Latest / The PNW Podcast / Ducks in Disarray: What's Next for Oregon Football?

Transcript

Ducks in Disarray: What's Next for Oregon Football? · The PNW Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Ducks have not had to deal with adversity in in recent memory.
0:03
SPEAKER_01: We've just been expecting 10, 11, 12 wins, playoff appearances, top 10 rankings, you know, top 10 recruiting classes.
0:11
SPEAKER_01: So you have to now look at what are the pieces that we can what pieces can we keep for next year?
0:18
SPEAKER_01: Because when a team starts to fall apart like this, Lanning even said it said it exactly with these words, trying to salvage the season.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: And not just the season, you're trying to salvage the roster.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: So you're looking at other guys might start like where we're trying to pull dudes into the transfer portal.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: This is where you might lose someone to the transfer portal.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, where they they see the writing on the wall.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Because this is more than just play calling.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: Let's think back to Oklahoma State when the whole storyline was we were telegraphing the play.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: And and that's one thing.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: You can put that on, and they tried to put that on Dante Moore.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: You know where that falls on?
0:52
SPEAKER_00: A coaching staff who has had all summer.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: We didn't go and do the homework that feet together, feet staggered are an absolute read.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: And when we're watching Oklahoma State, I'm just like, they know what we're doing.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: They know what we're doing.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Welcome into the PW podcast.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: We are hanging tough here at the Stafford Hills Club.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And if you've not heard me talk about it, I don't know what rock you're living under, but this is the premier place to be getting your health and wellness on.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh, of course, the community here is next level, type of place that holds doors for you, remembers your name and makes you feel good about yourself, something that you want when you're working on yourself.
1:44
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1:49
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1:55
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1:57
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2:02
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why you'd want to do that, uh, but they got you covered.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Staffordhills.com.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Tell them Drew sent you for half off your initiation.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: So stoked who I've got in here today.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Marcus gracefully stepping aside so I can have uh this guy on.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: And I would love sometime to have you on my other podcast, Fit for Radio Podcast, to discuss about the other aspects of your life and the cool things you've done since we went to college together.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: Actually, from the same hometown as well, Lake Oswego, Oregon.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Just a lot of greats come out of this place, let's be honest.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but his name is Ryan Mesick.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the show.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for having me.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: Now it's great to have you.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, and also you host another podcast, the Wolf of Walsh Street podcast.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: And it they do a lot of NFL football picks.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking and they take it to another level, uh, what I like is you guys don't just pick teams and hope.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: You you build out parlays, uh, manipulate the lines, make it so you can actually win some money.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: And you guys last season had some pretty great records.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, how's the show going this year?
3:10
SPEAKER_01: So we've been doing it.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: We started it during COVID.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh, uh, a good buddy, uh mutual friend, Ryan James.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: Um great dude.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: We were just on Zoom because we know we couldn't really interact.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, hey, let's talk football.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Pretty soon, he just said, I should record this.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it really was an organic start.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: And then now we've been doing it five years.
3:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh, so the last four years, I think our average like win percentage was at between 65 and 70 percent, which is extremely high for TV.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: Massive for gambling for sports wagering.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Um, 2026 has been a different story.
3:42
SPEAKER_01: Has it been tougher?
3:43
SPEAKER_01: The landscape of the NFL right now.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: I feel like um you've got uh uh just a a litany of upsets.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, some just just last weekend, the Houston Texans lose uh outright to the Giants um as 10 and a half point favorites.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: LA Rams were 12 and a half point favorites, they lose outright two weeks ago.
4:03
SPEAKER_01: Just some some picks that uh I think can just destroy parlays.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: So those are the picks where where you throw somebody in as a money line play along with maybe some other tighter lines, and that's kind of your guarantee.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't go.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: Those guarantees have not been there this year.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's a ton of fun.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: We love breaking down the games.
