Oregon Football's roster under Dan Lanning is the best since 2014 | Oregon Ducks Podcast

I think this Oregon football roster is the best in a decade here we [Music] go you are locked on Ducks your daily podcast on the Oregon Ducks part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes it is that time once again for locked on Ducks I'm your host Spencer mcgoffin thank you so much for making this your first listen or your first view of the day part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day and your number one source to stay up to date with the Ducks if you have not already please like comment subscribe rate and review wherever you listen to or watch the show which today is brought to you by our friends at game time download the game time app create an account use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase terms apply lots to get to today but we start with Oregon's roster we'll talk uh a little bit of everything including mailbag questions later in today's show but we start with a roster because I keep thinking about weaknesses in this Oregon roster and I just don't really see them I think safety is the biggest glaring weakness I don't know that they have a super rangy guy over the top we'll see what Kobe Savage the Kansas State transfer is but I think this is the best Oregon roster that we have seen top to bottom since 2014 when they went to the national championship game now was Marcus Mariota a better quarterback than Dylan Gabriel yes I I certainly believe that to be the cas case which is not a slide at Dylan Gabriel it's just to say he's not Marcus Mariota and he's probably not Bo Knicks but you know what he can be a Vernon Adams type A Darren Thomas type Jeremiah moli type and those guys were really good and led Oregon teams to Great Heights had Vernon Adams not been hurt Oregon makes the playoff in 2015 I will die on that hill but reason I like this Oregon team so much is about Sevenfold there are a lot of different reasons I'll summarize them quickly here number one I think defensive line with Derek Harmon Michigan State transfer I I think they're nasty I think they're really really good and I think they actually have the potential to be better than last year because your starting defensive tackles a year ago yeah Brandon dorles was an allconference caliber guy but whoever started next to him whether it was Casey Rogers or popo amavi or Taki taiani those guys were solid did a lot of really good things were they all conference performers no and are these guys yes I I think they absolutely can so I I think that's where it starts is your ability to disrupt the quarterback in another team's offense starts up front and I think Oregon upfront with Jordan bur and those other guys and the edge players who are going to be even better than they were last year with an offseason to you know get their bodies into whatever game shape they they needed to be in or the coaches want them to be in I think they're all going to be awesome OU young and and Winston and purchas and toyotee I I think that's just such such an outstanding group on on that side of the ball and then you just keep looking you go okay you got a veteran offensive line four of which were starters or heavy rotation players last year you're bring in a sixth year guy so the offensive Line's going to be really good the receivers are one of the best units in all college football I don't know that I've ever been able to say that about an Oregon receiving Corp but that's where the Ducks are at right now the tight ends go three deep the quarterbacks even look like they go three deep they certainly at least go uh two deep as one of the best rooms in the entire country All Conference guys at linebackers All Conference caliber guys in the secondary there just aren't any weaknesses out there and I I got to thinking about this when a question came in and YouTube comments you can get mailbag questions over there X formerly known as Twitter if you want Priority Access and all sorts of other perks go join the flock over at a subtext this question came in from Kevin mailback question for you Spencer I don't know if you answered this question before but where would you rank last year's Oregon team against all-time best Oregon teams for example the 2023 team versus the 2014 team that made the playoffs with the 2023 teams versus the Chip Kelly teams so I'm only going to put teams in here that I've watched live so 2001 for instance with Joey Harrington I don't really know where I'd slot them I know they were very good but it's hard when you haven't visually seen the entire team play cuz I was four years old when that happened so I wasn't n really uh a DieHard college football fan yet that started about the time I was five or 6 years old so I think the 2014 team that went to the National Championship was the best Oregon team of of my lifetime I think 2023 is probably third I think the number two team would be uh the 20202 Oregon team mariota's first year starting with Chip Kelly that team was crazy good Z was out that team could have won the national championship and it was supposed to be against Kansas State both teams lost and Oregon thumped them in the Fiesta Bowl I think 2010 would be in there I think 2022 with a healthy bow Knicks or 2013 with a healthy Marcus Mariota both very good 2015 was good and 2019 those are those are my top Oregon