A look at where the Oregon Ducks rank in the updated way-too-early top 25 rankings from ESPN ahead of the spring football season.
This has been as hectic of an offseason in the world of college football as we’ve seen in quite a long time, thanks to an extended coaching carousel, the continued normalization around the transfer portal, and the new storylines that are being brought forth by conference realignment and the expanded College Football Playoff in 2024.
It’s safe to say that predictions made even a month ago feel incredibly dated at this point. That caused me to update my own top-25 rankings that originally came out early in January, and the good folks at The Athletic did the same earlier this month as well.
This week, ESPN hopped onboard the update train as well, giving a fresh look at their wildly popular way-too-early top 25. The Oregon Ducks were ranked No. 3 in the nation in their first rankings of the year, so take a look at where they now stand in the updated rankings as well:
Can Texas put the pieces together for a college football playoff run?
Texas football hopes to get back into national championship contention sooner rather than later. The Longhorns last played in the national title back in 2009 and have yet to qualify for the College Football Playoff in the nine years since its inception.
The Longhorns have the talent to contend for a Big 12 championship but will have a few key issues to solve. First, there’s the matter of replacing Doak Walker Award winner Bijan Robinson and running back Roschon Johnson. Then there’s the matter of the QB position, where Quinn Ewers showed some flashes in his first year as a starter but also had plenty of struggles. Will he be able to hold off all-everything recruit Arch Manning? With the addition of Adonai Mitchell from Georgia to pair with Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington, who could have a big year, the passing game has a chance to be stellar — with tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders as a budding superstar. The offensive line returns all five starters and will be a key. So if the defense can come together by Week 2 when the Horns travel to Alabama, there’s a chance for a huge statement that could set the tone for the rest of the season.
Texas is in a great spot on paper from a roster standpoint. A solid chunk of returning production comes back, along with some exciting newcomers in the mix.
Consistency is going to be the key for Texas to finally get over the hump. The Longhorns can not afford to play up or down to its competition as they have in years past. If Sarkisian can get the most out of his team each week, there is no reason Texas should not be in the playoff mix.
Dan Lanning and the Ducks have jumped into the top-25 for ESPN’s 2023 recruiting rankings.
The 2023 recruiting cycle is still young, but Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks have made a nice early impression.
While they only have 3 commitments on the books — 4-star CB Cole Martin, 4-star WR Jurrion Dickey, and 3-star DL Tevita Pome’e — the Ducks have been able to jump into the top-25 for ESPN’s 2023 recruiting rankings, sitting at No. 22 on the list. Here is ESPN’s take on Oregon’s current class of commitments:
New head coach Dan Lanning led Georgia’s championship defense last year, but now focuses on trying to build a similar type unit with the Ducks. ESPN 300 CB Martin is a good place to start; he is a player with good feet and upside. They landed two big targets for their passing attack in Dickey and Kyler Kasper, who both check in at more than 6-foot-2 and can win contested matchups.
Of course, ESPN has 4-star WR Kyler Kasper listed as a member of the 2023 class, though he announced after his commitment on Easter that he would be reclassifying and joining the team this summer.
[lawrence-related id=24058]
Regardless, the fact that Oregon is in the top-25 is significant, because it offers a stark contrast from the 247Sports team recruiting rankings, where the Ducks are currently ranked at No. 37 in the nation. It is also worth nothing that according to ESPN, the Ducks are ranked two spots higher than the Miami Hurricanes, but are still the third-ranked team in the Pac-12, trailing USC (9) and Colorado (21).
As we mentioned earlier, there is still a long way to go before the 2023 class is finalized, but Oregon is in a good position early on to make some waves in Lanning’s first full year recruiting in Eugene.
ESPN isn’t as confident in Oregon as it was a couple of months ago, but USC and Utah are rising in the rankings quickly.
[jwplayer P2NyHX8h]
It is always interesting when there are massive changes in a way-too-early top 25 between February and April. What are you basing those changes on?
While spring football is taking place across the country and position battles are starting to take shape, every team in the nation is still in a rebuilding mode that should have their array of outcomes in the fall pretty expansive.
For the Oregon Ducks, that is certainly true, especially with the entirely new coaching staff taking over in Eugene and working to get a young roster ready to compete.
Recently, ESPN put out a new edition of its way-too-early top 25, and the Ducks dropped noticeably. In January, before Lanning worked wonders in the recruiting world and built Oregon’s class to what is now the No. 13 group in the nation, per 247Sports, the Ducks ranked No. 12 in ESPN’s poll.
On Thursday, ESPN dropped them to No. 16.
Oregon Ducks — No. 16
The Oregon Ducks practiced away from the elements on Tuesday, working inside the Moshofsky Center to escape the winter weather. Zachary Neel | USA TODAY Sports
Previous ranking: 12 2021 record: 10-4 (7-2 Pac-12) Returning starters: 6 offense, 7 defense, 2 special teams Key departures: DE Kayvon Thibodeaux, CB Mykael Wright, CB DJ James, QB Anthony Brown, WR Devon Williams, G George Moore, S Verone McKinley III, RB Travis Dye Key additions: QB Bo Nix, DL Sam Taimani, CB Christian Gonzalez, WR Chase Cota, DL Jordon Riley, LB Devon Jackson, ATH Jalil Tucker, DE Gracen Halton, S Trejon Williams, OL Josh Conerly Jr.
