Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Season In Review: Quarterback
01/08/19 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
Justin Herbert was able to start all 13 games and became the fifth player in UO football history to pass for 3,000 yards in a season.
Reviewing Oregon's 2018 season and looking ahead to spring drills.
DEPTH CHART
QB: Justin Herbert, Jr.; Braxton Burmeister, So.; Tyler Shough, Fr.; Mike Irwin, RFr.; Bradley Yaffe, Fr.
Starter: For the first time since the great Marcus Mariota in his Heisman Trophy season of 2014, the Oregon football team had the benefit of continuity at quarterback throughout the 2018 season. Justin Herbert started every game of his junior campaign, and flashed a level of talent that had NFL scouts projecting him as the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL draft had he chosen to leave school. Herbert's numbers were outstanding — 29 touchdowns against eight interceptions, several of those tipped balls that involved some bad luck, plus 3,151 passing yards. He put up those gaudy statistics despite completing not quite 60 percent of his passes, or 240-of-404 to be exact. Unfortunately the passing game was plagued all season by inconsistency from the receivers and tight ends; estimates of the number of drops Oregon committed in 2018 range between 40 and 50. One can only imagine the numbers Herbert might have accumulated without those, and how that might have impacted the slow starts that plagued the Ducks in three of their four losses.
To help ensure Herbert was able to make all 13 starts, UO coaches limited his exposure in the run game to an extent not seen at Oregon in nearly a decade. Herbert rushed 71 times for 166 yards, numbers that include sacks; the last time the Ducks ran the quarterback so infrequently was 2011, when Darron Thomas had 56 rushes for 206 yards. Whether operating out of the newly installed pistol formation or with an offset back, Oregon's running game could have been enhanced by featuring Herbert more often as a threat to run. But it was more important to limit his risk of injury; as the Ducks learned in 2017 — and 2015 before that, and famously 2007 — losing a starting quarterback to injury can quickly derail a promising season.
Reserves: Herbert didn't get through 2018 completely unscathed. He suffered a bruised shoulder late in the first half of the Civil War, and was replaced by true freshman Tyler Shough for the remainder of the half. Sophomore Braxton Burmeister then took over after halftime; called upon for a veteran presence to manage a blowout win, Burmeister completed one pass for 16 yards and rushed three times for 11 yards to help Oregon finish off a 55-15 win over the Beavers. Due to the NCAA rule change allowing four appearances while preserving redshirt status, both backups made it through 2018 without expending a year of eligibility. Shough made two brief appearances in the nonconference season before his Civil War snaps, and Burmeister played the maximum four games, most extensively against OSU.
Developmental Squad: Lake Oswego native Mike Irwin was the primary signal-caller for the scout-team offense most of the season. He shared reps with true freshman Bradley Yaffe, another walk-on. Yaffe has the edge in stature and arm strength, while Irwin is a gritty, charismatic kid who can test the defense with his legs as well as his arm. For the second year in a row, Demetri Burch was in the mix on the scout team as well; he began getting QB reps in September while Burmeister was sidelined by a knee injury, as an emergency option. And Burch made an encore appearance with the scout team prior to Oregon's game against Arizona and its dual-threat QB, Khalil Tate.
ROB'S TAKE
SPRING PROJECTION
QB: Justin Herbert, Sr.; Tyler Shough, RFr.; Braxton Burmeister, So.; Cale Millen, Fr.; Mike Irwin, So.; Bradley Yaffe, Fr.
What to Watch: Herbert's decision to remain in school for his senior season in 2019 eliminated a little of the drama from this year's spring practice. Rather than trying to identify the next starting quarterback, the Ducks will continue to groom Herbert's backups in March and April. Shough and Burmeister battled throughout 2018 for No. 2 reps, with Shough making a solid push late in the season, making him first off the bench after Herbert was injured in the Civil War. New to the mix is true freshman Cale Millen, who enrolled at the university for the start of the winter quarter Monday. His high school numbers last fall were ridiculous — 3,807 yards, 51 touchdowns and a completion rate above 75 percent — and now Millen will get a big head start on adjusting to the college game.