teams my top seven uh ranked in order that I've watched in my lifetime and the the reason I feel so great about this Oregon roster is not just the newcomers that they've brought in whether it's derck Haron Jamari C well Jabar muhamd Evan Stewart all sorts of guys but that 2023 team that played the national Runners up to a three-point loss twice Oregon's returning 68% of the offensive production from that team and 70% of the defensive production on average that is good for 28th nationally so for the Ducks to be in that position like I think last year's team was incredibly good Washington was just a little bit better that's all it was I I think that team was ridiculously good you could put last year's team up on the or on the field up against some of the best Oregon teams like 2010 for instance I think 2023 probably beats 2010 hence why I had them ahead on on my rankings would 2020 heck I think you could make the case the 2023 team top to bottom was better than 2012 and just just in terms of NFL Talent we know that's true they set an Oregon program or program record with eight guys being selected five of which I believe came in the fourth round so I I I think that that team was awesome and to be bringing back such a huge percentage of it and then to add on top of it guys who I am confident because I've seen their careers play out at other destinations I am confident come in make an impact and play at a high level right away that's a great place to be so I I there there have been a lot of great Oregon teams but I think last year's was truly one of the best and they just ran into a buzs saww with a first round quarterback and receivers that went in the first second and third round and a first round tackle like they were just really good that that's what it was and I I think you can find those sorts of examples in in every single sport you know think back to what's what's a great example here going through Jordan's bowls in their Heyday John Stockton and Carl Malone never won a title you know one of the reasons why Jordan Jord Jordan's bowls were there how many Super Bowl caliber teams just couldn't beat the Patriots just cuz you don't win doesn't mean you weren't at that level and Oregon absolutely was at at that sort of Level A year ago and I think it's a great sign that Lanning you know had the program there in his second year and again that's another reason why I feel great about Oregon going into 2024 like the hype in my head builds up every day by the day I get more excited I was playing with an Oregon fan recently he didn't listen to or watch the show which you know I was but Hur about not actually but a little anyway so he said hey you know I I you know I tune in every every Saturday and whatnot but I don't follow the offseason much like how are we going to be next year I said highest expectations since 2014 because last year was so good was almost so great they bring back a bunch of that team and they've brought in a bunch of good players the second R transfer portal class according to 247 Sports and and that is not a Fluff ranking it's not overinflated in some way there there are so many guys in there I've talked about on the show that are going to be great for the Ducks and I'm just stoked about it so loved that question uh Kevin thanks for sending it in have a lot more to get to on the show including Oregon needing to think small in terms of how good their roster is comparatively before they think big you can think small event big event medium-sized event whatever you want game time has got it game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace of the NBA which makes getting playoff tickets even faster and easier 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love seeing that I get through them as quickly as I can this one from Mike can you compare our three deep roster do you mean two deep our three deep roster with say that of Georgia or Ohio State I know this is about building depth so 247 Sports does not yet have their team composite scores out for the the 2024 season evaluating all all the talent or at least I wasn't able to locate that exact metric but for the 2024 recruiting cycle Ohio State brought in the fifth ranked High School class and the number eight transfer portal class conversely Oregon brought in the third ranked High School class and the second best transfer portal class now those are just numbers on a sheet my notes specifically for today's show I do indeed prepare contrary to what some may think I hope it's evident that I prepare anyway digress so if you look at that you might think well Oregon's got the better Russia they got the better High School class they've got the better transfer portal class but what we have to remember is not every player from that transfer class and especially not every player from that high school class is going to be playing this year and it's also hard to keep track of previous recruiting classes because if you say well Ohio state has averaged you know whatever 5 and a half over the last 3 years and Oregon's average eight and a half with their recruiting class rankings they were number nine a season ago number three in 2024 and I think about number 17 uh is what it was back in the 2022 class when you know Chris Ball left and then Landing came in they were able to you know kind of Salvage it and land big recruits they ended up a 13th overall