Oregon Football: Why Willie Taggart will turn Ducks around in year one

Quarterback return headlines 2017

If there’s a subject that was discussed at length over the last two seasons in Eugene, it’s the quarterback position. After two varying levels of success with graduate transfers, the Ducks have their signal caller of the present and future in Justin Herbert.

The Vernon Adams’ experience in 2015 had success, but he struggled to stay healthy. Oregon had to hit the reset button the following summer with Dakota Prukop. The Montana State transfer wasn’t bad, but he certainly didn’t live up to expectations. The Ducks knew the season was lost and decided to usher in a new era.

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Herbert returns after a quality first season. He took his bumps and bruises, but he managed to stay composed. He threw for 1,936 yards, 19 touchdowns against four interceptions adding 161 yards and two scores on the ground.

He needs to improve his consistency, as he struggled against top-tier defenses and thrived against poor ones. The biggest positive was his second to last game of the season against Utah. He completed 30-of-43 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns and added a touchdown on the ground. The Utes allowed just 23.9 points per game and won 10 games last year, but Herbert diced them up.

Tag-teamed with Taggart, these two could strike fear in Pac-12 defensive coordinators again. Taggart polished his two starters at Western Kentucky and USF. They were both dual threat passers just like Herbert and his offense works well with players like Herbert. Luckily for the new coach, Helfrich already went through a lot of the rough patches of grooming a freshman signal caller giving Taggart a better prospect in 2017.