Tag: University of Oregon

2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: RB Bucky Irving, Oregon

Bucky Irving searches for a third-down role as a rookie

Bucky Irving was a productive running back in high school but did not play during his senior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which temporarily shut down their football program. He joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers as a freshman and played in 12 games as a part of a three-man backfield and finished out the year as the primary rusher.

He transferred to Oregon in 2022, where he became the starting running back, playing alongside quarterback Bo Nix and wideout Troy Franklin. He led the team in rushing for two seasons while the Oregon Ducks enjoyed successful years, ending No. 6 in the nation for 2023. Irving topped 1,000 rushing yards in both seasons while quickly growing into a dangerous weapon as a receiver.

Height: 5-9
Weight: 192 pounds
40 time: 4.56 seconds

At 192 pounds at the NFL Combine, Irving was one of the lightest running backs in the class and his 4.56 40-time was just a tick below average for the group. Irving doesn’t stand out in size or speed. What has set him apart is his football IQ and overall ability to make a difference. Irving shouldn’t be measured by just his physical specs.

Bucky Irving stats (2020-23)

Year School Games Runs Yards Avg. TD Catch Yards TD
2021 Minnesota 12 133 699 5.3 4 8 73 0
2022 Oregon 13 156 1058 6.8 5 31 299 3
2023 Oregon 14 186 1180 6.3 11 56 413 2
Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

  • Elite ability to make tacklers miss.
  • Superior balance lets him bounce off defenders and break through arm tackles
  • Determined runner who falls forward for extra yards
  • Decisive runner with excellent vision to pick the right lane and then bounce left or right at the right moment
  • Good fit for offenses relying on outside runs and gap schemes
  • Increased use as a receiver fits well into NFL backfields and sets him apart from most other rookie backs
  • Highly competitive

Cons

  • Smaller frame naturally causes durability and inside rushing concerns
  • Lack of top-end speed will limit long gainers
  • Pass blocking needs work and lack of size could limit
  • Occasionally sacrifices taking the moderate gains for attempts to break a longer run
  • Receiving could be expanded – relied on short passes and dump-offs at Oregon

Fantasy Outlook

The concerns with Bucky Irving are naturally about his size and speed, and how much he benefitted playing behind a great offensive line on a team with a great passing game. But Irving has undeniably shown the characteristics of an NFL-quality running back as a highly productive rusher and an equally valuable receiver. He’s not likely to step into a three-down role in the NFL and may not be a primary back from the start, but he can be a significant contributor at the next level.

Irving has been compared to Keaton Mitchell and De’Von Achane – though both showed great promise last year and yet dealt with injuries.

Irving is expected to be a Day 2 pick, likely in Round 3 when the first backs should show up. Irving has the look of a third-down back that can expand into more if a need arises. He’s been linked to the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Cincinnati Bengals. But as a likely third-rounder, he could end up nearly anywhere. He should produce fantasy value as a rookie, but his role and volume of work rely heavily on the scheme and backfield personnel of his new team.

2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: QB Bo Nix, Oregon

Nix is a first-round talent that will be taken as a future franchise player.

Bo Nix is one of the rare college players who started for five full seasons between two major college programs.  Nix was rated as the best dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school and signed up to play for Auburn as their starter and won the SEC’s Freshman of the Year in 2019.

Nix played the next two years in Auburn, and suffered a season-ending injury in 2021 after ten games. He announced that he would enter the transfer portal, saying that he was unhappy playing under the new Auburn head coach, Bryan Harsin,  in 2021.

Thanks to the fifth-year added to eligibility from the COVID years, Nix went on to play two more seasons at Oregon where he posted his best years. He was a Heisman finalist and broke Mac Jones record for the highest single-season completion percentage at 77.45%. Nix ended with a total of 15,352 passing yards (sixth in NCAA history) and 108 passing scores. He also ran for 4,508 yards and 45 touchdowns.

Height: 6-2
Weight: 214 pounds
40 time: 4.60 seconds estimated

Nix threw at the NFL combine but did not participate in the timed drills. He was the highest-rated quarterback who did throw. He remains a first-round value but most likely to be drafted fourth or fifth among quarterbacks.

