Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

Ted Miller is currently counting down the top 30 players for 2009 in the Pac 10. So I thought it would be interesting to see who everyone feels Oregon's 10 best players will be next year. (Keep it to players already on the roster, i.e. no JC transfers or incoming HS recruits.)


1. J. Masoli
2. L. Blount
3. E. Dickson
4. W. Thurmond III
5. T.J. Ward
6. C.E. Kaiser
7. W. Tukuafu
8. B. Thran
9. J. Maehl
10. C. Harper

Casey Matthews & Spencer Paysinger have to be on that list. Harper may have the most talent but I wouldn't put him on the Top 10 yet.

I wouldn't have Maehl on the list.

Here's my version:

1. E. Dickson
2. L. Blount
3. J. Masoli
4. W. Thurmond III
5. W. Tukuafu
6. T.J. Ward
7. S. Paysinger
8. C. Matthews
9. J. Maehl
10. J. Holmes/ C.E. Kaiser

I like your list but here's mine with a few changes...

1. J. Masoli
2. L. Blount
3. E. Dickson
4. W. Thurmond III
5. T.J. Ward
6. C.E. Kaiser
7. W. Tukuafu
8. B. Thran
9. C. Matthews
10. E. Pleasant
H.M. S. Paysinger
H.M. TJIII or W. Glapser or A. Gilden (whoever starts)

GO DUCKS!!

dthomas=ddixon wrote:Casey Matthews & Spencer Paysinger have to be on that list. Harper may have the most talent but I wouldn't put him on the Top 10 yet.

Coming up with #10 was pretty hard, but I had to go with an offensive player. Oregon's D was pretty bad last year and the worst unit on the team was the linebackers. While Matthews and Paysinger may have had good stats, they never made any impact plays. It always seemed that they were a step too late on blitzes, in the wrong space during zone defenses, and too slow to cover TE's and RB's man-to-man. But that's just my 2 cents.

1. Blount
2. Masoli
3. E. Dickson
4. W. Thurmond III
5. T.J. Ward
6. C.E. Kaiser
7. W. Tukuafu
8. B. Thran
9. Quick running back
10. Maehl

Top 10 Oregon Ducks is rather vague. I guess you mean talent, but I'll go by which players are most important to the team.

1. L. Blount - Game changer, enough said.
2. W. Thurmond III - We saw how we did without him against Boise State... One of the most important players to this team, and moreso with Byrd gone.
3. J. Masoli - Our starting QB.
4. T.J. Ward - Puts fears in WR's heads.
5. E. Dickson - Arguably one of our most talented players and probably should be higher... However, if he ever got hurt, I think we could live thanks to a deep bench.
6. C.E. Kaiser - Our best offensive lineman.
7. W. Tukuafu - Our best defensive lineman.
8. J. Maehl - He may be our go to go in 09.I expect big things from him.
9. C. Matthews - Finally a good looking LB Core
10. S. Paysinger - Look Above

I think those 10 are the most important guys for this team. If one of those guys goes down, it could hurt this team.

UOducksTK1 wrote:Top 10 Oregon Ducks is rather vague. I guess you mean talent, but I'll go by which players are most important to the team.

Yes I am talking about talent, not most important (or rather that is what Ted Millers is trying to do). And if you are ranking by most important how can you have a RB as most important? When time after time it has been proven that the most important postion on the field is line play (offensive and defensive), followed by QB play.

Anyways Ted Miller is up to #23 and no ducks have made the list yet

23. Daniel Teo'Neisham, DL, Washington
24. Lawrence Guy, DT, Arizona State; Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State
25. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
26. Tyson Alualu, DE, California
27. Devin Ross, CB, Arizona
28. Keaton Kristick, LB, Oregon State
29. Brooks Reed, DE, Arizona
30. Everson Griffen, DE, USC

Wow, Tukuafu getting no love from the fans, he is easily one of our top 3 players IMO. Our best DL, who can also play DT, and played over 1000 snaps last year, he is key for us.

The Miller list is kind of Most Likely to get All-Conference honors.

