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Grading Oregon's 2021 spring football game
DJDuck
Member Posts: 5,970
Overall Team Grade: A
There was not a lot to fault from Saturday's event at Autzen Stadium. Sure, there's a ton of room for progress to be made, but the Ducks went to work in April and it showed on Saturday.
Quarterback Grade: B+
“My biggest takeaway from Saturday was that there is not a bad quarterback among the four battling for the starting job. Sure, all four passers made mistakes, but all in all, there wasn't one that came out of Saturday sticking out like a sore thumb. Anthony Brown handled his first-team business just fine. While Brown looked perfectly capable of handling the offense (I'm still skeptical of his ability to hit vertical passes consistently), the promise of the other three was arguably even more exciting. Jay Butterfield's first pass of the day was a beauty. He found Troy Franklin for about a 40-yard gain, and his opening drive as a whole may have been the best of the day. Robby Ashford led the game-winning drive, and won the game with his legs on a two-point scramble. It's clear that Ashford is the most athletically gifted as a runner, and his passing wasn't far behind on Saturday. Finally, Thompson may have had the least eye-popping stats, but the tools were impossible to miss on Saturday from the program's most highly-rated quarterback signee”
Running Back Grade: B-
Aside from cornerback, my overall opinion of this group probably changed the least of any other on Saturday. Simply put, I already knew what Oregon had in CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, and the impressive debut of Aaron Smith probably won't mean a whole lot in four months time.
https://247sports.com/college/oregon/LongFormArticle/Oregon-Football-Ducks-Football-Mario-Cristobal-Anthony-Brown-Jay-Butterfield-Troy-Franklin--164960981/
There was not a lot to fault from Saturday's event at Autzen Stadium. Sure, there's a ton of room for progress to be made, but the Ducks went to work in April and it showed on Saturday.
Quarterback Grade: B+
“My biggest takeaway from Saturday was that there is not a bad quarterback among the four battling for the starting job. Sure, all four passers made mistakes, but all in all, there wasn't one that came out of Saturday sticking out like a sore thumb. Anthony Brown handled his first-team business just fine. While Brown looked perfectly capable of handling the offense (I'm still skeptical of his ability to hit vertical passes consistently), the promise of the other three was arguably even more exciting. Jay Butterfield's first pass of the day was a beauty. He found Troy Franklin for about a 40-yard gain, and his opening drive as a whole may have been the best of the day. Robby Ashford led the game-winning drive, and won the game with his legs on a two-point scramble. It's clear that Ashford is the most athletically gifted as a runner, and his passing wasn't far behind on Saturday. Finally, Thompson may have had the least eye-popping stats, but the tools were impossible to miss on Saturday from the program's most highly-rated quarterback signee”
Running Back Grade: B-
Aside from cornerback, my overall opinion of this group probably changed the least of any other on Saturday. Simply put, I already knew what Oregon had in CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, and the impressive debut of Aaron Smith probably won't mean a whole lot in four months time.
https://247sports.com/college/oregon/LongFormArticle/Oregon-Football-Ducks-Football-Mario-Cristobal-Anthony-Brown-Jay-Butterfield-Troy-Franklin--164960981/
Comments
Pass Catchers Grade: A+
Explanation: Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever been more impressed by the talent, depth and versatility of an Oregon receiving group than this one. The Ducks have senior leadership, they have returning depth and they have some immensely talented freshmen too. Every single piece of that was on display on Saturday, as six wide receivers caught at least three passes, four had more than 50 yards and two found the end zone. It almost didn't matter who was thrown the rock, the result was a catch and maximum yardage.
The true freshmen duo of Troy Franklin and Dont'e Thornton lived up to the lofty recruiting billing. Two of the three best recruits at the position in program-history,
OFFENSIVE LINE GRADE
Offensive Line Grade: B-
Explanation: Oregon once again shuffled bodies with the first-team unit, as it utilized Dawson Jaramillo at right tackle in place of the injured Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu. Alex Forsyth and George Moore acted as the only players out there for the day's duration at center and left tackle respectively.
DEFENSIVE LINE GRADE
Defensiv Line Grade: A
Explanation: I just ran through the impressive sack number, and this group did the majority of that work. They totaled five sacks with Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brandon Dorlus, Keanu Williams, Sua'ava Poti and walk-on Louie Cresto all getting in on the act. Thibodeaux played standing almost the entire game, but stayed true to his previous role as a pass rusher and edge player rather than stepping out into coverage.
Linebacker Grade: A
Explanation: OK, I just drooled all over the team's wideouts, and I'm about to do the same with the team's backers. My goodness are the Ducks loaded here. I've been wracking my brain all day trying to think of a linebacker group from the past decade or so that I think has a higher ceiling. I'm coming up blank. The Ducks are loaded at both the inside and outside spots. Isaac Slade-Matautia played only in the first drive of the game before turning it over to Justin Flowe. The former five-star recruit played like he had something to prove. He was all over the place, finishing with five tackles and a team-best 1.5 behind the line of scrimmage.
The first-team defense's second series featured Kavyon Thibodeaux and Mase Funa on the outside with Noah Sewell and Flowe on the inside. That's about as dynamic and talented a linebacker foursome I can remember Oregon producing. I'm not calling for ISM to be demoted, but I came away from Saturday feeling more and more like Flowe's role on this defense may be bigger than previously anticipated.
DEFENSIVE BACKS GRADE
Dontae Manning (Photo: © Soobum Im, USA TODAY Sports)
Defensive Backs Grade: INC
Explanation: I don't think I can offer a true grade given how much was missing out there on Saturday. Due to about half a dozen absences, the Ducks had just two available scholarship corners in freshmen Dontae Manning and Jaylin Davies and were also without starting nickel Jamal Hill.
Special Teams Grade: A
The real story here is the continued emergence of Henry Katleman. The Katlemonster took his game up a level on Saturday, when he barely snuck the ball past the uprights from 52 yards out. Oregon does not make 50 yard kicks often. So, seeing Katleman extend his range from the 47 yarder he hit in the Fiesta Bowl is notable. It seems like 52 yards is about the end of Katleman's range, but that's plenty good. If he can consistently hit from 40 to 45 yards, that's an added source of scoring.