4:23
SPEAKER_01: We've been you know spot on a a huge percentage of the time on these games, but uh, you know, when you are building a parlay, just takes one.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: One leg, one leg gets kicked out from under you and and you're toast.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: But uh no, we we love doing it.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: It's been a ton of fun.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, and this is the first year we put it on YouTube.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: So uh all the episodes are on YouTube.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh my wife helps kind of edit that and do some shorts there.
4:47
SPEAKER_01: Um so and then are you on the other platforms?
4:49
SPEAKER_01: Are you on Spotify?
4:50
SPEAKER_01: YouTube and Spotify.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the main two.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: And then RJ kind of handles like how those kind of things go up.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm sort of his wingman and all that, but it's been great.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: That is great.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Now, I I couldn't agree with you more that the uh the parlays have been going a little bit sideways.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I know that RJ is a Vikings fan.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: I know that you are a Bears fan.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: And so uh exciting year for both of those teams, but also uh the money line sometimes screams bet against the Vikings, who've been just obnoxiously terrible on offense and are still 6-0.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: So I I see the good thing is since RJ's a fan, maybe he's stayed out of the muck on that a little bit.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but uh it's just an example of how it's hard to predict the NFL this year.
5:33
SPEAKER_01: The the I mean the NFL wants unpredictability.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, they want the literally the the the saying of any given Sunday, anything can happen.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's more true this year than ever.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, RJ tries not to be a homer for the the Vikings.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: I try not not to be a homer for uh the Bears.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: Hard to do.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: But we've been battling and talking trash between each other since we were kids about that north that NFC North rivalry.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, it's just cool that both teams are right in the mix, arguably the best division in football.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: Um the Vikings defense is right up there with the with with the best defenses in the entire league.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: I'd put them that them and the Seahawks, probably one, two.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you can flip that if you want.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then you know, with the Halo, with the healthy Caleb Williams, the Chicago Bears are as dangerous as any team in the league.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: So the fact that you've got those two teams that hate each other as a fan base and just like in general, um, it makes for drama.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: It makes for you know for uh for exciting games, you know, coming up uh as they start to get into the division.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: And for people who don't know, because this is the PNW podcast, and there is no team in the Portland metropolitan area.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: So when I was a kid, my best friend's dad was a was from Minneapolis.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: That's how I became a Vikings fan.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: So I'm also in that 6-0 party.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: But um, you know, I I totally get it.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: RJ, um, my I and I and I give him a lot of heat for this.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: He loves to become a pseudo-Seahawk fan when they're doing well.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: So there are a lot of Seahawk fans who listen to this, and I support the team as well.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: I like to see him do well.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: But man, when he throws on a Seahawks jersey and heads up north and just pretends that's his team, he and I know.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: And I and I send him personal messages.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, that is the weirdest looking Vikings jersey I have seen in a while.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but he is he is an old friend as well.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: I do love RJ and I do love the Wolf of Wall Street podcast.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: But we got to get into, while we still have some time here, we got to get into what's going on with the Oregon Ducks.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, beyond what happened at Illinois over the weekend, luckily my wife and kids were out of town.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: So while I was screaming at the television, and and you know, on this show, we don't call for jobs all the time, you know, and and not to do it after three or four games, but you know, the rumbling started early and and now it's official.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: The Ducks have parted ways with their offensive coordinator.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's a little bit of that too little, too late type of behavior when you now have three losses.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: You look at some of those other games that we won.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: And you know, we lose a squeaker to UCLA, but then we barely beat Nebraska, we barely beat Boise State.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: I mean, our only feed up win of the year, I mean, outside of we did play great late against USC, but I mean, you can't hang your hat on Portland State.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, minus the 84 to nothing Portland State Yeah, it just looks terrible.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: Just shellacking, which looks almost rude.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: Um the Ducks' metrics and their stats for this year are as are as terrible as we've ever seen in the last decade plus.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: Um with the most stacked roster.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: With the with arguably the most stacked roster that we that we've had.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, you look at the number of four and five-star recruits, you look at Dante Moore coming back, you look at you know, all these defensive linemen coming back, a lot of guys that could have gone to the NFL likely would have been high picks, um, deciding to come back for another year to run it to try to win a championship.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Um one thing that I think it has to be talked about is the standard for Duck fans and where the bar is now is so high.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: It's nothing like when we were in college.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: I remember asking a mutual friend of ours, we finished seventh one year in like uh 2001 or something like that.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: And it's written, it was written inside someone's closet, like Ducks, seventh overall, like I'm so proud of it.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: And I remember saying to him, I'm like, hey, do you think we could ever win a national championship?
