Dan Lanning and the Duck cleaned up on National Signing Day with some saying this is the best class in program history after it landed inside the top-5 nationally for the first time ever.
Of course, only time will determine if that plays out, but according to the ratings, Oregon was No. 1 in the Big Ten, jumping in front of new rival Ohio State after Lanning was able to flip wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan from the Buckeyes, which turned a lot of heads.
Later in the day, Oregon also flipped 4-star WR Ryan Pellum from the USC Trojans, picking up another win over a conference foe.
The Ducks aren’t here to play. Several outlets nationally took notice, with several naming Oregon as one of the big winners on signing day. Here’s what ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren had to say:
The Ducks already had a top-five class coming into the early signing period, but coach Dan Lanning was able to add some outstanding players on Wednesday. Lanning flipped ESPN 300 receiver Ryan Pellum, the No. 90 overall prospect, from USC. It’s big to flip a commitment on signing day, but doing it at the expense of a conference opponent that has already had recruiting questions makes it an even bigger deal. On top of Pellum, Oregon was able to flip ESPN 300 receiver Jeremiah McClellan from Ohio State. McClellan is the No. 100 recruit overall and gives the Ducks four ESPN 300 receivers in the class. That pairs perfectly with what Lanning & Co. have been able to do in the transfer portal. Set to lose quarterback Bo Nix, a Heisman finalist, to the NFL, Oregon got Dillon Gabriel (from Oklahoma) and Dante Moore (from UCLA) out of the transfer portal. Both were among the top 10 quarterbacks available in the portal.
ESPN wasn’t the only outlet to take notice. 247Sports also had Oregon as one of the big winners of the day:
As we see in college football, if you have the quarterback, it’s easy to figure the other stuff out. Coveted wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan probably factored that into the equation when he flipped to Oregon from Ohio State on Wednesday. Perhaps so too did 4-star receiver Ryan Pellum, who flipped from USC. Speaking of flips, Dan Lanning convinced transfer offensive tackle Matthew Bedford to sign with Oregon over Colorado, where he was previously committed. It was one of a few Oregon vs. Colorado battles in 2024: Lanning also held onto top-100 offensive tackle JacQawn McRoy, who Coach Prime made a huge late push for.
We love that in the Big Ten, Oregon’s bringing in a recruiting class with two five-star defensive linemen, Aydin Breeland and Elijah Rushing. The Ducks are also in the final four for 4-star defensive lineman Jericho Johnson, who makes a decision Thursday.
It came as very little surprise in Eugene that the Ducks had a banner day on the recruiting trail because that’s something that Dan Lanning has shown time and again that he’s good at. What comes next will be more important, though, as the coaching staff looks to take this talent and develop it into a championship-worthy roster.
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