actually for for the high school class which is pretty darn good so I I I think that for Oregon they're in Ohio State's class in terms of the roster and I think that's where Oregon fans need to be thinking first it it's easy to jump to you know a Georgia who I think are the preseason National Title favorites they are according to FanDuel literally and I think they should be in the minds of college football fans like I I really think that this is George's world and we're just living in it right now cuz don't let last year's coming up short in the SEC Championship Game prevent you from from remembering they won back-to-back national championships and and Morgan hired their head coach from there for a reason everybody wanted a piece of what Georgia was doing so I think Georgia is on another level but for Oregon right now not just in the short term because Ohio state is also a national title Contender but in the Big 10 landscape that's where your attention has to be I know regionality has been kind of thrown to the wind in college football but the first thing you want to think about is okay can we can we win our conference can Oregon emerge as the Big 10 Champions this year the answer is yes they they can absolutely be in in that sort of conversation and I think now that the spring transfer portal window has come and gone it might be worth bringing Jay Stevens of lockdown Ohio State back on let me know if you agree in the YouTube comments and we can kind of talk about where these two rosters sit right now CU I think they're the two best teams in the Big 10 and frankly as time goes by I feel better about Oregon than I do Ohio State now the Buckeyes have an incredibly talented roster they've got the best individual defensive player in jt2 moao or Caleb DS frankly if you were to just say hey who are the 10 best or five best transfer or overall players between these two teams those two guys would probably be at the top of the list and they're both playing for Ohio State but then you'd probably have Jabar Muhammad uh in there maybe a Jordan bur or a Jeff Bosa you know that that would sort of depend but Oregon can not not just can contend with Ohio State I think they can beat Ohio State at right now with a game being played Aon Stadium I'd pick him to beat Ohio State the Buckeyes still don't know for sure who their quarterback is it's probably going to be will Howard but the fact that Howard who who I like and think is solid and can be better than what he's shown at Kansas State when given you know the resources that he's got Ohio at Ohio State and the weapons around him and they've got a great backfield and Chip Kelly we we'll dial up a great run game for him and everything I feel better about having Dylan Gabriel compared to will Howard after Spring football is come and gone and Howard wasn't able to put the clamps on the starting job like you got an inexperienced guy in Devin Brown who is a talented recruit and a true freshman Julian Saiyan out there pushing him for the SP there have been zero Rumblings that Dante Moore Austin Nova said who both look great in the spring game by the way are pushing Dylan Gabriel because Gabriel is clearly the starter and he's showing the coaches and the rest of the team and everybody else media and fans alike that that's a starting quarterback and you don't have to worry about it and I I I just feel better about Oregon that Ohio State right now so you know doing a whole two deep comparison uh Jay and I might get back together to to do that at some point here uh on an upcoming episode of the show only if you want me to this is of course uh the people's show so let me know what you guys think down uh in in the comment section another question here came in from bud I understand that the TV networks will be selecting Big 10 games this week for their broadcasts next year perhaps we already know this but given that Oregon is a top tier School in the Big 10 for the foreseeable future you got that right is it likely Oregon will play Ohio State and Michigan more often than other teams in the conference I would think so and the the selection that he's referring to is the Big 10 conference essentially saying what games are we putting in prime time which ones do we want to showcase and that that Oregon Ohio State game I I don't know how it's not going to be game day with the amount of offseason hype these two teams are generating the brands and television numbers that uh that they've fostered over the last several years I think that's going to be a big time college football game I don't know how game day could be looking anywhere else the the the lineup of games that week I don't think is incredibly strong uh let me just just double check it here cuz you know there there will be other options and you also don't know what storylines are going to pop up but that that October 12th game between Oregan and and Ohio State let's see I think I'm on like it's just it's just not an incredibly loaded lineup of of games like I I I still haven't seen one just Penn State USC that could be a really good game Oklahoma Texas okay that's tough that's tough that is really tough so that's the only other game that's the only other game Miss LSU perhaps uh could be a huge game there but um you know I think between Miss LSU Texas Oklahoma in the SEC you got Florida Tennessee and then you have Ohio State Oregon all right