2021 Oregon Football Preview: The Quarterback "Question"

I am once again asking you to trust Anthony Brown.

Fall Camp starts tomorrow, and to kick off my month-long preview of the 2021 Oregon Football season, I thought I’d stake my claim (again) on the most “interesting” topic of the off-season: The QB1 Question.

On top of last week’s Pac-12 Media Day in LA, Oregon held their own Media Day in Eugene this week. At that event, every single member of the University of Oregon football team—Mario Cristobal included—said that Anthony Brown is the leader of the offense, a leader on this team, and that the title of QB1 is his to own as we head into Fall Camp.

"AB is definitely our QB1 and he’s earned that… I have no problem being under a guy like that just because of everything he’s been through, everything he’s earned.” - Robby Ashford

“Anthony Brown will start with the ones, and he has earned that… I think he’s poised for a really big season.” - Mario Cristobal

“Greatness. That’s all I’m seeing.” - CJ Verdell, when asked about AB & the offense.

This isn’t news. It’s especially not news to anyone who remembers any of my takeaways from Spring practice and the Spring Game. On top of those direct quotes, let’s look at some of the overarching facts in this case:

Fact 1: AB has the most experience of any QB on this roster by a mile.

Fact 2: He looked damn good—and damn dynamic—in every opportunity he had last season. And he performed well despite often being asked to do the impossible in clutch situations, and while also having to live in a weird and dumb QB platooning system that popped up out of nowhere down the stretch.

Fact 3: He was the top quarterback in the 2021 Spring Game.*

*Based on the time-tested Eye Test, it’s safe to say that the Spring Game revealed that (at that moment in time) the hierarchy looked something like: AB, Butterfield/Ashford, and then Ty Thompson.

Despite all the wonderful facts and input from the team as a whole, it seems like there’s still a contingent of folks that are all-of-the-sudden bearish on AB’s talent and leadership. Even weirder, this group also seems to have a weird overlap with people that were just last season calling for AB to usurp Tyler Shough. But now they’ve turned right around and have decided that young Ty Thompson should be given the reins immediately.

And I can admit, I was Tyler Shough’s biggest cheerleader last season. And believe it or not, I don’t super regret hitching my wagon to the Pac-12’s Most Efficient QB of 2020 (160.4). But through all of my Shough defending, you won’t find a single bad word I’ve written about Anthony Brown. The crux of my Shough hope was way less of a knock on AB (who I admittedly not taken much stock of at the time), and more simply based on the fact that I hadn’t seen enough pressing reasons to make a change in the middle of such a cluster season.

But after watching the USC and Iowa State games, it’s clear that AB could’ve given the Ducks way more of an advantage than he was given a chance to do in 2020. I can admit that. 

With all that being said, it seems like I’ll be spending another season defending the consensus starter from the slings and arrows of The Haters.

Maybe it’s just my bootlicking nature, or my unrelenting homerism, but I am fully prepared to once again accept the company line that’s coming from the coaching staff and the players themselves. I’d venture to say that Cristobal & Co. know more about football than I do, so I won’t bother trying to outsmart them or myself by trying to Do My Own Research.

Call me a sheep if you’d like, but AB is still going to be QB1. Baaa.

On paper, Ty Thompson is undoubtedly the biggest QB recruit to ever come to Eugene. That’s dope! That’s exciting! Please don’t mistake my “Pro-AB” stance as an “Anti-Ty” stance. The future with Thompson could very well end up being very special. But forgive me for being a little more measured about every new earth-shattering-recruit-hypefest. 

Especially when that hypefest continues despite all the hard evidence right in front of us.

The energy of those that follow recruiting closely is totally part of what makes college football great. If that’s your bag, then I thank you for your service. I think it’s clear that I’m not a ScoopDuck junkie. I am much more interested in what a player can do once they step on campus, and then beyond.

I’m not saying this is the case with Ty Thompson, but for every Haloti Ngata there’s a Simi Fili. And also, Mariota and Herbert were apparently three star recruits.

Much like a lot of things in our sOCieTy, the Scouting Industrial Complex is a wholly flawed system that we’ve just decided to settle for. The commitments and the fanfare are fun to watch, but if you buy into it too hard you’re just gonna get burned more times than not.

All that said, the depth chart going into Fall Camp looks like it’ll be Jay Butterfield and Robby Ashford at 2A and 2B, respectively. Ty Thompson certainly seems to be standing on the outside of those two—for now.

Cristobal mentioned last week—just like every head coach ever—that Fall will be as “open” of a competition as it can be. That kind of public statement makes sense given that his QB room consists of a grad transfer and three freshmen-by-eligibility, but Robby Ashford himself said outright that they’re all pretty much competing to be AB’s backup.

After the Spring Game, I posited that Robby Ashford could end up as the number two QB by the end of the year, but at this point I wouldn’t be surprised by any permutation of 2/3/4 between Ashford/Butterfield/Thompson.

Also don’t be surprised if both Ashford and Thompson end up taking a Redshirt year as long as AB stays healthy. And don’t be even more surprised if one or more of the backup group ends up in the Mountain West via the Transfer Portal by February.

That’s the price of being too good at recruiting.

Like I said earlier, maybe I’m a sheep for just believing the words that are coming out of the mouths of the leaders of this program. Maybe I’m a smooth-brained sucker for even dignifying the AB Witch Hunt with 1,000+ words. But it needed to be said, and it needed to be said loudly.

TL;DR: Anthony Brown Jr. gives Oregon the best chance to win the most football games this year. RT if you agree.

Go Ducks.