All the playmakers are back. There's every reason to be optimistic about the 2011 Ducks, but a handful of critical questions have to answered in the next seven months. Who steps up in the offensive line with three productive seniors departing? Who replaces the experience, tenacity and leadership of Casey Matthews and Spencer Paysinger? And who anchors the Oregon defense on the defensive line? The Ducks lose Brandon Bair and Zac Clark to graduation, and appear very thin at a crucial position they have struggled to fill since Haloti Ngata and Igor Olshansky left for The League ten years ago.
The Ducks have had a half dozen great running backs since then, three wonderful quarterbacks, four or five shifty receivers, and some atom-smashing linebackers, but stout defensive tackles are rarer than an honest SEC booster.
Oregon found one. It turns out the tape we ran yesterday on Jared Ebert is from his freshman season. Here's a look at his sophomore highlights, in which he is even stronger and more dominant. Ebert has great instincts and takes great angles to the ball. He has tremendous lateral quickness, and strong fundamentals. He's an excellent tackler, wrapping up ball carriers around the legs in open space, strong, smart, with fierce urgency, desire and effort. Jerry Azzinaro will make this young man an NFL player, and he will be a force in the middle for the Ducks. In the clip, he works low out of a four-point stance and blasts through blockers, finds and pursues the ball, play after play.
Highlight films can be tricky. But watch the passion and heart in this kid, his strength and technique. JC Gridiron had him as the #2 defensive tackle in the country, and he's graduating in time for spring practice with a 3.2 GPA. The Oregon defense will be better in 2011, and Ebert will be at the heart of it.
The second cause for optimism is a look back. It's the motivational video from Oregon Gridiron, and as you see those great moments and plays flash by, you see the speed and flair this team played with, and you realize the Ducks aren't done. They'll continue to play and prepare the same way. Their will to win and finish the job has created an identity for this program that a setback in Glendale will only postpone for a while.
They'll meet next week and commit to the beginning of a new season. They'll start winter workouts, then spring practice, then summer voluntary conditioning, then, in six months, the first practice before meeting LSU on September 3rd.
This team never quit. They didn't play their best game in Glendale, but they never quit. Their best game is ahead of them, and the preparation starts in a few days. We're a forward-looking operation. Now snap out of it and look forward.
We're losing several players on the o/d-lines and at lb. THAT has me concerned. We will have great talent and depth at all skill positions.
ReplyDeleteBP--
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you back. Ducks are in a great position to reload because of their depth. At linebacker, Stuckey, Kaddu, Clay, Alonso Lokombo. Wallace, and Pleasant make a strong rotation. With the depth at defensive back I see Pleasant joining the lbs again, and I think he's a better fit there. Be interesting to see how it shakes out.
Dale