9:29
SPEAKER_00: And it was back when just the top two teams went, and it was just a flat no, we can't.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: And it was like, oh, and it was back when the Nebraskas of the world, they ran the world and and Miami ran the world.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: And and so it's a totally different landscape now.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: And now we expect greatness, we expect college football playoff every year.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: We want to be in that natty.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: So NIL has also changed everything in college football.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: When you have a roster that's it's not 100% public, but people have estimated the Oregon's roster to be somewhere in the 40 to 45 million dollars.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: I heard 45.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: That's what the rumblings are.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: So I think that right there continues to elevate the expectations.
10:13
SPEAKER_01: It's not just, oh, we've got this good program, we've got a bunch of good recruits that have come up organically.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: No, we are going out and paying guys NFL salary numbers, you know, for like people who are choosing to stay in college for that extra one, two million dollars to delay an NFL contract.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna be a late pick and you're only gonna get a signing bonus of maybe one or two million dollars, stay in college.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: You've got guys that might not even go to the league that are, you know, trying to petition the NCAA to stay in college for a sixth or a seventh year because they can go make a million bucks in NIL.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: Um I think the Ducks issue you have to start at the top.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: You have to start with Dan Lanning, and you have to start with the decision to hire both coordinators from inside.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: Um you know, on the defensive side of the ball, I think that they've really done everything possible to put the team in a position to win, but the Drew Maringer hire clearly didn't work.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't even working when Dante Moore was healthy.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: No, you've got a first-round draft pick quarterback, and the only reason people weren't calling for Drew's head, I think, to start was the fact that that Dante Moore is so talented, everyone's like, oh, Dante Moore's having a tough start to the year.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: This team and the play calling that was that's been going on from week one has been atrocious.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: So Lanny had a had a press conference uh yesterday, he does his weekly presser, and he the too little, too late is 100% true.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: He also mentioned decisions like this, I don't take lightly.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: And like you were saying, you're not we do, we don't, you know, people don't want to call for someone else's job.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: That person's got a family, that person has you know a career to look after, that person's got a you know, wife and kids.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, and Drew does, but this decision clearly has been burgeoning and bubbling for for weeks.
11:59
SPEAKER_01: And and Lanning said as much.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: My guess is you know, that UCLA uh you know offensive display was was was an abomination.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: They they squeak by uh Nebraska in another just like dogfight in the trenches of of mediocrity.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: And I so I understand where the duck where where duck fans are saying it's too little too late.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: I also understand the landing side of it is he I'm sure he thought about firing Merringer after the UCLA game, but it was early, but it's early and there's a process there, and so you know by the time he actually gets around to having everything in line to make that decision to then elevate, it's gonna be Jay Johnson, who's uh who he coached with at Georgia, who was the OC at Colorado, OC at Michigan State.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully Jay's gonna come in with some fresh, you know, some fresh ideas, but all of those pieces need to be in place for you to then say, because this train is this train is on the tracks.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: This train is is rolling.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: You can't pause the season and take a month break to go have a coaching, you know, no, you're hoping to be able to recover and continue.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, the Illinois loss really does put a nail in the coffin.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: You have you you've got three losses.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: You still have you have a you've got a ranked Northwestern team coming into Odson, then you go at Ohio State.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm missing Julian saying, but that Ohio State team is a juggernaut.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: They're stacked.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you've still got Michigan, you've still got Washington.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: So even if the Ducks were to run the table, you're not gonna make the Big Ten championship, and you're and you're and your 99% chance not gonna make the playoff.