Table: Bo Nix NCAA stats (2020-23)

Year School Games Runs Yards TD Pass Complete Yards Avg. TD Int
2019 Auburn 13 97 313 7 377 217 2542 11.7 16 6
2020 Auburn 11 108 388 7 357 214 2415 11.3 12 7
2021 Auburn 10 57 168 4 323 197 2294 11.7 11 3
2022 Oregon 13 89 510 14 409 294 3593 12.2 29 7
2023 Oregon 14 54 234 6 470 364 4508 12.4 45 3
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Pros

  • Very mature and experienced 24-year-old. Showed continual improvement as a passer.
  • Superior athlete with dangerous skills as a runner and underneath passer.
  • Dual-threat that combined pinpoint passing with the ability to move the sticks with his legs on any play.
  • “Quarterback fast” and superior quickness picks up the initial yards when he runs.
  • Highly mobile with elite pocket awareness which makes him tough to sack. Creates opportunities when he breaks from the pocket.
  • Open-field rushing ability forces defense to account for him breaking free on a run.
  • Already accomplished at reading defenses, influencing the coverages and delivering highly accurate strikes.

Cons

  • Will sometimes telegraph his primary read which will be penalized against NFL secondaries.
  • Decision-making still needs work, particularly when hurried by  pass rushers that force him off-script and into making quick decisions between where to throw or if to run.
  • Coachable, but has played best within a system  where he has reduced need to improvise. Has tended to throw more short passes, particularly under pressure.
  • Comes from a program in Oregon that was predicated on throwing screens, Run-Pass Options and short-to-intermediate passes which account for his high completion rate. Less experienced in vertical schemes.

Fantasy outlook

Even in this quarterback-rich draft, Nix is expected to be called in Round One. Despite his extensive playing time and stats in college, he’s still needs more development and would best fit into any of the West Coast variant schemes that move the ball primarily on RPO’s in a very structured offense. His rushing ability puts him ahead of most other rookie quarterbacks.

Still, he is expected to be taken no higher than the fourth or fifth quarterback selected. That’s still first round and he’ll be selected to become a starter sooner than later. He’s been linked to teams like the Patriots, Giants, Vikings, Broncos, and Raiders. Spots where he may not be the Week 1 starter, but could take over at some point this season with an eye towards a bigger playoff as the fulltime starter in 2025.

Raiders home stadium plays host to 2 of top NFL draft QB prospects for Pac-12 Championship

2 of this year’s top QB draft prospects face off in Raiders home stadium Friday night for Pac-12 Championship

The talk surrounding the quarterback talent in this year’s draft has been going on since this time last year. Three have emerged atop this year’s Heisman Trophy race as we head for bowl season. Two of them are playing in Las Vegas tonight in the Pac-12 Championship.

Oregon’s Bo Nix is the Heisman favorite right now. His Ducks will face off against the Washington Huskies led by Heisman candidate Michael Penix Jr.

This game could go a long way in deciding if either Nix can clinch the award or if Penix can overtake him and LSU’s Jayden Daniels to take home the most prestigious award in college football.

Also potentially riding on their performance on this big stage is their place in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Among those teams who will be in the market for a QB come April’s draft are the Raiders who, should they wish to get an up close and personal look at Nix and Penix in this game, need only head down the street to their home stadium.

The draft’s top two quarterbacks are USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. They are currently expected to go in the top three, and potentially the top two.

Currently the Raiders hold a 5-7 record, which has them in line to draft outside the top ten. Therefore Williams and Maye would be out of reach barring a big trade up.

But the likes of Nix or Penix could absolutely be in play at the Raiders do end up drafting. So, some in-person scouting tonight will likely be in order.

WATCH: Best Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu highlights from Oregon

Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu seems poised to do big things in the #Ravens offense as a member of the team’s front five

Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu put together an excellent 2022 season at the University of Oregon before being selected with the 199th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens. He will need to compete for playing time throughout training camp and the preseason but could figure into the Ravens’ plans on offense if he can show some finesse in his game early in his career.

Most fans in Baltimore are unfamiliar with his game, so getting acquainted with his skillset will be necessary before coming to a conclusion on the value of this pick. Check out his best highlights below to get an idea of what this talented lineman brings to the table:

 

 

 

Pac-12 schools ranked academically by U.S. News and World Report for 2022-23

Half of the schools in the Pac-12 rank among the top 100 schools in the nation. Where do the Oregon Ducks land?

