talent is developed, he does have the potential to do great things....whether that talent is tapped...who knows? Ask yourself this...when was a true starting QB for the ducks not successful and make it to the NFL?
Stewart Mandel-"From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I much prefer to watch a good spread-rushing offense over a traditional Power-I offense, and Oregon's has been the most fun by far for the past several years. It's fast, its precise, and when Chip Kelly has the right quarterback (Dixon, Masoli) at the helm, the possibility of someone ripping off a 60-yard run exists on nearly every play."
bigsugarduck wrote:
Bottom line is that DT is our future! You can't argue that...he is going to be a starting QB for us.
Yes ... agreed. And let me just say that I am excited about the athleticism that DT seems to possess. But when people are saying things like below, that they are simply setting themselves up for disappointment and/or putting unrealistic hopes on DT. I'm a Ducks homer, no doubt about that, but saying things like this is ludicrous.
DuxMan wrote:I believe that when DT is a senior we will be NC. HE is the DD clone, but i think with the experience he has now, he will be better then DD so i think we are in for a good couple of years. (excluding the fact that injuries can occur)
It is unrealistic to expect a NC out of DT or him to be the next Dennis Dixon (2007 version) but at the same time its not unrealistic to expect our #1 QB to do really well by his junior or senior year. This has been the case for the Ducks since the mid 90's. They are all studs by their Junior or Senior year. Even Dennis appeared to be a failure going into his senior year and look what happened...Darren has shown nothing but promise since he's been here guys...there is no reason to doubt anything at this point.
Stewart Mandel-"From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I much prefer to watch a good spread-rushing offense over a traditional Power-I offense, and Oregon's has been the most fun by far for the past several years. It's fast, its precise, and when Chip Kelly has the right quarterback (Dixon, Masoli) at the helm, the possibility of someone ripping off a 60-yard run exists on nearly every play."
The biggest reason to be excited and optimistic about Darron's future is that the coaches are very excited and optimistic about his future. Both Bellotti (last year) and Kelly have said multiple times they think Darron is going to be a very good QB for the Ducks in the future. That doesn't automatically mean he will be, but they obviously know quite a bit about the game of football and have seen him perform up close and personal a lot, so it is reasonable for fans to be optimistic about his future if they are. In terms of winning a National Championship or a Heisman Trophy, the "odds" are nobody at Oregon is going to win either of those in the next 4 years (same with the odds at most schools, with the exception of a couple).
Tray Dub is exactly right about Darron's performance in the Boise State game being blown out of proportion. I pointed out the same thing several times last year when some people were absurdly (in my opinion) calling for Masoli to be replaced in the starting lineup by Darron.
VinnyKnuckles wrote:The biggest reason to be excited and optimistic about Darron's future is that the coaches are very excited and optimistic about his future. Both Bellotti (last year) and Kelly have said multiple times they think Darron is going to be a very good QB for the Ducks in the future. That doesn't automatically mean he will be, but they obviously know quite a bit about the game of football and have seen him perform up close and personal a lot, so it is reasonable for fans to be optimistic about his future if they are. In terms of winning a National Championship or a Heisman Trophy, the "odds" are nobody at Oregon is going to win either of those in the next 4 years (same with the odds at most schools, with the exception of a couple).
Tray Dub is exactly right about Darron's performance in the Boise State game being blown out of proportion. I pointed out the same thing several times last year when some people were absurdly (in my opinion) calling for Masoli to be replaced in the starting lineup by Darron.
Not to be a prick, but what coach ISN'T going to say that?
Oregonian wrote:Not to be a prick, but what coach ISN'T going to say that?
Every coach in the country? That would be my best guess.
There have been many, many players that have come to play at Oregon that the coaches haven't gone out of their way to express excitement over their future. I would assume it is like that at every school. Some players coaches are excited about, some they aren't. Darron, LaMichael and Dion Jordan are three young players on offense the coaches are very excited about in terms of future contributions.
Thats gotta catch the eye of more than a few High school football players. 
