For the second day in a row, a high-quality tight end prospect placed the Oregon Ducks among their top five schools. On Thursday, it was Ryner Swanson, the 19th-best tight end in the class of 2023, who expressed an interest in Oregon.
The Ducks’ star tight end in 2022 was Terrance Ferguson, but this spring, he went down with an injury that could keep him off the field for a while. Following Ferguson’s injury the Ducks have made multiple TE pickups in the transfer portal such as Kaden Ludwick from Colorado and Casey Kelly from Ole Miss.
In the class of 2024, the No. 1 TE Jaden Reddell has shown a strong interest in the Ducks after putting them in his top five Wednesday. As players, Swanson and Reddell differ. One of Reddell’s biggest strengths is his speed, but one of Swanson’s is his size. Swanson often uses that size to both bring down contested catches and break tackles in the open field.
Swanson is a California native, but the only school in his home state that has extended him an offer is Stanford. Oregon is the only coastal school in his top five, and it is also one of the closer schools to his hometown. If those factors are selling points for Swanson, the Ducks could be closer to the top of that five than the bottom of it.