When we talk about rankings, it almost always has to do with sports, whether that be football, basketball, or whatever the case may be. We talk about recruiting rankings, quarterback rankings, schedule rankings, mascot rankings, all of it. When it comes to athletics, there is no shortage of lists, pitting teams up against one another.

For academics, though, it’s a different story.

While most fans care about sports for the most part, there is always a feather in the cap for the top academic schools in the nation, giving them the power to boast that they have the smartest students, and the best opportunity to set their players up for a successful life after college.

The Pac-12 is full of some of the top schools in the nation, with your Stanford’s and Cal Berkley’s ranking among the best in the best nationwide. The go-to place for university rankings when it comes to academics is U.S. News and World Report, and they recently put out their university rankings for 2022-23.

Here’s where all of the Pac-12 schools stand.

Chiefs Check-in: Kansas City ramping up offseason hype for Justyn Ross

What’s happening in #ChiefsKingdom? Check out the #Chiefs news of the day for April 14, 2023.

Chiefs Check-in is our online newsletter at Chiefs Wire, running Monday-Friday mornings. Subscribe to get more Chiefs news delivered to your inbox every day.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ slow grind to the NFL draft continues. They’re wrapping up meetings with prospects who might factor into their draft strategy, but for now, all of the action is taking place behind closed doors.

Nonetheless, Chiefs Wire took a look at several team-related stories yesterday that should drive the discourse through the rest of the week. Here is a look at all the best Kansas City football stories relevant for Friday, April 14th.

Oregon’s Sedona Prince shared her plans for the future of her career

With the way the seasons are structured, there is no conflict for athletes to play in the WNBA and in Athletes Unlimited.

If you follow along with March Madness, you have heard the name Sedona Prince. She shined a spotlight on the NCAA’s inequitable treatment of the women’s and men’s basketball tournaments.

@sedonerrr

it’s 2021 and we are still fighting for bits and pieces of equality. #ncaa #inequality #fightforchange

♬ original sound – Sedona Prince

This brought a national spotlight to not only the women’s March Madness, but to Prince herself. She made headlines again when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the NCAA in Alston v. NCAA, which ushered in the era of college athletes being able to monetize their own name, image and likeness.

Prince told Boardroom in 2022 that “with the help of her representation at Wasserman, she’s made north of $500,000 across 18 business and partnership deals, with no plans of slowing down” in one year after the Alston decision. She has deals with notable brands Crocs, Uninterrupted, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Champs to name a few.

With her ability to make money in college through her platform, she opted to stay at Oregon for the 2022-2023 season. However, a season-ending elbow injury cut the season short.

She graduated from the university in May 2022 and entered her name into the 2023 WNBA draft that takes place on April 10. It will be exclusively televised on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. EDT and available on the ESPN app.

However, in a short interview on March 11, Prince also revealed she wants to play in Athletes Unlimited basketball Season 3. With the way the seasons are structured, there is no conflict for athletes to play in the WNBA and in Athletes Unlimited.

While Prince’s college career was cut short, we could see her in the upcoming WNBA season and the upcoming Athletes Unlimited season. More Prince is good for all of us.

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Week 3 of Athletes Unlimited basketball ended with surprise guests in attendance

The Athletes Unlimited hoops season runs through March 25 in Dallas.

Athletes Unlimited basketball, a professional women’s basketball league, ended its third week of play on March 11. It had a few surprise guests in the building, including University of Oregon’s Sedona Prince and Los Angeles Sparks and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike. Prince made headlines in 2021 when she highlighted the inequities between the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.

Prince gave a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Athletes Unlimited hoops and ran down a bit of the scoring system and how captains are picked each week. While the rules for the game are the same as the WNBA, the individual points players can earn, the ranking system and the weekly drafts are different than other basketball leagues.

The night was dedicated to the Special Olympics. Debbie Antonelli, a women’s college basketball analyst and founder of 24 Hours of Nothing But Net, was in attendance to help with the 24-hour shoot-a-thon.

The shoot-a-thon was successful: 2,400 free throws were made in 24 hours. Las Vegas Aces’ Theresa Plaisance chose the Special Olympics as her Athlete Cause this season. This program, powered by Give Lively, provides players of Athletes Unlimited a fundraising platform that allows them “to donate funds equal to 100% of their season win bonus to support the causes they love.”