13:33
SPEAKER_01: So this year, to me, is all about next year.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: Building it out for the future.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: The Ducks have not had to deal with adversity in in recent memory.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: We've just been expecting 10, 11, 12 wins, playoff appearances, top 10 rankings, uh, you know, top 10 draft class, top 10 recruiting classes.
13:54
SPEAKER_01: So you have to now look at what are the pieces that we can what pieces can we keep for next year?
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Because when a team starts to fall apart like this, um Lanning even said it, it said it exactly with these words.
14:09
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to salvage the season.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: And not just the season, you're trying to salvage the roster.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: So you're looking at other guys might start like where we're trying to pull pull dudes in through the transfer portal.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: This is where you might lose someone to the transfer portal.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, where they they see the writing on the wall.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: Because this is more than just play calling.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: Think let's think back to Oklahoma State when the whole storyline was that we were telegraphing the plays.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and and that's one thing you can put that on, and they tried to put that on Dante Moore.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: You know who that falls on?
14:40
SPEAKER_00: A coaching staff who has had all summer after Indiana did it to us multiple times and then and said as much.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we didn't go and do the homework that feet together, feet staggered are an absolute read.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: And when we're watching Oklahoma State, I'm just like, they know what we're doing.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: They know what we're doing every single play.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: They knew what we were doing.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: It makes you think of the Houston Astros when they're bang when they're banging the garbage can and they know if it's a breaking ball or a fastball.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, like, and how somebody isn't getting a read on that.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Like, you would think if I'm if I'm on the coaching staff in any capacity, I sit in the dark and watch film all day and night.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Like that's my life.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: And say my kids when I'm done.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: And then you bring guys in to say, hey, I've studied all this tape.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Now it's time for me to show it to you.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: So then you bring the players in, you bring a quarterback room in, you bring a tight end group in, you bring the offensive line in, and you have your meetings and your film sessions.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: You should have been, you've watched days and nights of tape to then cut it down to be like, look what we're doing on a like uh like in in your group.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: So you go to the quarterback room and you say, Dante, look what you're doing when it's a run play.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: You're putting your right foot forward or your left foot forward, look what we're doing.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: We're those are things that at this level, at this level of college football, especially, and you have to factor in NIL.
16:05
SPEAKER_01: When you've got a 40 plus million dollar roster, coaches are getting paid millions of dollars to make these calls and these decisions, you cannot you can't drop the ball like that.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: No, no, it's it's it's one of the things that are just unexcusable, but it's also we're in a tough spot because true idiots will say fire Dan Lanning.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: And uh the first thing I will say, and I know that you're shaking your head and you I know you agree with this.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: We have fought for loyalty for so long, and everyone who has sniffed any bit of success has left us.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, all the way back to Chip leaving for the NFL, that's a tough one.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and then you you look at you've got Taggart leaving for Florida State because it's his dream job.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Cristobal leaving for Miami because it's his dream job, and and the loyalty not being there.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Alabama could have called Dan Lanning and he would have said, I'm staying in Eugene.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: And now, granted, in an NIL time, it's different because there is endless funds.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: There is 45 million, there is Air Force Ones and Jordan ones and all the all the ones you could want.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: And so I get that part of it, but he was loyal to us.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: And he said, I want to raise my kids here if they'll have me.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: And now, granted, there is a there's a threshold on that.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: There's a moment where it's like, well, we'd love I'd love to raise my kids being the working coach too, but you have to win games.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: But you cannot cut and run on a guy who had not even lost to a ranked team like in his tenure.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: It's it's completely asinine.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: And it and anyone who says that, especially like trolling online, it immediately says, You have no idea what you're speaking about.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's you're a prisoner of the moment if you think that Dan Lane needs to be fired right now.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: Was it a bad decision?
17:58
SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, coaches make mistakes.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: And if if we live in a world where we we won't accept a mistake from a coach, guess what?
