Tag: Pro Ducks

Would drafting Penei Sewell have won the Bengals the Super Bowl?

Ja’Marr Chase had an outstanding rookie season for the Cincinnati Bengals, but after losing the Super Bowl it’s fair to wonder if the team should have taken Oregon Ducks tackle Penei Sewell instead.

The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, making former Oregon Ducks Justin Hollins and Johnny Mundt champions for the first time in their NFL careers.

The Bengals hung around for the entire game thanks to strong play from their defense and a solid performance from quarterback Joe Burrow, but ultimately LA’s imposing defensive front got to Burrow enough in the second half to secure the victory.

Burrow took seven sacks in the game, exposing Cincy’s offensive line as the team’s fatal flaw – a widely held belief coming into the game.

In fact, the Bengals offensive line has been a topic of conversation all season long, especially because they had a chance to upgrade in a significant way during the 2021 NFL draft, where they opted to take LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase No. 5 overall, instead of Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell.

Sewell went seventh to the Detroit Lions and had an outstanding rookie season, establishing himself as a perennial Pro Bowl candidate and one of the best young tackles in the NFL.

Chase was no scrub, hauling in 81 receptions for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns, but Cincy’s struggles to protect their quarterback late in the game bring in to question once again the decision to take a receiver – widely viewed as an area of strength – instead of taking Sewell, who could have immediately shored up the offensive line.

Sewell alone wouldn’t fix all of the Bengals issues, and trying to block Aaron Donald and the rest of LA’s frontline is no easy task, but Chase is a tough player to utilize at his full capacity if Burrow doesn’t have enough time to get him the ball – a fact that was fully on display on the final play of the game for Cincinnati on Sunday:

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Chris Duarte No. 4 in latest NBA Rookie Power Rankings from Rookie Wire

Indiana Pacers guard Chris Duarte is having an excellent week, ranking No. 4 on Rookie Wire’s NBA Rookie Power Rankings.

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Former Oregon Ducks guard Chris Duarte may not be playing quite as well as he did at the beginning of his rookie season with the Indiana Pacers – but his most recent performances are nothing to shake your head at either.

Over his previous six games, Duarte averaged 16.7 points, five rebounds, and 3.3 assists. He tied a career-high with 27 points in a huge win over the Golden State Warriors, and has now scored in 11 of his past 13 games.

The strong showing over the past few weeks has him back in the Rookie of the Year conversation, and squarely back in the Rookie Power Rankings – done every week by the fine folks over at USA TODAY’s Rookie Wire:

The latest power rankings have Duarte fourth, one spot ahead of No. 5 pick Jalen Suggs and only trailing Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner.

While the power rankings are intended to be the picture of a players’ current performance, Duarte’s overall body of work this year at least has him in the conversation for Rookie of the Year.

He is now averaging 13.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game for Indiana, helping the team in a big way early in the year when they were without veteran guard Caris LeVert.

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Justin Herbert breaks NFL record for passing yards in first two seasons

Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert set the record for most passing yards through his first two NFL seasons.

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Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert continues to be one of the most exciting young QB’s in the NFL – not just in this era but of all-time.

Even though his Los Angeles Chargers suffered a close loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football, Herbert once again completed 22 passes for 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while rushing for an additional score as well.

Now through 29 NFL starts, Herbert has completed 756 passes for 8,394 yards and 63 touchdowns, along with 22 interceptions.

The 8,394 yards is a record pace, solidifying Herbert as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history through his first two NFL seasons.

For Herbert to not only have more passing yards than any other quarterback through his first two seasons – but to still boast a remarkable 66.4% completion rate – is a true testament to how elite he has been since Los Angeles made him the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

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How former Oregon Ducks performed in NFL Week 10 games

DB Troy Hill appears to have avoided serious injury, which is good news in an otherwise uninspiring week of NFL action for Oregon alumni.

10 weeks of NFL action have come and gone, and plenty of former Oregon Ducks are still contributing across the league.

It was another disappointing performance from Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who threw one touchdown and one interception in a loss to the Vikings. He was excellent in Week 9 but has been otherwise pretty pedestrian over the last month.

Hopefully he’ll regain his form over the final six weeks of the NFL season and remind folks why he is among the most exciting young quarterbacks in the league.

The other big story was the scary injury to veteran cornerback Troy Hill, who had to be carted off the field and immobilized with a neck injury. The Cleveland star has reportedly been sent home from the hospital with a neck strain, avoiding what could have been a career-ending, and life-altering, injury.

See below for a look at how every Oregon alumni performed in NFL Week 10 action:

Chris Duarte has historic NBA debut for Indiana Pacers

Chris Duarte made history for the Pacers on Wednesday night, with his 27 points being the most by a rookie in a debut performance.