so there are more games than I Remember full disclosure I did not remember there being that that many games there still I I I think if you're the Big 10 I don't know how you're not putting Oregon against Ohio State and Michigan like that's part of what's generating the interest and Intrigue with realign is like man you're going to go against these teams we used to call them bowl games now we're just going to call them conference games so yeah I I don't know that Ohio State Michigan in fact I am almost certain they won't be on the schedule every year at least one of them will be I cannot see a year in which you miss both Ohio State and Michigan if they do Oregon better win at least 11 games uh is is all I'll say there uh this question came in from John hi Spencer a daily lurker here we call them every dayers John let's let's have a better term than lurker for yourself with a question about the upcoming football season for D Ducks you know with a d and whatnot lots to talk about the offense and defense sides of the ball but little about special teams how do we improve uh as much there as we have on offense and defense so the this is a this is a two-fold question because I think there are two areas in special teams one not not one not three two there are two specifically that Oregon has to get better at to have the third side of the ball be improved from a year ago and I'll tell you what those are first I'll tell you about Monopoly go flag on the play you already talked about that Spencer well you know what we got to pod talk about it anyway because there's so much good stuff in Monopoly go in Monopoly go you can team up with friends for time tournaments where you work together to build up each other's boards the more you win together the more awesome prizes you unlock and there's so much to get unique stickers you can trade with friends to complete albums for big prizes cool new 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just bad not good that should be a wideopen position put somebody back there that's got a better feel for it no disrespect to Gary Bryant I I like having him as a wide receiver does some yard good yards after catch stuff if he hadn't returned kicks last year I'd probably look at him as a candidate to do it because of the work that he does after he catches the football however a season of it is in the books and it didn't prod a whole heck of a lot so that's the first area but the second one is is clutch field goals and this has been a oh what's the best word to describe it Troublesome area for the Ducks over the years if if you have to give Camden Lewis credit for beating Washington State in 2019 that was a big kick they were down a point and there's no tie no overtime nothing you're either winning or losing Oregon won the game that was his true freshman year since then does anyone have a clutch kick that Oregon is like what what's the last clutch Oregon field goal that that was truly like hey sent the game to overtime one in his time expired I mean it might might be that 2019 kick 2021 can't think of one off the top of my head that was a big time clutch field goal 2020 two they didn't need any really well didn't have a chance to kick one at the end of that Washington game didn't kick field goals of the Washington game in Seattle this year so you see what I'm saying like that's the other area and look adaka Sappington uh is coming over from Oregon State he missed one field goal last year great that's fantastic did he have to kick any in a high pressure situation I don't know I didn't watch every Oregon State game the way I watched every Oregon game this is locked on Ducks not locked on beavers so that that's it it's hard to measure that like Grant Mets in the spring game you know turned some heads when he made a 49 yard field goal it was great it was awesome that guy is not expected to be the starter that's what Sappington in theory was brought into to do but maybe Mets is better I don't know but I don't know what these guys do when the pressures on and that's what Oran need it's a hard thing to find Alabama didn't have clutch kickers for for a very long time so those are the special team areas I look for because I think the punt return game was good uh Oregon didn't fumble the ball last year knock on wood and I thought the punting game with Ross James and a little bit of Luke dun I thought it was outstanding Ross James was awesome I I think he's really really good uh and and I look forward to having him back this year so here is another question from bud and then we'll end the week with a thought I've had on Kyler Casper does the current transfer portal status with the ability to transfer every year now an unlimited number of times yeah favorably impacts Oregon in recruiting players across the country as they may be more willing to take a shot at moving far from home knowing that if they don't like it they can easily transfer as soon as the following year well I don't know that that's a consideration for players and the conversations I've had with Brian Smith who was on yesterday's show our lock on recruiting Insider and does a great job or Max Torres who uh does an outstanding job covering Oregon Recruiting specifically definitely give him a follow if you want you know locked in we won't say locked on but locked in recruiting coverage uh over there Max does a really really good job talking