18:08
SPEAKER_01: We're never gonna be happy with anyone that's in that spot.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: The the level of of of of coach that Dan Manning is, he is in the upper echelon, he's in the top 20 coaches in the entire country.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh, going into this season, people will probably say top 10 coach, you know, that might have gotten knocked down or wrong because but he's still a top 20 coach, no questions asked.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: No questions asked.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: He recruits the he he recruits like no other.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: This this this program will bounce back.
18:35
SPEAKER_01: So I think you have to look at you know from from the Northwestern game on as this is all in a sense a tryout for next season, and what kind of program are we going to be next year?
18:48
SPEAKER_01: So does Jay Johnson stay as the OC?
18:51
SPEAKER_01: I I highly doubt that.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: I think I think Lanning just learned his lesson of not hiring from within, but I think it's a really smart move to elevate him, someone that you know is you know newer to the program, ideally some fresh ideas.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: And then he was asked about Achilles Smith Jr.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: possibly getting some run.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: I think you have to kick the tires across the board.
19:11
SPEAKER_01: Even if there's there's someone, you know, Dylan Royola, you bring in, you pay him a you know a decent amount of money, you've got to give Achille a shot just to see what you have there, not see what you have in practice, see what you have in in a game.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Um you know, I think you do that across the board.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: We've been decimated at wide receiver, some due to injury, some due to people joyriding and getting DUIs down in the gene.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: That was revoked.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: Was it?
19:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was revoked.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: Or they're not revoked isn't the right term.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: They dropped, they have decided not to prosecute.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: And so I do have I do have some theories on that.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: I I heard a rumor that it was uh it was actually being he was being charged with a weed DUI.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, if that is the case, all it takes is a big lawyer from Oregon who says weed in his blood or weed in his mouth.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Because weed in his blood, weed's legal, and you're you can't get a DUI on Thursday if you smoked weed on Sunday.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: But your blood will say that you have pot in your system.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: So it's not like alcohol where a blood test, it's a 24-hour thing or in the car.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: So he could just say, I that was me, dog.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: That was a passenger.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: Was it a bad decision?
20:22
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: Was I was I breaking the law, speeding?
20:25
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and a lot of bad decisions there.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: And we have a history of that.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: And you know, Dan Landing comes from Georgia, they have a history of that on a lot of.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: I think every big program in the country has some some level of that.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but when it comes to driving fast and being stupid, Georgia's the best.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we obviously we have no room to talk right now.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: We got to take a quick break, but when we come back, the news is out about Dante Moore, about whether he will return this season.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: I want to know uh what you're thinking about that because everybody's got an opinion and there's a conversation about what that means at quarterback moving forward.
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23:07
SPEAKER_00: All right, so the news has broke, Ryan, that the Dante Moore situation is kind of coming to an end, at least for this season, as it it what he didn't say it a hundred percent, but Dan Lanning made it pretty clear to stop asking, and that Dante Moore is being, you know, put in on ice for the rest of the season.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: Now I feel like in my heart of hearts, the reason we weren't saying that was well, if you're still on a playoff hunt later on, maybe you can have this magical moment where he comes out of the tunnel and boom goes the dynamite.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: But to try and salvage bull eligibility against U Dub in a few weeks, I don't I don't feel like that's worth even putting the guy at risk.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I will say a couple of things before I ask you this question.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: I feel like he is seeing his own shadow a little bit after that hit.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: It was a brutal hit.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, I've I it's not the most popular opinion, but I've always been a question a little bit of the killer instinct on Dante Moore.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: When the going gets tough, it doesn't always come through with like that leader at the front of the army that I would hope for.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, like a Bo Nicks has more of that, you know, where they they have that grit.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: They're willing to spit in the face of a problem, even if it means it's in their own eyes.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: I never really got that out of Dante.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: He's he's always got a little bit of that Southern California feel to me, but I like him.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: But coming into the year, everyone's like, oh, it's automatic.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I gotta see him in a pressure situation.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: I didn't expect somebody to absolutely smear him into the dirt on an illegal hit and then act like a complete fool, like the guy did.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, but he shut down now.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: It raises two things.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: And I actually had to go through and look at it because I thought he was in his senior-senior season.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: And it's saying under the new eligibility rules, he could come back and play next year.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: And in a worst case scenario, even if my research has failed me, he played few enough games to where he could apply for a medical exemption.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: And so the door is not closed for a return to Oregon, mostly because of what you talked about earlier, that we're paying these people NIL money.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it might be the biggest waste of four and a half to five million dollars in the history of Oregon athletics.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: But if it opens the door for a return and they're like, hey, Dante, let's run it back.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: You want another five, and he doesn't know what his future looks like in the NFL and his draft stock is plummeted.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: Why wouldn't he take it?
