Bleacher Report - Articles by Elija Kin

Clinton Portis: When Will It Be Time to Go?

Elija Kin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:14:43 -0500

Clinton Portis is a beast.

How many times have you heard a running back referred to as a beast?

A thousand times? Maybe more? Most times, it's true.

I have one question though.

How long do most running backs keep their "beast" status? One year? Four years?

I'm trying to predict how long Portis can be Mr. Dependable before he is a supplemental back then an over-the-hill back. Thankfully, many things help determine this.

The first is running style. Portis is a downhill runner that can run people over if he wants to, but he needs good blocking to take out big defenders. If that happens, then he is most effective.

The thing is, Portis embraces contact and is rather glad to lower his shoulder, which is great for the play or the game. But, in long term, all those hits could end his career a year short. Ex-Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander is a prime example of this. While he had his MVP season, he is now backup to Portis' backup, Ladell Betts. Was taking all of those hits worth it?

The second factor is the system. The Redskins have changed their system more than 13-year olds change their kissing partners. Every time Portis settles into a system, it is swept out from under him.

Walter Payton did so well because he had stability in his career. Emmit Smith was the same until he became a player who you had to force to retire. Those two went against the odds and lasted longer than many should have.

Thirdly, college truly is a factor. Portis went to the University of Miami and was fantastic. He was a Reggie Bush-like runner who was great at what he did. It was doubtful he would have a successful NFL career because of his size, but the Broncos took a chance on him in the second round.

Portis responded with an amazing rookie season and a sophomore season just as comparable, with 14 touchdowns and 15 touchdowns, respectively.

While he is a great player now, I see him having two more seasons of greatness, one of effectiveness, and three where his fans yell at him to hang up his cleats once and for all.

For the First Time, Oregon Ducks Have Too Many Quarterbacks

Elija Kin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:16:26 -0500

Jeremiah Masoli

For the first time in a long time the Ducks have to many quarterbacks. Jeremiah Masoli settled into the offense in the last couple weeks of the season and was even mentioned as being a dark horse for the Heisman in '09. A little over ambitious maybe exciting yes, but something about that scares me.

Darron Thomas

We saw a glimpse of something special when he took the field against Boise State. He did throw a interception, but he completed 25 passes in one quarter that also was his first. He does not have a huge argument on his side except his talent...Please don't transfer.

Justin Roper

He has experience an arm and somewhat of running ability. He reminds me of Kellen Clemens. He isn't going to burn you in the forty, but give him some green and he will fight for at least 10 yards. A knee injury and the rise of Masoli and Thomas hurt his chances, but he is the best pure passer.

Nate Costa

I have to add his name because every year people have said he will find his way onto the field and once he got the front page of ESPN's college football section saying he would flourish...not so much two torn ACLs later, but he might just find his way onto the field.

I Need to Get This Out There: Why the Dennis Dixon Hurt Will Stick Forever

Elija Kin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:13:47 -0400

As I watch the Ducks play UCLA, the announcers say they have a special guest, and I think it's the usual Phil Knight New Jersey talk. But it wasn't—it was a man who at one time made opposing defenses shake in their cleats. Yes, I'm talking about Dennis Dixon.

There, I said the name that makes me cringe. Oregon made arrangements to fly the now-Pittsburgh Steeler to Autzen to be an honorary captain.

I, however, was not excited about seeing Dixon back in Autzen. It brought back some great memories and some not so great memories. Yes, the memories of the three fake handoffs and then a deep pass for a touchdown, or the best statue of liberty you will ever see, or the Dixon to Dickson touchdowns that made you scream "I'm a Duck and I'm proud!"

Then, suddenly, the image of "That A**hole" with hunting gear screaming "Go Cats," followed by the play were Dixon went down and brought the heart of every duck down with him.

The reason I wrote this article was that I came to the realization that our quarterback hopes rode on him. Before that, Joey never won the Heisman and he looked absolutely awful in the pros. Akili has long since faded away, but the hurt of him being a draft bust still makes Ducks fans frown. I mean, Joey is an embarrassment, but Smith got cut from the Canadian league—the Canadian league, really?