The halftime free-throw contest wasn’t as successful in terms of buckets made, but the participants and audience had fun, which was all that mattered.

The Athletes Unlimited hoops season runs through March 25. Dallas is the home for Season 2 of Athletes Unlimited Basketball and one ticket allows entry to two games.

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Oregon is launching an NFT platform, which come with special edition Nike Air Max 1 sneakers

The worlds of NFT and NIL are colliding at the University of Oregon.

Two of the hottest acronyms of the last year are NFT (non-fungible token) and NIL (name, image, likeness) and those two worlds are colliding at the University of Oregon.

Oregon is launching an NFT platform called “Ducks of a Feather” and it will kick off with the “Flying Formation” collection, which includes 120 digital art pieces (based on the Oregon Duck mascot) by Nike executive Tinker Hatfield.

This project is the latest effort from the recently launched Division Street, which is an initiative to help student-athletes at Oregon capitalize on self-monetization after the recent policy change surrounding NIL.

“The Oregon brand has always stood for innovation and been immersed in culture, so it was natural for us to create the first unique online platform dedicated to representing and benefitting student-athletes,” said Division Street CEO Rosemary St. Clair.

“We continue to focus on creative and distinct ways for Oregon athletes to monetize their brands, and we think Ducks of a Feather will serve as a long-term platform to do that.”

Division Street

Perhaps most exciting is that each purchase also comes with a physical, tangible object and owners also get a special edition, hyper-limited Nike Air Max 1 (designed by Hatfield) that has a visual representation of the NFT on the tongue.

Approximately 70% of the revenue from the initial auction will go to participating members of the football team (Jamal Hill, Noah Sewell, Justin Flowe, Mase Funa, Kris Hutson, TJ Bass, Brandon Dorlus) who were asked to help provide content for the platform.

These players were asked to speak about brotherhood and the strength of a team. If you want to learn more about how the NFT works, allow Oregon’s Flowe to explain:

“As a former Oregon student-athlete, I remember clearly the sense of brotherhood that exists within our teams and it was an honor to create a depiction of that brotherhood through the design of Flying Formations,” Hatfield said.

“I have such a passion for the school and the athletes, and it’s a dream to work on something unique like this that directly supports them.”

The initial auction will be held on DucksOfAFeather.xyz at 10 am PST on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Secondary sales can exist on marketplaces like Opensea and 10% of those sales will go back to Oregon’s student-athletes as well.

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Oregon athletes can now be Airbnb hosts thanks to this sweet NIL deal

The project has been described as an “athlete storytelling home” and different athletes will get a turn to curate the experience for guests at the home. 

The Oregon Ducks have embraced creativity since collegiate athletes were given the ability to make money off their name, image and likeness.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight and several former Nike executives recently launched Division Street, which is an initiative to help student-athletes at the University of Oregon capitalize on self-monetization after the recent policy change surrounding NIL.

Since then, the program has not been afraid to think outside of the box. Oregon football star Kayvon Thibodeaux launched his own cryptocurrency. There is an official marketplace to book athletes for gigs like appearances or autograph sessions.

One of the other ideas that the program is experimenting with is their unique version of Airbnb. The project has been described as an “athlete storytelling home” and different athletes will get a turn to curate the experience for guests at the home.

Up first on the interior design turntables is Oregon football defensive star Noah Sewell, who is helping decide everything from the décor to the snacks.

The listing is currently available for $552 per night — Sewell will get a cut — and is available to rent between now and Jan. 31 (via Airbnb):

“This modern, tastefully remodeled and designed craftsmen bungalow on a corner property, facing the quiet woods of the Eugene Country Club provides guests a perfect balance of seclusion and privacy, with convenient access to restaurants, breweries, shopping and Autzen Stadium. Open concept kitchen with French doors opening to a large deck and cozy backyard. Host and cook the perfect meal in the open kitchen with brand new appliances, then relax and unwind on the tranquil back deck fully equipped with gas fireplace.”

After fans get a chance to #stayatnoahs, another Oregon athlete will get a chance to put their twist on the property in Eugene.

As someone who lived in Eugene for several years, I’ll add that the trip is worth the visit up to the Pacific Northwest. It’s beautiful no matter what time of year you’re considering travel.

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