Assessing Ty Thompson's Oregon career, where he could end up
With Ty Thompson in the NCAA transfer portal, the former Oregon quarterback now looks for his future home. Where could that be?
Scoop Duck’s Justin Hopkins joined Andy Staples On3 to look back at the former five-star’s career with the Ducks. It just never quite panned out.
Thompson entered the transfer portal amid Dillon Gabriel’s commitment to the school. Plus, Oregon could be a landing spot for another transfer: former UCLA quarterback Dante Moore.
“His career, you know, he’s the guy everybody rooted for right,” Hopkins said. “He’d get out there and you’d want to see him play and he’d make mistakes and a lot of fans would say, ‘Okay, those weren’t great mistakes.
“But you know, Ty just needs more time to adjust.’ I think because he stuck with the transition from Mario to Lanning and Dillingham left and you’ve got Will Stein in here and like you said, Bo Nix came in. He’s just been around the program a long time and he’s a pretty quiet guy but always kept his nose clean.”
Thompson posted a cryptic tweet, but it did not signal his intentions to enter the portal or stay at Oregon. He ultimately chose to enter the portal.
“He’s been a great team leader, you know, just a lot of fans love him,” Hopkins said. “And it’s the hard truth of college football, right? With the transfer portal being created to help student athletes maybe find that greener pasture, it’s also opened the doorway for it to be a business for coaches, they’ve got to win.
“And if these guys haven’t produced in a certain amount of time, it’s time to kind of have that conversation. And so for Ty, I guess to answer the second part, you know, I don’t really know where he goes because his body of work is just so unfinished, right?”
In three seasons, Thompson played sparingly over the course of 17 games. The former highly touted recruit hasn’t broken through as the full-time starter.
Overall, he is 42-of-66 passing (63.6%) for 456 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions.
Ty Thompson staying on the West Coast?
Hopkins suggested a familiar face to help Thompson with the remainder of his college career.
“You don’t know like, he’s a five star but so far, what’s he done at the collegiate level, not a whole heck of a lot,” Hopkins said. “Played some mock time and some cleanup time and it hasn’t always been the best, but you just kind of wonder he’s probably not getting a ton of reps. So if you make him the guy and you work on developing him, can he be that I would immediately look at Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State.”
As a member of the Class of 2021, Thompson was a five-star recruit out of Gilbert (Ari.) Mesquite, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 1 overall prospect in the state, the No. 6 quarterback in the class and the No. 31 overall prospect in the class.
“So I think if you’re, you know, Kenny Dillingham, you maybe have (talk with Thompson), maybe I don’t make you the starter this year,” Hopkins said. “But come in and maybe in two years, you’re the guy, I don’t know.”