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And what's your thought?
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Is this a situation where A, it could happen, and B, do we run from this?
25:46
SPEAKER_01: A, I think technically he's eligible based off everything you just said, and and and that's my understanding that he does have one more year of eligibility.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't see that happening.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: I think that this shutdown is medical to a to an extent.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: I think if if the ducks had been winning games, he gets cleared from that medical, you know.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a convenient medical situation.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: And it allows the decision to be out of Dante's hands.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: It it allows the decision to be out of Dan Lanning's hands.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: Those guys don't have to get messy and and stuff.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: Not like about your heart and his drive.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: And so that way his character is not in question, and that way Dan Lanny's decision making is not in question.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: It's out of their hands.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: It's a lot cleaner for both those guys.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, both guys that are making millions of dollars, and they have a pretty clean out to this question that gets asked anytime it does get asked for the rest of the season.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: Currently, it looks like Dante's stock has dropped a little, not not plummeted.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: I think he's still projected to be a first round pick.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: If you're if if you're what's wild is last year, if he if if he goes into the draft last year, he's the number two quarterback off the board.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: And he's number two pick, probably.
27:02
SPEAKER_01: Right there, between probably between two and five.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: So he's a top five pick, potentially the number two pick, second quarterback behind Mendoza, getting paid a like all of those, all of those salaries and signing bonuses are locked to the pick.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: And they're guaranteed.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: And they're guaranteed and locked to the pick.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: The one is X, the two is is Y, and you just keep going down.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: So say hypothetically, he drops to like pick 20, 25.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: While his salary, his NFL salary will technically be slightly less because again, that's a locked-in number.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: It's all auto.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: Staying in the first round is massive.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: The difference between a first round pick and then once you kick to the second round, the second you pick 33 in the NFL, that those that guaranteed money drops significantly.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: So as long as long as he's still projected to be a first round pick, I think unquestionably he goes into the draft.
27:56
SPEAKER_01: You can't risk another injury and possibly a career, a career ending injury, where this it sounds like he's gonna make a full recovery.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: He likely already has made a decently full recovery.
28:06
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's very convenient that we lost some games and that he can just say, This is for medical reasons.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm I'm being shut down.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: It's not my call, it's the doctors.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: Um the silver lining here, and this is something I've just thought about since I since the news broke, you might end up on a better team.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, he would have he wasn't gonna be the Raiders guy, but uh, of that same pedigree, there's really Well, so if say you're the number one or two pick right now that's looking like either the Miami Dolphins, the LA Chargers, who they're not gonna draft a quarterback.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, unless they were to trade Justin Herbert.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Um Their problems are elsewhere, but that's from a duck fan.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you know, and then so and then you've got um uh who else is the worst uh who who just got a win um that I'm blanking on.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, you've got uh and you're not gonna go to the Buccaneers who only have two wins because they just paid Baker all that money.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: Tennessee Titans.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: So and and so the Titans might be ready to cut bait on Cam Ward.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be surprised if they go for a quarterback and I mean because Cam looks awful.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: So Dante go going in the 20s, late mid to late first round, you're on a playoff team all of a sudden.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: A team where maybe you don't have to be the guy year one.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: You can you can work under somebody.