1) Ed Dickson - Best Bet to have a big year and to be recognized for it as he is already an All-C player.

2) Masoli - Masoli and Locker as the top two QBs is about as safe a bet as any.

3) Blount - Mr ESPN Highlight. If he gets 20 carries a game and stays healthy, he leads the conference in rushing. Best won't get a game against the Huskies after they had packed their bags and quit for the season like he did last year to squeak out the total yards and YPC. Best is good but if Blount can keep the 8 yards a carry like he had for the 2nd half of the season and get the number of carries Stew got, he'll take home the rushing title in a trot .

4) TJ Ward - Already has the Rep as the enforcer. Mays will be one of the All-Conference Safeties even if he drops dead at halftime of the first game. Ward could get honors though as he is good bet to lead the team in tackles again if he stays healthy which has always been a huge issue for him.

5) Paysinger - If Ward doesn't lead the team in tackles, Paysinger is the best bet to be the team leader in tackles and pass defense among linebackers.


a) Tufukafu
Pro -Already has a reputation so if he produces he is a good bet for All-C.
Con -Unless somebody steps up on the other side he will be the focus of the oppositions blocking schemes.

b) WTIII
Pro -Well known and lots of big play skills.
Con - He may be the Maytag repairman of our defense. If we stick to playing Left and Right Cornerback it will be even easier for the offense to avoid him, they won't even have to checkoff at the line. I would like to see Oregon move him and have him match up with the other teams best receiver. That way if they take WTIII out of the action, they take their own best receiver out of play with him.

jimmyg wrote:Wow, Tukuafu getting no love from the fans, he is easily one of our top 3 players IMO. Our best DL, who can also play DT, and played over 1000 snaps last year, he is key for us.

How is being on every list so far not getting any love? Hard to be ahead of the guys who make up one of the most lethal offenses in the country. Tukuafu is certainly a force on our average defense though.

I am really thinking our "D" will step it up this year. They took over the second half of the bowl game and I really think the heat/work-ethic with Chip will raise the bar across the board. If he is killing it, he will expect everyone to do the same. To me, it just seems like the way it will be with him at the wheel.

Tinfoilman wrote:

jimmyg wrote:Wow, Tukuafu getting no love from the fans, he is easily one of our top 3 players IMO. Our best DL, who can also play DT, and played over 1000 snaps last year, he is key for us.

How is being on every list so far not getting any love? Hard to be ahead of the guys who make up one of the most lethal offenses in the country. Tukuafu is certainly a force on our average defense though.

I am really thinking our "D" will step it up this year. They took over the second half of the bowl game and I really think the heat/work-ethic with Chip will raise the bar across the board. If he is killing it, he will expect everyone to do the same. To me, it just seems like the way it will be with him at the wheel.

I really wish I could say the second half of the Holiday bowl was our defense, but really it was Dez and their QB's injuries. Maybe you're right, but we lost our two best defensive players. I think our defense will be roughly as good as they were last year

Duckxing wrote:

UOducksTK1 wrote:Top 10 Oregon Ducks is rather vague. I guess you mean talent, but I'll go by which players are most important to the team.

Yes I am talking about talent, not most important (or rather that is what Ted Millers is trying to do). And if you are ranking by most important how can you have a RB as most important? When time after time it has been proven that the most important postion on the field is line play (offensive and defensive), followed by QB play.

Anyways Ted Miller is up to #23 and no ducks have made the list yet

23. Daniel Teo'Neisham, DL, Washington
24. Lawrence Guy, DT, Arizona State; Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State
25. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
26. Tyson Alualu, DE, California
27. Devin Ross, CB, Arizona
28. Keaton Kristick, LB, Oregon State
29. Brooks Reed, DE, Arizona
30. Everson Griffen, DE, USC

We have depth at QB. Even with Masoli as our QB, I have faith DT and Costa could come in a pick up the load and do a solid job.

Running the ball is our strength, take out Blount, and that could take our running game.

If Blount went down I think we could move Masoli to RB & have DT or Coasta at QB. Seriously though, I think Masoli could play RB if needed.