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Do you think former Oregon Ducks star Chris Duarte is ready for the big leagues?

In his first NBA action on Wednesday night playing for the Indiana Pacers, Duarte made history scoring 27 points with 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 33 minutes. That is the most points scored by a rookie in their debut for the Pacers, and also the most three-pointers (6) in a debut as well.

Duarte started at the guard position for Indiana and was a regular member of the rotation in the eventual loss to the Charlotte Hornets. In the first half, he even provided a nice highlight with a buzzer-beater to close the first quarter.

Many people were claiming that Duarte was one of the top steals of the draft, going to the Pacers at No. 13. It appears, if his first career game is any indication, that these projections were correct.

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Justin Herbert leads Chargers to 4th quarter comeback over Chiefs

Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert threw four touchdown passes in the Chargers come from behind win over Kansas City on Sunday.

Former Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers shocked the NFL world on Sunday when they came from behind to defeat the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs, in Kansas City, by a score of 30-24.

The game was wild from start to finish but got exceptionally goofy in the fourth quarter, with four different lead changes and several uncharacteristic mistakes leading to a win for Los Angeles.

Herbert was outstanding, outdueling Mahomes by completing 26-of-38 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns, along with zero interceptions.

It was not only Herbert’s first game with multiple passing touchdowns this season, it was also his first without an interception.

Herbert threw a pair of touchdowns in quick succession in the second quarter but was otherwise quiet until the final fifteen minutes.

A 20-yard strike to Mike Williams gave the Chargers a lead with 13:39 remaining in the game, but Mahomes struck back with a touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman to give Kansas City a lead with 6:43 remaining.

Herbert lead Los Angeles on a 10-play, 69-yard drive next, and a Tristan Vizcaino field goal tied things up with 2:14 remaining.

Mahomes threw his second interception of the game on the following drive, and Herbert marched his team down the field and hit Williams again in the end zone, which gave his team a 30-24 lead with 0:32 seconds left on the clock.

The decision to hit Williams in the end zone raised some eyebrows, especially after color commentator and former NFL quarterback Tony Romo criticized the play-call. Romo believed the Chargers should have run the clock down and gone for a touchdown with less than 10 seconds remaining, rather than giving Mahomes multiple chances to steal the game.

It ultimately did not matter, however, as Mahomes’ desperation hail mary fell short and the Chargers moved to 2-1 on the season in Herbert’s finest performance of the season to date – even if he was a little unsure of the result:

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WATCH: Eugene Omoruyi doing it all in NBA Summer League action

Former Duck Eugene Omoruyi had a great game in the NBA Summer League with a 16-point, six-rebound performance for the Dallas Mavericks.

While all the attention went to Chris Duarte going in the first round of the NBA draft, and rightly so, it’s easy to forget that Eugene Omoruyi is also a budding NBA talent.

Forget no more.

Playing for the Dallas Mavericks summer league team, Omoruyi is definitely showing out, especially in the sequence above. Never giving up on a possession, something he obviously learned in Dana Altman’s system, Omoruyi ran down Philadelphia’s Paul Reed and pinned a would-be shot off the glass.

But the former Duck wasn’t satisfied.

Omoruyi ran back down the floor and managed to hit a fade-away jumper in the middle of the lane. Although the Mavs went down to the tune of a 95-73 score, Omoruyi poured in 16 points and brought down six rebounds.

 

In Detroit, Penei Sewell and Tyrell Crosby will compete for starting spot amidst trade rumors

After becoming friends while playing at Oregon, Tyler Crosby and Penei Sewell will now be competing for a starting spot on the line in Detroit.

Entering a contract season, fourth-year offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby could have been salty when the Detroit Lions drafted what seems to be his replacement on the offensive line. However, when the former Oregon Duck learned that his college teammate Penei Sewell would be joining him in the Motor City, there was nothing but smiles.

“Seeing him when he got drafted, I was probably one of the happiest people on Earth, because that was my friend who got drafted and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Crosby said, via SB Nation’s Pride of Detroit.

However, that happiness could lead to turmoil for Crosby, who has now been involved in some trade rumors as the Lions look to fill out their offensive front. With Taylor Decker at the left tackle spot, there is a strong belief that Sewell will switch over to right tackle, taking the position from Crosby.

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Instead of taking it personally, Crosby is choosing to control what he can, and let it all play out on the field.

“Really haven’t heard much from the front office or anything about it,” Crosby said. “So I’m just here excited and thankful to be here and just compete.”

Crosby’s contract with Detroit is up after this season, and his future remains unknown. Whether he gets a chance to further prove his worth on the field this season is yet to be seen, but he is going to do whatever is asked of him, and enjoy the company of his close friend, in the meantime.

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