DSA Roundtable: Offensive area of concern
Duck Sports Authority analysts Scott Reed, Dale Newton and A.J. Jacobson gather once again for another DSA Roundtable. In this edition we take a look at the upcoming football season and answer the question: What is your area of biggest concern on offense?
Newton: Even though the Ducks return 87 starts on the offensive line, including four players, Calvin Throckmorton, Shane Lemieux, Jacob Hanson and Brady Aiello, who started a full season as a unit, the challenge remains to identify the best starting five and most consistent rotation for 2018.
Mario Cristobal has to replace four-year starter Tyrell Crosby at left tackle. Now a rookie with the Detroit Lions, Crosby didn't allow a single sack last season. It'd be tough for his replacement to do any better. Aiello and George Moore are the leading candidates for that crucial spot. Additionally, someone has to win the right guard spot. Jacob Capra, one career start, currently tops the depth chart, but he'll be challenged by freshman Penei Sewell and Alabama transfer Dallas Warmack.
Other concerns on the offense include finding a lead running back and a go-to receiver, but unless the line does its job, those issues are moot. It all starts up front.
Reed: The offense overall is a concern for the Ducks heading into 2018; their leading rusher is gone; their best playmaking wide receiver is gone; their best offensive lineman is gone. The quarterback depth chart is perilously shallow.
Narrowing it down to ‘most’ concerning is a task of Ruthian proportions. Despite losing an All-American on the offensive line and the all-time leading rusher in school history, the offensive line and running back positions have a lot of talent returning and are likely going to be okay. Will they be as good without those two players? Maybe not – but not so much that it is a major concern.
The quarterback position, while thin, is manned by a Heisman candidate starter. If Justin Herbert stays healthy, the Ducks will be fine. This leaves the biggest question mark as wide receiver. There is plenty of talent, but that talent has yet to be maximized.
Jacobson: My answer is not technical in nature by any means. I think the Ducks have the talent, should Justin Herbert stay healthy, to be a very good offense. They lost a lot of RB snaps, but they have lots of good guys to carry the rock. The offensive line should be good and fairly deep, and the receiving corps has plenty of athletes ready to step up to the occasion.
While talent is not a concern on offense, little of it is proven. That is a concern. But overall my biggest concern is not personnel driven.
I do believe the Ducks are being well-coached in practice. But what I would like to see in 2018 is for the Oregon offense, with Marcus Arroyo calling the plays, to find it’s identity; it’s mojo. A healthy Herbert, good offensive line, with plenty of talent at the skills could be devastatingly effective if the Ducks are winning the battle up in the coaches’ box.