to players getting interviews and all that sort of stuff I I don't know that it changes a whole heck of a lot and I answered a question that produced this same sort of answer recently here on the show no matter what changes in college football Oregon is in a position to succeed and adapt they would recruit well if there was an nil they recruit well and there is nil they bring in Talent via the portal they would have a lot of talent if the portal wasn't a thing it's just the way Oregon football has been because as a University and community and as a coaching staff and administration everybody's all in to get football to find that first national championship and when you have that whatever obstacles can present themselves don't matter because you're going to have the resources and the mentality to overcome it so I I don't think that you know that consideration is why players transfer to Oregon thinking well you know I can always leave next year if I don't like it I think it's it's far more about fit with the coaching staff and they would leave the following year if they didn't play as much as they thought or didn't get along or you you have the kid every now and then that might get homesick but I I don't think that's uh too major of of a consideration um okay I want to close with this thought that I had and there are a lot more mailback questions that I'll be getting to next week uh on on the show because you guys have been been pouring them in keep doing it keep doing it I love answering you guys' questions you got great angles uh to talk about ducks on here so I just thought about Kyler Casper who I've been a really really big fan of since he committed to the Ducks 6'6 he was a class of 2023 reclassified to 2022 he's going into his red shirt sophomore season and he hasn't done anything of note with W with with the Ducks other than you know flash potential every now and then so coming out of high school Kyler Casper was 66 195 lbs and I'm going to mention Kenyan de here for a moment who was 63 220 lb and played tight end for Oregon last year and is now around 240 lbs cuz he's bulked up a little he was a little bit on the thin side but the thought I had on Kyler Casper was could he play tight end this is just a random thought that popped in my head but it kind of made some sense you see tight ends that have big bodies and big frames and you know Casper at 6 foot six maybe a little taller than your traditional tight end but a lot of tight ends like Kenyan CID could also play wide receiver and Casper coming out of high school was 195 I think he certainly bulked up in his over 200 lb if he wanted to add some more muscle and change his body type I don't know how much you know he's necessarily going to play this year I think he can work himself into the rotation I think he's a tremendously talented guy but he's he's a pretty big dude and sadik is a PR big dude and last year at 220 sadique played tight end and he was really good in in in the action that that we did see and you know I I wouldn't say this about just any wide receiver but Casper at 6'6 like that that presents a big frame you look at uh you know a guy like Terrence Ferguson and his uh his his height I don't remember off the top of my head uh He's listed at 6'5 and 230 lb so you know could could Casper put on like another 20 pound that was what he was coming out of high school by the way tfer might be more Oregon doesn't list their weights on on their Oregon football roster online but I I I just had that thought like if he's not going to be able to crack the receiver rotation this year yeah he'd be a prime candidate to do it in 2025 if he sticks around Oregon's also brought in a lot of talented receivers this is another reason I think this thought kind of crossed my mind because Jeremiah K in the spring game look good Ryan pel could be good Jer on dicki we know how talented that guy is and you don't know what transfers are going to come in and by the way Gary Bryant JR could have another year because he started during the covid season so and and he has a red shirt in there as well so I I just wonder if he could play that tight end position Oregon's thin at that position going into 2025 because they're going to lose tfer they're going to lose uh Patrick Herbert after this season but you know I mentioned yesterday on the show with Brian they're going after 2025 tight end Prospect Lincoln cure and they've got some young guys on the roster like sadik or AJ pugliano or Roger Sal aaga perhaps could could be at the tight end position but s aaga you know probably slots as a tight end don't think he has a frame that is all that different than Kyler Casper and if there isn't a path at the receiver room then yeah he could transfer out one day but I just I I I think he could be a candidate with that size and frame and his catch radius to to make a position change and give tight end to go just just a thought I I don't know that that would ever happen maybe Casper's content to you know sit this year and barely see any touches and be one of the top targets next year I don't know I don't know like that's just something that came into my head and so I shared it here on the show that's kind of how it goes not all the time keep the mailbag questions coming appreciate everyone listening I'll see you next time have a wonderful rest of your day have a great weekend and go Ducks