How We Got Here

Ducks fans knew that Dixon was special when he first put on an Oregon uniform. He got a little exposure early in his sophomore (redshirt) year against Houston; he ran a couple quarterback sneaks and people thought, "Well, this guy can run a few trick plays."

On Oct. 22, they got a wake-up call. Starting quarterback Kellen Clemens suffered a college career-ending injury (sound familiar?) and two sophomores, Brady Leaf and Dixon, were tossed the Oregon quarterback torch.

Leaf finished the game and Oregon got the win safely. Then the two had a Pac-10 showdown against Cal. Dixon threw for 139 yard and a touchdown. The rest is history. The passing tandem led Oregon to sixth in the nation and then got snubbed by the bowl committee. Then Oregon was upset in the Holiday Bowl.

Dixon's sophomore year was so disastrous, let's just not talk about it. He threw 14 picks and Oregon was embarrassed in the Las Vegas Bowl, not to mention those disgusting yellow helmets. Enough of that horrid year.

Dixon topped off pissing off every Duck fan by signing a pro baseball contract. This was the greatest thing to happen since man reached the moon. Dixon came into his senior season with a new offense to run and the pressure of losing his starting job but confident and ready to go.

In the season opener, Dixon had 141 yards rushing and 134 passing. The defining game came at Michigan, as the wounded Wolverines were destroyed by Dixon with 292 yards through the air for three touchdowns. Jonathan Stewart, Dixon's favorite running back, had 111 yards and the Ducks looked like the surprise of the year.

The Ducks suffered one setback against Cal, but got right back up, and Dixon was the nation's leading Heisman candidate! Then in the Arizona State game, Dixon looked great, but this is when Belotti's stubbornness got the best of him. He left his MVP quarterback in with 1:10 left, and Dixon took a routine keeper for five yards before some ASU back made a dirty tackle and—shabam—torn ACL...check that, partially torn ACL.

Ducks fans then scrambled to their computers to read the report of "a heavy bruise" on Dixon's knee. The Arizona game was supposed to be Dixon's proving ground on ESPN. Time to make those snobby East Coast Heisman voters understand that this guy is for real.

Then—boom— Dixon's in the end zone. Everything was peachy, then on a zone-read pass Dixon plants his chicken leg into the grass, turned it, and—boom—torn ACL. The announcers milked the situation by showing Dixon crying and his dad comforting him. I myself was crying like a baby. Not lying—I was sobbing.

As our season's hopes went down the drain, the team suddenly beat USF by a 56-21 margin, and that's when I realized that there will never be another Dixon, but there will always be hope. Because, in football, there will always be the ups and the downs; eventually, maybe, just maybe, there will be someone new, so keep your head up, Ducks fans, keep it up.

Time for Oregon to Put Up or Shut Up: Why the UCLA Game Is so Important

Elija Kin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:22:55 -0400

Every year, Duck fans watch as the Ducks fight for a respectable bowl bid. Well, there have been some up and down years as of late, and the UCLA game has always been a turning point.

Take last year for example, after a certain game that I would rather not talk about. The Ducks had a chance to say, hey world, we can do it without Dennis "my main man" Dixon. UCLA also was struggling with quarterback issues.

Well, we all know what happened. 16-0 UCLA, and the Ducks did not look any better the rest of the way.

Enough of the past and broken dreams that I still cringe at—let's look at this year's team.

DEFENSE?

This is why I hate when college teams or players get overhyped—the real fans start getting their hopes up too. I started talking too much trash about our "dream" secondary.

In the two legit games we have played, Byrd has played awful and Thermon da Third has been gimpy or not even there. Patrick Chung has not played to his full level, but at least I see him trying. OK, am I being very harsh or am I being truthful?

"It's all about the O"

You can't completely blame these guys for an underachieving season. We're playing with our third and fourth string QBs. Show me a team that can be successful in that situation, and I'll give you a million dollars. Also, our running back combo has been successful minus the SC game.

Back to my point though. If the Oregon D can't shut down UCLA, then they should let Jaison Williams play defense. At least he knows how to bat a ball down. UCLA yet again has a quarterback problem, and Oregon just has an all-out problem.

