Biggest for the Ducks or anyone? I don't have numbers to back this up, but the 2020 Covid year not counting against player eligibility has resulted in more guys competing for spots and (I suspect) a ripple effect of more transfers for the following years. I know all the movement wears on some fans, but I like that the athletes have options to pursue their dreams.
Some good speculation from rivals insiders... it appears that the verbals in Oregon's 2023 class are remaining solid despite OC Dillingham's departure. We shall see as the early window where most guys commit is three weeks away.
STOMP
so far, the Ducks who have announced intention to enter the portal, have mostly been expected.
* Seven McGee was in the portal a year ago and withdrew. He just couldn't break into the rotation. He's a tweener: too small for a RB and too slow for a WR. Sean Dollars is quite a bit better. That he's back in the portal is no surprise at all
* Cardwell was inevitable and completely expected. His parents, mostly his mom, have been pushing him out for a while. He couldn't get healthy, and even when he did, he was not as talented as the RB's ahead of him. For a flawed, upright RB he became rally overrated among part of the fan base. Very unlikely he'll be missed
* Dont'e Thornton has been posting cryptic tweets hinting at transfer for months. So far, he's just another one of those guys who flashes a lot of potential without delivering. He had 25% of his receptions and 40% of his receiving yards in one game. 17 receptions, 360 yards, 1 TD; not exactly great numbers. He's the only transfer so far, that will possibly be missed, and it wouldn't take much of a WR transferring in to offset Thornton's loss
* it was inevitable that a QB would enter the portal. Butterfield got his name in first. Considering how shaky Ty Thompson looked, that Butterfield couldn't climb above Thompson in the rotation says a lot about Butterfield and not much of it is good. No loss, and the double-factor of NIL and the transfer portal means that a lot of QB's will be moving every off-season
what could happen is that Ty Thompson will enter the portal too; and Bo Nix decides to go to the NFL and not risk injury in a meaningless bowl game. Leaving the Ducks with Jake Van Dyne & Marcus Sanders as their QB's....yikes! Braxton Burmeister part 2
6 months ago, it seemed inevitable that Bo Nix was a one-and-done. That still may be the case as it's unlikely he'll improve his draft status by returning to Oregon for another year. But he's had a couple of interviews lately where he's actually hinted that coming back for one more year isn't far-fetched, at all. I've seen some 'semi-informed' speculation that Nix got around 800K in NIL this year and the Ducks are working on a package that's bigger than that for next season plus a very attractive '
insurance-against-injury' policy
my hunch is that the losses along the OLine and the departure of Dillingham will be hard to overcome in terms of getting Nix to come back. I doubt he wants to spend a 5th year running for his life again like he did for 3 seasons at Auburn, although I don't think the OLine will be closes to Auburn bad, especially if Klemm stays
Lanning really needs to hit another home run in his hire of the next OC. That would very likely lock in Dante Moore and Jurrion Dickey. Maybe just as important is keeping Kenyon Saddiq and Dante Dowdell locked in. And it might actually be a factor for Nix. That hire needs to happen sooner rather than later too
