National signing day is now behind us, and the entirety of the Oregon Ducks fanbase — and the college football world at large, for that matter — can take a collective deep breath.
We saw a lot over the past 24 hours, with some high-profile recruits tossing hats and jerseys aside as they pump-fake their way into a commitment, while others passed on schools that never even offered them a scholarship.
For the Oregon Ducks, it was a day full of victories. It started with the signing of all 5 verbal commits that they’d built up over the last month, was followed by the flipping of 4-star RB Jordan James, who was previously committed to the Georgia Bulldogs, and ended by taking 4-star OL Dave Iuli away from Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes.
For Dan Lanning, in particular, it was a statement type of day. He entered this recruiting cycle with one hand behind his back after spending the length of the season with Georgia, and not getting boots on the ground in Eugene until January. He was presented with a makeshift recruiting class that had a school-record 16 de-commitments on it and managed to turn it into the top-25 ranked class when all was said and done. It was an uphill battle, but something that he took head-on.
“For us, I think as a staff it was a challenge, but a challenge that we welcomed,” Lanning said in his presser on Wednesday.
Oregon’s 2022 class now has a total of 15 members, ranking No. 25 in the nation and No. 3 in the Pac-12. It may not be as glamorous as things looked before Mario Cristobal jetted off to Miami, but considering what Lanning was working with, it’s a massive win for the Ducks. Here are some of our biggest takeaways from the day.