Mark Helfrich's final year in Eugene was jarring. This juggernaut program that revolutionized the college game and brought tears of joy to the eyes of 'over' bettors across the country felt how the other side lived in a 70-21 loss to Washington in 2016. Oregon capped off a 4-8 season with a loss to Oregon State, a program that hasn't won a Power Five game since that night. The 2014 Pac-12 champion sputtered to a 2-7 conference record.

That was in 2016. Two years and two coaches later, Oregon is back on the rails. Before leaving after one year to take the Florida State job, Willie Taggart brought to the Ducks a 7-6 season, a name-brand defensive coordinator in Jim Leavitt and his successor at head coach in Mario Cristobal.

In a steadily improving Pac-12 North, it's time to look at the reality that Oregon may be ready for more than an incremental step forward in 2018. It may be time to take the Ducks seriously once again as a national power. Here's why there's reason to believe.   

Justin Herbert

 
After reliving Helfrich's cringe-worthy final season, it's only fair to recognize his lasting contribution to the program as well: Justin Herbert. Under Helfrich's watch, Oregon recognized the local product and handed him off to Taggart and Cristobal to enjoy. Now all three will likely put an NFL first round draft pick on their resume. If Herbert stays healthy, Cristobal may be able to add Heisman Trophy winner as well.

During Oregon's 2017 season, the team went 6-2 with Herbert starting versus 1-4 without him. In those eight starts, Oregon averaged 516 yards of offense. In the five games without Herbert, the average dropped to 320 yards per game. Had Herbert stayed healthy all season, this column would be moot; Oregon wouldn't be surprising anybody.

When you look around college football for the teams that surprise and play above themselves, it's usually a quarterback that takes them there. Think 2017 Oklahoma and Baker Mayfield, 2015 Clemson behind Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston's 2013 Florida State team or Cam Newton and Auburn in 2010.

Those are some lofty names, but if we're to believe the draft hype, Herbert is trending towards the same draft trajectory as all of those guys. At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, Herbert is athletic, has a big arm, is a career 65 percent passer, receives rave character reviews and he's just scratching the surface. With just over a season's worth of starts under his belt, we've just gotten tastes of Herbert. This is the year we get the full dose.

Continuity

'But three coaches in three years,' you cry with terror in your eyes, frightened to hand your trust over to a program grasping to keep things together. Take it easy. The head coach has changed, but the staff remains the same.

When Oregon stayed in-house to hire Cristobal, it made a decision that breathed oxygen into the 2018 season. Leavitt is still on staff with an opportunity to continue to develop a defense that saw true freshmen all over the field last season. Defensive line coach Joe Salave'a, offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, co-defensive coordinator Keith Hayward and wide receivers coach Michael Johnson all stuck around to keep familiar faces in the program with an opportunity to finish what they started.

The new-look Ducks 

At its best, Oregon was playing a different sport than the rest of college football. Under Chip Kelly, the program embraced speed and finesse, and didn't get sucked into the hubris of 'smash-mouth' football. That set the program apart and it set the rest of the nation on a quest to catch up.  

Well, everyone has caught up and suddenly Oregon's culture has been copied and pasted all over the country, all the way down to the alternate uniforms. So, when Oregon hired an offensive line coach instead of the next spread protégé, it was an off-script move. And yet the vision makes sense.  

I don't expect to see the smoke-stack-I in Eugene any time soon, but it's pretty clear that there is a new tone in terms of physicality and size in the trenches. Look no further than Oregon's 2018 recruiting class to see that this will be an Oregon offense with a Wisconsin twist.

Oregon wants to be big and it wants to bring a physical element to a traditional spread program that we haven't seen. If Cristobal can find a way to balance those two elements, the Ducks become a very tough team to deal with every week.

The schedule

It's always wise to peak at the schedule before taking a stand on a sleeper pick and Oregon's slate is mouth-watering. A nonconference slate that may not help any playoff bids, but sure will help the win-loss record looks like a sure 3-0 start. After that, just trust in Autzen Stadium.

Oregon's two toughest games of the season are division matchups with Stanford and Washington. Both are at home. USC is nowhere to be found on the schedule. The road slate is all winnable with trips to Utah and Arizona as the most imposing. Even a split of those two and one upset against the two Pac-12 North favorites and we're suddenly looking at a 10-2 scenario to believe in.

If you're looking for an under-the-radar pick to be made, trust in the Ducks.