Dan Lanning highlights Josh Conerly, Khamari Terrell, other freshman standouts at practice

Josh Conerly, Khamari Terrell, and a couple other true freshmen got kudos from Dan Lanning this week.

Some freshman football players have the benefit of enrolling early at school and joining their team for the spring season, going through a number of practices, and ultimately getting some live reps in the annual spring game.

Others aren’t so fortunate, needing instead to try and get up to speed when fall camp rolls around. There is an acclimation period that the entire team goes through, consisting of two days of spider pads, and three days of shells (helmets and shoulder pads). This offers somewhat of a slow integration into the physical nature of college football, which can often be a wake-up for young players who are used to the high school level of play.

“I think the physicality… I mean, if you’re going to bite as a pup you’re going to bite as a dog, and we can try to enforce that a little bit,” head coach Dan Lanning said on Tuesday when asked about young players responding to the increased physicality. “But the reality is that if you’re a physical player, you’re going to be a physical player.”

For many incoming freshmen, the start of fall camp is a lot like getting thrown into the deep end of the pool. You may have been an all-star athlete in high school, but now you’re running with the big dogs who are sometimes as many as 3 or 4 years older than you.

“I think what you notice as you get into day five and day six is you start to recognize who’s actually got their head buried in their playbook — who’s spending the extra time — because it’s hard to play fast if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Lanning said. “And that probably sticks out the young guys that are putting in the extra time that’s required to be successful. Those are the guys who are reaping the benefits right now.”

When pressed to identify a player or two who have done what he was alluding to, Lanning — a coach who rarely singles out individuals thus far in his tenure at Oregon — pointed to true freshman defensive back Khamari Terrell, a former 4-star recruit out of Texas.

“There’s a few guys… I just threw kudos to Khamari Terrell, he’s done a really good job of meeting and taking extra time to watch film, doing the little things,” Lanning said.

Another place where Lanning wasn’t shy about offering praise was on the offensive line. Due to a couple of minor injuries, mainly to RT Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, there has been an opportunity for young players to step up and take advantage of some playing time on the O-line. Oregon fans will be happy to hear that Josh Conerly, the 5-star recruit who ranked as the No. 1 OT in the 2022 class, was near the top of the list.

“There’s been some guys that have stuck out and had really good days. You know, Josh Conerly had a good day, had a really good rep and competition (period) today,” Lanning said. “The competition drill — we do kind of a one-on-one drill — he did a really good job. We’ve seen some good things from Dave (Iuli), seen some good things from Kawika (Rogers). A lot of those young guys have done well up front.”

As is normally the case with training camp, an opportunity has risen for young players and underclassmen to showcase their talents and try to establish a place for themselves on the depth chart. How high up on the depth chart they actually land is a case-by-case basis, but what matters is that the players are getting a chance to show what they’re capable of.

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Oregon football storylines to follow: Which true freshmen will have an instant impact this spring?

We only know of a few true freshmen to join the Ducks for spring ball, but can’t wait to see which players have an instant impact.

The past couple of months of Oregon Football have certainly been eventful, all the while very little action took place on the field. A new coaching staff has been put into place, and a top-25 recruiting class has been signed. Meanwhile, highly-rated transfers have come to Eugene, and a few key players have left for new destinations.

For an Oregon fan, there are a lot of storylines to keep track of, and with Spring Practice starting on March 10th, we will likely get a few answers in the coming weeks. So which ones should you be paying the most attention to? We tried to help answer that question in our continuing Spring Preview by singling out a few and highlighting what makes them so interesting.


The True Freshmen Watch is On

The Oregon Ducks’ 2022 recruiting class definitely wasn’t the highest-rated that we’ve seen in recent memory, but it garnered a lot of excitement. To be up-front, the Ducks’ 25th-ranked class this year was their worst finish nationally since 2016 when they had the No. 27 overall class. Since then, Oregon has made it into the top-10 a pair of times and been inside the top-15 a total of four times. Despite that, the way that Dan Lanning closed on national signing day gave a burst of energy to the Oregon fanbase.

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A lot of that has to do with the fact that the Ducks’ class was ranked in the 70s after the departure of Mario Cristobal left for Miami. Lanning’s top crew of recruiters managed to build it back up, securing numerous flips from top-rated players like RB Jordan James and OL Dave Iuli, who chose the Ducks over Georgia and Miami, respectively.

Now with spring football on the horizon, we finally get to see some of these players in action.

Earlier this week, Ducks Wire has received confirmation that 4-star CB Jahlil Florence, 4-star WR Justius Lowe, 4-star LB Harrison Taggart, and 4-star ATH Anthony Jones will be enrolling early at Oregon and participating in spring ball, but we are waiting on confirmation from more players.

