There was an expectation from many that Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks would be able to pull off a massive flip during the Early Signing Period and land 5-star tight end Linkon Cure in the 2025 class.
After Cure’s visit to Eugene over the weekend for the Ducks’ game against the Washington Huskies, the buzz was strongly in favor of Oregon, who had picked up multiple predictions to land the No. 1 TE in the class over his hometown Kansas State Wildcats.
However, as we often see in recruiting, things changed late overnight, and Cure ended up announcing on Wednesday morning that he would be staying home and signing with the Wildcats.
So where do the Ducks go from here at the tight end position?
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They have a few different options. The Ducks did sign 4-star TE Vander Ploog on Wednesday, the No. 10 TE in the 2025 class, and there are other prospects on the board for them to still target. Most notably, we will likely see them ramp up the heat for 4-star TE Andrew Olesh, the No. 3 TE in the class.
Olesh has been committed to the Michigan Wolverines since July, but the Ducks have been recruiting him heavily over the last few months. Now that Cure is off of the board, we may see Oregon ramp up those efforts once again before Olesh signs on Friday.
Should the Ducks miss out on Olesh as well, though, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It feels like almost a sure thing that Oregon will work to land a tight end via the transfer portal this offseason to pair another veteran and starting-caliber pass-catcher with Sadiq in the 2026 offense.
After that, we also know that the Ducks have a commitment from 5-star TE Kendre Harrison, the No. 1 TE in the 2026 class.
While the loss of Linkon Cure may have thrown a wrench in the current plans, we’ve seen Dan Lanning and his staff recalibrate and bounce back before, and it should be no different this time around.
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