If it is 16-0 again, someone shoot me please!

My last words are please Bellotti, don't be so damn stubborn.

Oregon Ducks Dominate Washington State Cougars, Simple as That

Elija Kin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:27:18 -0400

On the strong legs of Jeremiah Johnson and Lagrette Blount, the Oregon Ducks trounced a SAD Washington State team.

Jeremiah Masoli had a respectable game lighting up Washington State's secondary, and what he did was get the job done. I appreciate that.

Also, Coach Belotti finally realized that Chris Harper is a playmaker and needs to have the ball given to him. Towards the end of the game, Harper played wideout and even made a bone-crushing block.

Also, Masoli did not make big mistakes. I have said this a billion times: Thomas or Masoli doesn't matter, because as long as our running backs play well, we will be okay.

I think Justin Roper should become an assistant, because he was already slow and now he has a bad knee.

Not to short the Oregon defense, because they made Washington State look SILLY. Byrd and "Thermon da Third" confused Lobbestael, who threw two picks.

Patrick Chung was at his normal high energy level. Did you see Chung take the kickoff almost for a touchdown?

If There Has Ever Been a Productive Loss...

Elija Kin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:25:58 -0400

I was going crazy about Harper last week and I still believe he may be able to get the job done later in his career. I mean much later when he learns that quarterbacks use their arms, if he didn't know that well the Ducks can teach him how to catch a well hello wide receiver.

As I do every year I check the Ducks prospects that have signed, well I did that last year and I was impressed with Darron Thomas, but I believed that Harper had more potential because Harper had a running back body and thought he could take the hits. Well, I was W-R-O-N-G Darron Thomas did something Duck fans have been waiting to see since the Arizona game last year. A finely run Chip Kelly offense, but I have a couple of questions who the hell wanted to redshirt this hidden gem?

Well, I dont know who, but chances are they didn't know about his ability either. Harper believes it is still going to be a three quarterback competition...sorry kid not gonna happen Masoli and Thomas in a competition for the MAJORITY of the snaps. In this situation there isn't gonna be a starter, Thomas may have proved he can run the offense.

But the problem is that Masoli hasn't been able to prove himself if he had been stinking up the offense no question, but Masoli just has been able to prove wither he's a keeper or not. Thomas has one thing to his resume a fourth quarter comeback, an impressive one at that but its still just one thing.

Masoli has proved he can lead a team (SFJC National, JC champs), but this is the Pac 10 Division 1 college football. I still believe in the youth are the future and why not have the future now my vote is for Thomas 08.

To Be Blount: LeGarrette, Oregon Ducks About to Break Out

Elija Kin — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:17:27 -0400

There are no words to describe my emotions throughout the Oregon Ducks' most recent nail-biting game.

The first half had me begging for Chris Harper to come in and become a freshman phenom. Well, be careful what you wish for. Yet again, a Duck quarterback went down and needed help getting up.

Before I go off on what seems like a rant about bad luck, though, let's talk about the game. Here are a few things I noticed:

Jaison Williams is now dubbed Jaison Steel-hand Williams.
Jeremiah Johnson was completely ineffective!
Harper has Dennis Dixon-like potential
Ed Dickson is the best receiver on the Ducks squad.
LeGarrette Blount is about to have a breakout season.

As I have made obvious, I became a big Harper supporter as he proved he can run the offense. Jeremiah Masoli is a fine player, but it's better if Harper runs the offense in place of Justin Roper.

The reason is simple: Harper is the quarterback of the Ducks future, but if Roper can come back, I hope he does. This is gonna be a long year if he can't.

Can Clinton Portis Get Some Help? Please?

Elija Kin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:47:41 -0400

Hi this is my first article and I'm already fueled with ideas for next week. This one is the constant lack of support of Clinton Portis.

I'm an avid Portis supporter and I believe that at the skill position the Skins are very talented, but there is one BIG problem: Jason Campbell's play has been mediocre since he first touched a NFL field.

I was no fan of Collins, but this I can not stand. Campbell has potential but he needs to start evolutionizing that into NFL grade talent. I know Portis isn't a constant 100-yard back but he has the ability of being an All-Pro back!