DEPTH CHART
QB: Justin Herbert, Jr.; Braxton Burmeister, So.; Tyler Shough, Fr.; Mike Irwin, RFr.; Bradley Yaffe, Fr.
Starter: For the first time since the great Marcus Mariota in his Heisman Trophy season of 2014, the Oregon football team had the benefit of continuity at quarterback throughout the 2018 season. Justin Herbert started every game of his junior campaign, and flashed a level of talent that had NFL scouts projecting him as the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NFL draft had he chosen to leave school. Herbert's numbers were outstanding — 29 touchdowns against eight interceptions, several of those tipped balls that involved some bad luck, plus 3,151 passing yards. He put up those gaudy statistics despite completing not quite 60 percent of his passes, or 240-of-404 to be exact. Unfortunately the passing game was plagued all season by inconsistency from the receivers and tight ends; estimates of the number of drops Oregon committed in 2018 range between 40 and 50. One can only imagine the numbers Herbert might have accumulated without those, and how that might have impacted the slow starts that plagued the Ducks in three of their four losses.
To help ensure Herbert was able to make all 13 starts, UO coaches limited his exposure in the run game to an extent not seen at Oregon in nearly a decade. Herbert rushed 71 times for 166 yards, numbers that include sacks; the last time the Ducks ran the quarterback so infrequently was 2011, when Darron Thomas had 56 rushes for 206 yards. Whether operating out of the newly installed pistol formation or with an offset back, Oregon's running game could have been enhanced by featuring Herbert more often as a threat to run. But it was more important to limit his risk of injury; as the Ducks learned in 2017 — and 2015 before that, and famously 2007 — losing a starting quarterback to injury can quickly derail a promising season.
Reserves: Herbert didn't get through 2018 completely unscathed. He suffered a bruised shoulder late in the first half of the Civil War, and was replaced by true freshman Tyler Shough for the remainder of the half. Sophomore Braxton Burmeister then took over after halftime; called upon for a veteran presence to manage a blowout win, Burmeister completed one pass for 16 yards and rushed three times for 11 yards to help Oregon finish off a 55-15 win over the Beavers. Due to the NCAA rule change allowing four appearances while preserving redshirt status, both backups made it through 2018 without expending a year of eligibility. Shough made two brief appearances in the nonconference season before his Civil War snaps, and Burmeister played the maximum four games, most extensively against OSU.
Developmental Squad: Lake Oswego native Mike Irwin was the primary signal-caller for the scout-team offense most of the season. He shared reps with true freshman Bradley Yaffe, another walk-on. Yaffe has the edge in stature and arm strength, while Irwin is a gritty, charismatic kid who can test the defense with his legs as well as his arm. For the second year in a row, Demetri Burch was in the mix on the scout team as well; he began getting QB reps in September while Burmeister was sidelined by a knee injury, as an emergency option. And Burch made an encore appearance with the scout team prior to Oregon's game against Arizona and its dual-threat QB, Khalil Tate.
ROB'S TAKE
SPRING PROJECTION
QB: Justin Herbert, Sr.; Tyler Shough, RFr.; Braxton Burmeister, So.; Cale Millen, Fr.; Mike Irwin, So.; Bradley Yaffe, Fr.
What to Watch: Herbert's decision to remain in school for his senior season in 2019 eliminated a little of the drama from this year's spring practice. Rather than trying to identify the next starting quarterback, the Ducks will continue to groom Herbert's backups in March and April. Shough and Burmeister battled throughout 2018 for No. 2 reps, with Shough making a solid push late in the season, making him first off the bench after Herbert was injured in the Civil War. New to the mix is true freshman Cale Millen, who enrolled at the university for the start of the winter quarter Monday. His high school numbers last fall were ridiculous — 3,807 yards, 51 touchdowns and a completion rate above 75 percent — and now Millen will get a big head start on adjusting to the college game.
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