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While we don’t know the entire list of true freshmen to be enrolling early at Oregon, there has been a noticeable trend as of late that has seen high school seniors choose to graduate early and head off to college as soon as they can in order to get acclimated in the new lifestyle before the summer and football season begins. We saw that last season with QB Ty Thompson and WRs Troy Franklin and Dont’e Thornton, all of whom had impressive days during the Oregon Spring Game. So who will be the newcomers to have a big impact this year?

Without knowing the entire list just yet, it is impossible to say, but there are a number of recent recruits that we have high hopes for in 2022. Let’s touch on a few:

RB Jordan James

We are still waiting on confirmation from 4-star RB Jordan James as to whether or not he will be participating in the spring, but you can guarantee that he is going to attract a lot of eyes once he does finally hit the field in Eugene.

After flipping his commitment on national signing day and choosing the Ducks over the Georgia Bulldogs, there is a hope that he can develop into one of the feature backs for Oregon’s offense. That may not take place this year, with Byron Cardwell and Sean Dollars seemingly leading the way, but whatever we see from James early on will be newsworthy.

Official: 4-star CB Khamari Terrell signs with Oregon Ducks

Pen to paper. 4-star CB Khamari Terrell is officially an Oregon Duck.

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National signing day started early for the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday, making it official with 4-star CB Khamari Terrell by officially signing him to the 2022 recruiting class.

Terrell, the No. 43 CB in the recruiting class, committed to the Ducks last Friday, kicking off what was a historic recruiting weekend for Oregon where some of the top prospects in the nation were in Eugene to see the campus and meet the new coaching staff.

Terrell stands at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, and chose the Ducks over the Baylor Bears. Oregon is now adding the 4-star prospect to a cornerback position that, before this recruiting class, needed some additions going forward. With just Dontae Manning and Trikweze Bridges having experience on the roster, they will now add Terrell, along with 4-star CB Jahlil Florence and 4-star CB Jalil Tucker.

Neither Florence nor Tucker are signed with the Ducks just yet, but that will likely happen on Wednesday as more recruitments pour in for Dan Lanning and his staff.

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BREAKING: 4-star corner Khamari Terrell commits to Oregon

Dan Lanning has secured the commitment of four-star corner Khamari Terrell to become an Oregon Duck.

This is one of the main reasons Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens hired Dan Lanning. Oregon wanted to get someone who is a premier recruiter who can convince the top defensive talent to come to Eugene.

So far it seems like Lanning is producing.

With the February signing day coming up next week, Lanning has acquired the verbal commitment of four-star cornerback Khamari Terrell. The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder from Texas is rated as the No. 43 corner in the country. Oregon was battling Baylor for his services and it seems as the Ducks have come out on top.

The Ducks are hoping Terrell is just the first part of a possible dynamic duo at corner as Oregon is one of just two schools four-star corner Jahlil Florence is considering with USC also in the mix. Florence has been a top priority of Lanning’s since he arrived in Eugene. If Florence does sign with the Ducks, the new coach would have salvaged a recruiting class that was once in flux.

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Gators staff visiting 4-star defensive back target in Texas

Florida coaches will be in Texas on Tuesday to visit one of the fastest recruits in the country, Khamari Terrell.

Florida’s recruiting staff stopped by four-star cornerback Khamari Terrell last week, and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond should be back in Texas on Tuesday for another meeting with one of the nation’s fastest prospects.

Co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Patrick Toney will join Raymond on the visit, according to 247Sports, and it’s possible that Billy Napier makes the trip as well. Terrell has known Raymond since he was at LSU and has been the lead recruiter on this one.

The goal is to get Terrell to Florida this weekend before national signing day on a football official visit. He already visited for track and was able to see the Alabama game last season, but that was before Florida underwent all of its coaching changes. Terrell runs the fastest 400-meter in the nation and has a 10.72 100-meter dash time.

“I loved when I visited for my track official visit,” Terrell said. “The fanbase and the environment was awesome. I went and got to see the Alabama game. It was a big game there. It was awesome seeing it. Just being around the fans and the crowd. Watching the players warm up and everything. It was awesome.”

Oregon looks like the team to beat after an official visit last weekend, but Terrell has also been to Baylor and Mississippi State. Florida might’ve joined the race late, but the Gators’ best are making a strong push.

Getting him on campus for the last weekend of the recruiting cycle should help tremendously, and Napier and Raymond were able to land safety Kamari Wilson in a matter of weeks.

247Sports ranks Terrell as the 30th-best cornerback in the class of 2022.

