Jerrard Randall might yet wind up at Oregon, it's reported.. Rob Moseley links to a story by the Florida Sun Sentinel that quotes his coach. Randall's retaking the ACT in hopes of achieving a qualifying score and signing an Oregon letter of intent. JC players have that option under NCAA rules; his 4-year agreement would supercede the juco commitment.
Randall's highlight film shows a strong arm and plenty of athletic ability. Though he got higher recruiting ratings than the Ducks' other signee at qb this recruiting cycle, Marcus Mariota of Hawaii. Mariota looks like the more finished, polished quarterback at this point. Randall does have a strong arm and a durable body at 6-1 185. He claims 4.4 speed, running well in the highlights, able to both break away and deliver a blow when necessary.
Fans sometimes make the mistake of thinking we're set at this position or another. With a couple of scholarships left, the Ducks can't have too many fast, athletic players, especially at quarterback, where in two very recent years they had to reach down to fifth on the depth chart before the season was over. While the spread isn't any harder on quarterbacks than the I or the Pro Set, there is no waiver wire in college football. Besides, Randall probably has the football ability to play four or five positions if he doesn't make it as a qb: receiver, running back, safety, cornerback, or rover if he fills out. To pick up a kid with that kind of upside using the 24th scholarship is a good acquisition. Have to like the fact that he's 1) still fighting to make it and 2) accepting the challenge of competing against a very good group of quarterbacks. That's suggest competitiveness, and the fact that he committed early and stayed with Oregon speaks well of him.
For the 25th scholarship, barring a miracle visit by Clowney, the hope would be the Ducks would pick up a role-playing big body for insurance on the defensive line, a 280-300 pounder who might be a sleeper. No concrete news has emerged on the Clowney front, and likely won't. It turned out to be a bold headline dreamed up by a website hoping to drive traffic. Too bad.
Whether or not we get more players is academic at this point. Let's not get too greedy.
ReplyDeleteBP--
ReplyDeleteAlways welcome your opinion, but I disagree. Oregon has 23 scholarship athletes this class, plus two more to give, and if the opportunity exists to invite another quality athlete, they should take it. USC signed 31 this year.
It's not a matter of being greedy. Football is a game of numbers, and depth is one of the key differences between top teams and non-bowl teams.
If Randall qualifies, the Ducks should sign him. He wants to be a Duck and he has a lot of potential.
Dale
I couldn't agree more with you Dale. And "greedy"?? BP is being extremely naive. So he doesn't think the Ducks should take as many good players as they can get because it would "look bad"? All you have to do is look at USC. 31 recruits because of the stay in their limits pending appeal.
ReplyDeletePerhaps BP doesn't remember having to burn a redshirt year for DT or Dennis Dixon going down. (And along with it our hopes of a national championship that year...) True quality depth is the one thing the Ducks haven't had in the past. Not that long ago, one or two key injuries and the season was toast. We didn't have 5 star recruits waiting in the wings, biding their time like SC, Florida, Ohio State and their ilk.
Call me greedy if you'd like, but I'd love to see as many talented players as possible on the Ducks squad.
GD58-
ReplyDeleteDepth issues used to absolutely KILL the Ducks in the Rich Brooks years. They'd be okay every year until about game 5.
Now, they have the depth to sustain a league title run even if they suffered some injuries, and the quality depth to go deep into the roster, allowing them to motivate and develop their talented young players.
Last year Nick Aliotti rotated 26 players on defense, and that pays huge dividends going forward. Oregon only returns 11 starters, but they have a host of players that got significant playing time in 2010.
Good to hear from you. And don't be too hard on BP--he's as loyal a Duck fan as you'll find, just a little superstitious.
Dale