Major takeaways from Ducks’ annual spring game
I’m not going to lie, with about a minute left in the first half, I was ready to start looking at the 2024 quarterback transfer portal market, hoping that I could figure out where the Ducks were going to go for a QB1 the year after Bo Nix leaves.
Ty Thompson, the redshirt sophomore who everyone pencils in as the 2024 QB1, had not done much in the first half to encourage a fanbase desperate to see any signs of improvement. He threw six straight incompletions to start the day, including a pass on his first attempt that by all means should have been an interception going for a touchdown the other way.
“If I didn’t have the elbow brace, I would have had the flexibility to catch it,” LB Mase Funa said, recounting the near game-opening interceptions.
Going into the final drive of the half, Thompson was 1-for-8 passing with his only completion being an underhand pitch to a motioning receiver across his front. Spirits were certainly not high.
However, Thompson settled in, and led a drive down the field that nearly resulted in a touchdown as time expired. From that drive on, QB13 went on to be one of the most impressive players on the field, completing 15 of his next 26 passes for over 250 yards. On the day, Thompson finished with 274 yards and 2 TD on 16-for-34 passing.
“That’s football a little bit, right? You know we had some bad balls early, some adversity early, didn’t complete some, some slow starts,” Lanning said. “And then be able to get some shots there at the end, I think that was big.”
Did we see enough to feel confident that Thompson will be an elite QB for Oregon in 2024? Definitely not. However, we saw growth at the very least, and that’s all I was asking for.
Source: Ducks Wire