29:23
SPEAKER_01: Like say he goes to the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers is is uh you know, he's gonna be done.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: He's he's only got one, maybe two years left.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: So the there's just the possibility for a better fit for Dante Moore is there.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: The money might be a tiny bit less.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: I think that I mean, if if I'm uh advising Dante, you go into the draft, unless all of a sudden you're gonna be someone says, Hey, you're gonna be a third round pick now.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: I just don't see the stock falling that much.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: There's too much on tape of him with Will Stein as his OC and what he can do.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: He's also got the combine coming up.
30:00
SPEAKER_01: If he does well in that, that's gonna keep his draft stock in a good spot.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Um you think no chance?
30:07
SPEAKER_01: I think ex You can't say no chance in this world.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: Not with NIL.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: Without NIL, I think it there's no way without NIL, there's no way.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: But also would the team want to allocate five million dollars to an unguaranteed situation?
30:23
SPEAKER_01: He didn't burn you, but that money got burnt in a sense.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: And they're saying all the right things, but you know, behind closed doors, it's like, oh my god.
30:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they're like, oh, we could have paid so and so.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, maybe nice of the total budget to bring in these big time people.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: You're looking at 10% of your of your NIL budget is going to a quarterback that played two and a half games and got all of his stats against Portland State, yeah, who has no NIL money at all.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh so it's it's one of those things, it's a bit of a pipe dream, but before we go, then I guess that raises the question if it's not Dante Moore, if he's done, I mean, he's on the sideline in the sunglasses like Ray Charles.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean, so I already thought that the ship had sailed.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: I didn't see it happening.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: I felt like this is what they knew a while ago, and that to protect us as fans, they stayed quiet until it was painfully obvious.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: And then it's like, oh yeah, the doctor said.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: If it's not him, I have no, I really have no hope for the Riola experience.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't mind if he stays on as a backup here and in case something happens.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: But outside of the three quarter, three plus quarters at UCLA and about nine minutes against Nebraska, the rest has been trash.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: And it's not all his fault.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of the play calls, they looked drunk and disorderly last weekend.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, when you've got an offensive coordinator who at Rutgers was the 150th ranked offense, the writing's on the wall.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: It's not all Riola.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: But for you, if you're the coach or you're part of the staff and they're asking your opinion, where are we going?
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Are we going back into the portal?
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, we that's where we got Bonex, that's where we got Dylan Gabriel, that's where we've seen a lot of success at quarterback with like a graduate transfer.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: I don't know who that is, but what would you do?
32:11
SPEAKER_01: So this year, and not being at the practices and seeing where those guys are in practice, because those are you know close practices.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: I think you have to give Achilles Smith Jr.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: a shot.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: It's clearly not Brock Thomas.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: Brock Thomas is that did not look good.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: Brock Thomas is a senior who is undersized, who was visibly rattled in pretty much every setting.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Apparently, he's a good guy and a great teammate, but that's not who's gonna run us down to the top.
32:40
SPEAKER_01: That's what you say when someone's not a very good player.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: That's true.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Um Ryola has some physical skills, some physical tools, some metrics.
32:50
SPEAKER_01: He's a he's a he's a strong kid, just doesn't seem to be playing the the position that well.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: How many times did he airmail one though?
32:58
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, how many times was there a pass to the sideline against Illinois and he overthrew him by eight yards?
33:04
SPEAKER_01: So that's where you can you can jump, run, like do as many bench presses, blah, blah, blah.
33:11
SPEAKER_01: You can have all these tools if when the ball is hiked, your brain goes blank and you throw the ball five yards over a wide receiver's head, who's open?
33:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're just too juiced.
33:23
SPEAKER_01: That's it's just you're not the guy.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: And you know, we've we saw uh you know a glimpse of Achilles Smith Jr.
33:32
SPEAKER_01: against Portland State.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: Um and I mean he got like I think the last drive or maybe the last two drives.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: How old is he?
33:38
SPEAKER_01: Is he a sophomore?
33:39
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a sophomore.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: So he's got time.
33:41
SPEAKER_01: So he's got time, and so Lanning in the presser said we just need to see consistent.
