Posted on 30 April 2015.
Redshirt junior Jeff Lockie laughed and then smirked before answering the question – his first sign of emotion in a crowded media huddle.
Normally, the brown eyed quarterback with the slightly coifed brown hair is relaxed, smiling as he answers questions about the competition for the starting quarterback position. His hands, holding his dark green Ducks helmet, linger behind his back. But when he’s asked about Oregon’s offense and its success with quarterbacks – specifically former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Marcus Mariota – being simply a byproduct of an ingenious system, he changes his demeanor.
“No,” he said with a chuckle when asked if there’s any truth to that sentiment. “People are going to look for a million different ways to knock Marcus down, but I think you’ll find out it’s all legit.”
But how good is the system, Jeff?
“People want to call it a system, or however you want to spin it, but coach (Mark) Helfrich and (offensive coordinator Scott Frost) run a good offense,” Lockie said. “We have good tempo and good players – it works. If people want to call it a system, that’s OK for them. We just want to score and win.”
Since Chip Kelly took over as head coach in 2009, and then handed the coaching reigns to Mark Helfrich in 2013, the Oregon Ducks have done a lot of scoring and winning. Oregon has gone 70-11 and appeared in the National Championship game in 2010 and 2014. The team has also averaged 38.31 points per game over that span.
During that period, some Ducks players had offensive seasons that rivaled the best in college football. But when those same skill players left the confines of Eugene to pursue careers in the National Football League, they struggled, for the most part.
Former quarterback Darron Thomas threw 66 touchdowns in contrast to 17 interceptions in his three seasons with the Ducks. He declared early for the 2012 draft, but was never picked. He’s currently the backup quarterback for the Portland Thunder of the Arena Football League.
LaMichael James made a habit of running over Pac-12 defenses while at Oregon. Over three seasons, James ran for 5,082 yards and 53 touchdowns. He was selected in the second round of the 2012 draft by the San Francisco 49ers. In four years in the NFL, James has rushed for 193 yards and zero touchdowns. He was cut by the 49ers in 2014 before eventually signing with the Miami Dolphins.
Former quarterback Jeremiah Masoli currently plays for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Philadelphia Eagles running back Kenjon Barner has had six carries for seven yards in his two-year NFL career, after rushing for 3,623 at Oregon.
John Middlekauf, a former NFL scout and current talk-show host at 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, California thinks part of the issue with Oregon’s offense players pertains to a college-wide problem.
“The talent gap between teams is so wide,” Middlekauf said. “That’s why in the professional league, some players struggle. Every team has good players.”
Mariota is the next Oregon offensive star to make the venture to the professional ranks. The NFL Draft is slated to start April 30 at 5 p.m. Mariota’s name is likely to be one of the first called.
On NFL.com, Mariota’s scouting report highlights the worries often associated with Oregon players based on recent history. “(Mariota) benefits from an offense that is predicated on simplified reads,” the report reads. “(An) offense able to create wide-open receivers after busted coverages at times.”
No matter where he’s drafted, Middlekauf believes in Mariota. Middlekauf compares him to a taller version of Super Bowl winning quarterback Russell Wilson. Middlekauf says Mariota has a “steep learning curve coming.”
“Guys aren’t going to be as wide open in the NFL as they were at Oregon,” Middlekauf said.
For example, Middlekauf described a staple play of the Oregon offense: the quick screen. The play is about getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hand and into a receiver’s grasp as fast as possible.
“In the NFL, guys are a lot faster,” Middlekauf said. “A defensive back might get there a step or two earlier than they do in college.”
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, who is currently an analyst for ESPN, thinks Mariota should be the top player in the NFL Draft. One reason: He doesn’t believe the theory that Oregon’s offense is bad for future professionals.
“I don’t know anybody in this draft that can do for a football team what Mariota can do,” Gruden told Rotoworld. “He can read the field. That whole thing about Oregon being a no-huddle, dive-option team, that is just a narrative resulting from a lack of information.
Oregon offensive tackle Tyler Johnstone says that Oregon’s fast-attacking spread offense shouldn’t be looked at as a negative for former Ducks going to the NFL. He says the required athletic ability to play in the Ducks offense allows players to adapt to the traditional style of the NFL.
“What we do (at Oregon) can transfer over to a professional-style offense, because if a quarterback is good at throwing, good at making decisions, then that quarterback can move to a pro-style offense,” Johnstone said. “But you can’t take only a pro-style quarterback and move him to our system.
“You have to have a fast-twitch ability. There’s so many levels to what our quarterbacks have to do and Mariota did it at such a high level.”
With Mariota gone, Oregon is forced to place a new starting quarterback into a system that’s yielded three highly successful players at that position since 2009. After competing as Mariota’s backup the past three seasons, Lockie figures to be in prime contention to replace the Heisman-winning quarterback. Vernon Adams, a graduate transfer from Eastern Washington, will join the team once he graduates and compete for the starting spot, as well.
Whoever replaces Mariota, Johnstone says that in order for them to be successful, they need one quality: They must be goofy.
“I have a theory that all quarterbacks have to be goofy,” Johnstone said.
He listed Mariota and Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers as goofy.
“The best quarterbacks have to be goofy,” Johnstone said with a laugh.
As for Lockie?
“Oh, Jeff,” Johnstone said. “He’s the goofiest of them all.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt
