getting key players

[woundedknees]

The first time I saw Akili, he was warming up before a game as I was walking with my son out of the tunnel. I didn't actually see him til after the ball he threw hit me in the center of my chest... Made a heck of a bruise, with a neat little '+' in the middle of it... Through 3 layers of clothing, including my Duck sweatshirt, that I still have today.

Up until then, I didn't believe how hard he could throw a football.

[duckgrad99]

Imagine Akili now in Kelly's spread offense?

[Canard]

Still have the bruise, eh? That is impressive.

[woundedknees]

Yeah, right!

It helped make sense as to why a lot of balls were mishandled by the WRs on that team, though. Those guys really needed to focus and make sure they actually grabbed the ball.

[NCDucks09]

Remember that time Akili actually studied the playbook? Oh my, bad, that never happened.

[Pontius]

3. The last thing I would say is that people should keep in mind that we have never signed three linebackers of this quality in one class. I know that defense isn't as sexy as offense, but to me, the linebackers coming in are very important to the future success of the program.

You made some excellent points and then you say this? I know it was a long time ago, but just last year Oregon signed a better group of LB's than we have right now. Josh Kaddu, Kiko Alonso, Tyrell Irvin and Dewitt Stuckey are just as good if not better than Bolo, Clay and Littlejohn. But otherwise you made some solid points.

It was just an opinion. Plus, what have those four backers done that makes them so special? They are all potential at this point, just like the three guys coming in. All I am saying is we have never scored 3 four star linebackers in one class. Kaddu and Alonso are 3 star guys and I am excited to see Stuckey, he could be very good. Criticize it if you don't agree, but were both going on what we feel their potential could be. There just opinions.

Well, they were just freshmen so it would be foolish to expect them to make an impact, especially when two of them redshirted. Also, going back to the 2007 class we signed Brandon Hanna, Eddie Pleasant, Terrence Pritchett, and Casey Mathews. That class also could be considered equal to and if not better than the 2009 LB class. Rivals has Clay and Lokombo as 3 stars and Littlejohn is a 4 star JC. I'd take the 2007 class with a 4 star out of HS in Pritchett and the three 3 stars in Pleasant, Mathews, and Hanna. While 2009 is a great LB class, I really don't feel as if it was near the team's top priority of need as the 2007 and 2008 LB classes were already our best ever coming in to this year.