33:47
SPEAKER_01: He was asked about Achilles, and he said that's a hundred percent on the table.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: We just need consistency to see consistency in practice, which you know that's what we're not seeing.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: But at this point, in my opinion, you have nothing to lose.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: So outside of this year, I think you a hundred percent look at the portal, and I'm I'm not opposed to trying to find a package where if you're looking for an OC and a quarterback at the same time, like look what uh find the guy who's already working with the guy.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: Look what uh like MestiMaker uh at at Oklahoma State.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: And I love MestiMaker.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I wish we had him.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, and that was a package deal.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: Coach and quarterback come over and they go, and all of a sudden they the the Ducks beat up beat beat Oklahoma State by like 50 last week.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: It was it was criminal.
34:36
SPEAKER_01: It was crushed.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: It was criminal.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: We we cost their it took another week, but we cost their coach his job Gundy after 20 years.
34:44
SPEAKER_01: Well, and then it's a the the coach quarterback combination is the most important combination in football.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: And if you have a good head coach and a good starting quarterback, you've got the makings of a potentially good team.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: Yes, other pieces need to be there, but we just we have just proved the ducks have proved I don't care how talented your roster is, if your if your quarterback is not playing up to the level of the rest of the team, is not the leader of that team, you're going nowhere.
35:14
SPEAKER_01: So who that coach is out there, who that OC is that maybe we can bring, who that quarterback is, I mean, that's where I feel I feel like that's where Dan Lanning and his and his uh you know his scouting staff, that's where their heads gotta be at for these next five, six weeks, yeah, is looking who can we go poach now?
35:33
SPEAKER_01: Because that because we're in the the portal era is the poaching of player era.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we got to find somebody who we're gonna give a sweetheart deal to.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, the kid at Oregon State is is is playing light.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: As a couple guys, how much more do we got to give Jesse Legree to get him to go back to high school and sign us a contract?
35:52
SPEAKER_00: So Legree just said he's stained.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he did, but that he hasn't been offered Alabama money yet.
35:58
SPEAKER_01: And he hasn't been offered Oregon money yet.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: And Atkinson, that kid is is playing is playing lights out.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: You know, it would be heartbreaking.
36:05
SPEAKER_01: It'd be heartbreaking to go in-state and just rip their soul out of their body.
36:14
SPEAKER_01: They're the most exciting team to watch in Oregon right now, and it's uh that's unquestioned.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: How brutal would that be to go take to go take their quarterback?
36:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and I, you know, I I love to see Oregon dominate as much as anyone.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: If they were at Boise State, at Fresno State, Texas State, anyone else in the Pac-12, that would be fine, but this is a little tough to swallow.
36:34
SPEAKER_01: It's a little too close to home.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I think we likely look out of state, but that has to be your next month and a half, where you know, it's it's you're on the hunt for a new OC and you're on the hunt for a transfer quarterback.
36:47
SPEAKER_01: You're like, I don't, I don't think Jay Johnson's gonna get the job at OC.
36:52
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if we have our quarterback of the future in the room right now.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: You're probably right.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: We will find out Northwestern this weekend.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna get spooky in Eugene.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: Now they move that game to 1230 because there's no respect left in this world for Oregon, which is fine.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: Chip Kelly will return to Oregon this week, which is weird when there's rumblings about bringing him back.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: Who knows what is right, but of course, we will remember our old dog there.
37:17
SPEAKER_00: So, probably a brand new offensive coordinator, brand new quarterback, and a lot of money to be spent.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: But that's gonna do it for us for today.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to check out Ryan Messik here with alongside RJ, his uh co-host on the Wolf of Wall Street podcast, and they get you caught up on all the picks you should be making on Sundays for NFL Action.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: Remember this podcast every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: And check out my other podcast every Tuesday as we release new episodes of the Fit for Radio podcast.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: A lot of info there.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: You can get it all at the PnWpodcast.com.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: Have a great day, bud.
37:56
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, bud.
37:56
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.