Spring Update: New Ducks coach Dan Lanning, a former defensive coordinator at Georgia, has spent the spring installing new schemes on both sides of the ball. Nix, who started three seasons at Auburn, has been working with the No. 1 offense. He will continue to battle Ty Thompson and Jay Butterfield for the starting quarterback job. Dye transferred to Southern California, so sophomores Byron Cardwell, Seven McGee and Sean Dollars are competing for carries. The Ducks added some beef up front on defense in Taimani (6-foot-2, 330 pounds) and Riley (6-foot-6, 310 pounds). Gonzalez, a two-year starter at Colorado, should help in the secondary, where three of four starters departed.
No hate on ESPN, but there are some factual inaccuracies that need to be corrected. For starters, Seven McGee is listed as a member of the backfield, when he has moved to wide receiver. Also, Bo Nix has not been working with the “No. 1 offense,” but rather rotating through each offensive group while a depth chart is still in the works. ESPN also listed that the Ducks added DE Gracen Halton, who committed to Oklahoma on national signing day, and earlier in the rankings, they added WR Justius Lowe as a new addition to the Utah Utes, despite his commitment to Oregon in February.
There was also no mention of four-star running back Jordan James, four-star cornerback Jahlil Florence or four-star WR Kyler Kasper in the additions for the Ducks.
Despite this, it’s clear the worldwide leader in sports is not as high on the Ducks as it once was. However, it is certainly buying stock in a couple of other Pac-12 schools. The Utah Utes and USC Trojans skyrocketed up the rankings. Here is where those teams landed…
The date turns the page to the 2021 football season, the team beginning offseason work without departed seniors and with some early enrollees in the incoming recruiting class.
During this time last year, college sports were all on hold, a pause that showed during Wisconsin’s 2020 campaign. A full offseason is critical to the success of this program, especially with an underclassman in Graham Mertz under center, and Tuesday marks the real start of that offseason process.
“Big, hulking offensive linemen are synonymous with Wisconsin, right? The Badgers signed three ESPN 300 offensive linemen in the 2021 class, and Rucci was ranked the highest at No. 36 overall. He’s a 6-foot-7, 290-pound tackle out of Lititz, Pennsylvania, and fits exactly the mold of what a Wisconsin offensive lineman looks like. He had some of the biggest programs in the country after him, and while he has some things to polish up early on in his college career, he has a chance to continue the success Wisconsin has seen along the line throughout his career.
Scouting report: Rucci brings a lot of the physical tools to develop into an outstanding college tackle. He’s tall, he possesses ideal length and is also a flexible big man that can play with leverage. He is effective with his hands with good feet and toughness. With his big frame, Rucci still has nice upside with room to physically develop and should benefit from time in the Badgers’ weight program. — Haubert”
With former five-star OT Logan Brown set to battle for a job this year and Rucci about to enter the program, Wisconsin’s future at tackle looks about as bright as it ever has.
Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.
ESPN has released their annual “Way-Too-Early” College Football Top-25. See where Georgia football ranks among the list.
ESPN released their Way-Too-Early College Football Top 25 list on Wednesday. The list is made as a rough estimate as what to expect for the upcoming season but isn’t perfect, as stated in the title.
For the most part the rankings look pretty solid. The top 10 starts with Notre Dame at #10, Oklahoma at #9, LSU at #8, Florida at #7 and Oregon at #6.
The reason LSU dropped to #8 after winning the National Championship is rather obvious. They will be without Heisman Trophy winner and possibly the greatest college quarterback ever Joe Borrow, offensive coordinator Joe Brady, defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and a handful of juniors heading to the NFL Draft.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers third-year receiver Chris Godwin has landed on ESPN’s list of the top 25 players under 25 for 2019.
Entering the 2019 season, Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin was viewed by many as a player ready for a breakout season. Bruce Arians even said the third-year receiver out of Penn State could be close to a 100-catch guy this year.
Through the first 11 weeks of the season, Godwin has already exceeded expectations, setting a career-high in both receptions (63) and receiving yards (887) and tying his career-high with seven touchdown receptions.
Few people probably predicted Godwin turning into the star player he has, but now that he’s arrived on the scene, it doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. Which might explain why ESPN selected Godwin to their list of the top 25 players under 25 for 2019.
Godwin — who won’t turn 25 until February of 2021 — landed at No. 22.
Here’s part of the explanation for his inclusion on the list:
“Godwin was a relatively unheralded third-round pick in 2017, but he has emerged as a force. The restraints are off in 2019. New coach Bruce Arians converted Godwin to a slot receiver and has had him on the field for 96% of the team’s offensive snaps. The Penn State product has run a league-high 368 pass routes and has already put up a 60/840/6 receiving line, ranking no lower than sixth among receivers in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns… He and superstar Mike Evans certainly combine to form arguably the league’s best duo at the position.”
Godwin had a fast start to the season, catching six touchdowns in the team’s first five games. He had one touchdown reception in last Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints. It was Godwin’s first touchdown since he caught two against the Saints back in Week 5’s loss.
Godwin will look to keep his scoring ways going next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons on the road.
