Each of these guys is an NFL-type player who is not named Mariota.
My nightmare is that because Helfrich is a good recruiter (arguably, recruiting has improved post-Kelly) that we will coast on talent well enough to keep Helfrich around but without the competing for championships part. 7-10 wins a season type stuff. I don't see Helfrich driving the Ferrari into the ditch, that would make things too easy and clear.
Nobody thinks you are going into the ditch. Your nightmare is looking like a near certainty.
Each of these guys is an NFL-type player who is not named Mariota.
My nightmare is that because Helfrich is a good recruiter (arguably, recruiting has improved post-Kelly) that we will coast on talent well enough to keep Helfrich around but without the competing for championships part. 7-10 wins a season type stuff. I don't see Helfrich driving the Ferrari into the ditch, that would make things too easy and clear.
Nobody thinks you are going into the ditch. Your nightmare is looking like a near certainty.
Elite programs don't collapse. They slowly fall back and metrics show that if you are elite for several years, you are likely to be top 25 after that.
Miami peaked in 2001 and didn't win less than 9 until 2006. Osborne left Nebraska after 1997 and Solich still won 9-12-10-11-7-10 then fell off in 2004. Lambright wasn't good but he did have a co-title in 95, then missed out on the RB by 3 pts to an almost NC ASU. He failed in 97 when he had the best team in the conference.
Best case scenario my be what Ron Zook did at Florida. He immediately went 8-5 a few times and they were able to quickly can him and bring in Meyer. Maybe without Mariota Oregon will have a big drop next year and Helfrich won't be able to recover after that.
Kikaha without a doubt is our best player. He was one of our best defensive players as a true freshman when he went by Jamora.
The casual fan will think Shaq is the best defensive player since he gets the scores but Kikaha (and possibly Shelton has a much bigger impact on the game than him.
No disrespect to Shaq though he is a monster in his own right. This defense is fun to watch.
Shelton > Kikaha > Shaq > Peters
All four are fucking studs.
I remember (sort of) like a month ago saying no way they are all first rounders, or even close. Not so sure anymore. Depending on team needs I could certainly see Kikaha, Shelton, and Peters all go if they do well at the combine, and Shaq is right there as well (LBers aren't at the premium shutdown corners and DL are which is all the would hold him back imo). Testament to getting coached up and put in the position to succeed.
Shit, I was saying only Peters was a first rounder in the offseason. The improvement by the other three, particularly Shelton and Shaq, is eye opening.
It's eye opening to me that it is eye opening to you.
Loving how we are actually seeing improvement from players as they grow rather than peaking as freshmen like during the Sark years. I'm not ready to go full doog on the defense though. Our defense statistically is still not very good, which is crazy considering there are 4 legit All-American candidates on the defense. Were ranked in the high 60's in yards per game given up and in the 30's in points per game given up. I would hope we would have better than a Justin Wilcox defense.
Part of that is the fucking stupid scrimmages against Hawaii and Eastern we had earlier this year. They jacked up our defense pretty good. The good news is were trending up. Stanford had less on offense than what they average this year and the Cal game was fantastic considering Cal's offense.
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Miami peaked in 2001 and didn't win less than 9 until 2006. Osborne left Nebraska after 1997 and Solich still won 9-12-10-11-7-10 then fell off in 2004. Lambright wasn't good but he did have a co-title in 95, then missed out on the RB by 3 pts to an almost NC ASU. He failed in 97 when he had the best team in the conference.
Best case scenario my be what Ron Zook did at Florida. He immediately went 8-5 a few times and they were able to quickly can him and bring in Meyer. Maybe without Mariota Oregon will have a big drop next year and Helfrich won't be able to recover after that.
Does that work?
Part of that is the fucking stupid scrimmages against Hawaii and Eastern we had earlier this year. They jacked up our defense pretty good. The good news is were trending up. Stanford had less on offense than what they average this year and the Cal game was fantastic considering Cal's offense.