The Ducks got more good news Friday – another commit when defensive tackle Mohamed Diallo, a raw but athletically gifted prospect, originally from Toronto, Canada, decided to commit to Oregon. It was a weird day commitment wise because head coach Willie taggart was in meetings when Diallo gave the news to Ray Woodie and Joe Salave’a. So, Diallo committed via a twitter announcement before Taggart could get his signature ‘Ring, ring’ tweet out.
When he did finally get around to sending out the tweet, Duck fans everywhere started to have the best flashback possible – to last
Sunday when the Ducks were basking in the afterglow of a 24-hour, six recruit tidal wave of commitments. No such luck folks. that tweet by Taggart, as it turns out, was his belated communication of Diallo’s decision. Charles Fisher of fishduck.com and I were discussing Diallo and what we think of him. He was driving at the time and had not seen much about him; most people won’t. He has very limited game film since he has only been playing for two seasons – including his season at Arizona Western. So, the best comparison I can make, is that he reminds me a lot of former Duck Igor Olshansky. Very raw, but incredibly gifted. If he has half the success Olshansky did, this will be a fantastic pick up. And I think he will. The clip below is a good indication of his ability to move
Do I believe he runs a 4.7 forty? No. But that does not mean he is not fast and athletic for a man his size, he is.
But the weekend following that commitment was not a total bust. I had given a heads up Monday afternoon that a very good (Rivals 100) player was possibly going to ‘flip’ from Notre Dame to Oregon. Well, he decommitted yesterday. I will have an interview with him early in the week as part of our premium content at Duck Sports Authority, so take a look over there for the article. As always, I try to get more than just stars and stats, so it should be a great article.
I wrote yesterday about the tragic fall of Colt Lyerla. I think it just reiterates the incredible journey taken by players like Spencer Webb and Stephan Blaylock. I want to dig a little deeper on the ‘piece of meat’ comment as it relates to his college coaches. I don’t think either chip Kelly or Mark Helfrich viewed him as such. They cared and they truly tried to help. But he was already too deep into his own darkness. The people who treated him like a commodity were people from his youth; people who surrounded him because they saw a meal ticket; a way out of their own bleakness. Instead, they dragged him down into the pits of hell. While jail is most certainly where he will be for some time to come, what he needs more than anything is help. His path right now is dark, but it doesn’t have to be. Will he let that person willing to make a difference in? Will the leeches allow him the help he needs? That remains to be seen, but I think it is available.
One question that has come up as Taggart and staff mine the JUCO ranks for whatever help they can find is why Helfrich and Kelly did not dig deeper into those schools like Arizona Western? Truthfully, using the JUCO model on a yearly basis is not ideal. There are always a few exceptions to the rule, but in general, most coaches would prefer to get prospects out of high school and develop them. But as transfers become more commonplace, as players leave early, or don’t pan out, there are going to be more holes within a lineup. Even if you recruit well, sometimes injuries and other forms of attrition create a need at one or two spots. Right now for the Ducks, those spots are tight end and defensive tackle. So, they do what is needed to shore up some thin spots.
Okay, all of my thoughts for now, enjoy the day all, more to come tomorrow!