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Florida coaches to visit recently offered 3-star cornerback

Khamari Terrell, who is also a track star, was offered by the Gators on Dec. 30.

Coach Billy Napier has made defensive back recruiting a priority since arriving in Gainesville. He added four-star safety Devin Moore and five-star safety Kamari Wilson on signing day, and since then the team has landed a commitment from another safety in Alabama prospect Miguel Mitchell.

But there are more still that the team is targeting, and one of those players is Killean (TX) Shoemaker safety Khamari Terrell, a three-star recruit and the No. 386 player in the class of 2022, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Florida sent a cohort of coaches, which includes defensive backs coach Corey Raymond, defensive coordinator/safeties coach Patrick Toney and defensive analyst Jamar Chaney, to visit Terrell on Monday while the group was on a trip to visit prospects in Texas, per 247Sports’ Blake Alderman.

Terrell was offered by the UF staff on Dec. 30, but he had a prior relationship with Raymond, who also recruited him at LSU. Raymond appears to be Terrell’s primary recruiter. A track star with the fastest 400-meter time in the nation, Terrell also holds numerous track offers, including from Florida.

Terrell took official visits in the month of December to Mississippi State and Baylor, with the Bears considered the favorite to land him. But the Gators are making a late push, and if this visit went well, they could be able to add him to the class.

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Gators in top 4 for this 3-star cornerback and track standout

The Gators offered Khamari Terrell on Thursday, and they seem to be one of the finalists for the Killeen, Texas, native.

Florida’s defensive back haul for 2022 doesn’t look nearly as bare as it did before early signing day. Back on Dec. 15, the team landed the commitments of a pair of blue-chip safeties in Devin Moore and Kamari Wilson, a five-star and top-30 recruit. However, this team could still use some help at cornerback, and that’s where three-star Killeen, Texas, prospect Khamari Terrell could come into play.

Terrell, a 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound corner, has been recruited hard recently by Baylor and Mississippi State, and he visited both in December. A two-sport athlete, Terrell has also visited Florida and Texas for track, and he told 247Sports that he’s looking for a school that can accommodate both football and track.

He just picked up an offer from the Gators on Thursday, and he listed UF in his current top four, alongside Baylor, Clemson and USC.

“I’ve talked to them a lot and I’ve been in touch with Corey Raymond since he was at LSU so I have a good relationship,” Terrell said when asked about his thoughts on Florida.

He is still yet to decide where he will take his fifth and final official visit, though considering he still hasn’t visited schools in his top four in Clemson and USC, it seems likely he will choose to see one of those schools. Terrell said he plans to make his decision before February.

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Clemson hands out new class of 2022 offer

Clemson has extended another offer to a prospect in the class of 2022. Shoemaker High School (Killeen, Texas) cornerback Khamari Terrell reported the offer from the Tigers via social media Friday. Terrell (6-2, 180) also cites offers from …

Clemson has extended another offer to a prospect in the class of 2022.

Shoemaker High School (Killeen, Texas) cornerback Khamari Terrell reported the offer from the Tigers via social media Friday.

Terrell (6-2, 180) also cites offers from Mississippi State, Baylor, Florida, LSU, Missouri and Southern Cal.

Terrell is rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports, which considers him the No. 30 cornerback in the 2022 class.

The Tigers extended an offer to Vestavia Hills (Ala.) 2022 wide receiver Cole Turner, the younger brother of longtime Clemson safety Nolan Turner, on Friday as well.

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This 4-star cornerback received an offer from Florida on Thursday

Florida makes a bid for this defensive back prospect.

The recruiting hot stove is white-hot as we close out the 2021 calendar, with new head coach Billy Napier and his staff hitting the ground running on the prospect trail since his hire. While the Gators still lag well behind in the overall race for prep prospects, ranking No. 50 in the nation and last in the Southeastern Conference, the new leader of the program has injected some excitement into the recruiting process that was sorely lacking under Dan Mullen.

The latest prospect to receive an offer from Florida is four-star cornerback Khamari Terrell from Killeen, Texas, who received his on Thursday afternoon per Blake Alderman of 247Sports. The 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound defensive back is currently a heavy lean toward Baylor according to On3Sports, with Mississippi State the next hottest suitor, followed by LSU and USC as other schools who have extended offers.

According to 247Sports, the four-star cornerback is the No. 30 prospect at his position nationally while ranking No. 38 overall in the state of Texas. Rivals only gives him three stars and ranks him at No. 40 at his position nationally, while On3Sports agrees with 247Sports’ four-star rating.

It seems fairly unlikely that the Gators will grab this one but it is always encouraging to see Florida’s staff acting aggressively when it comes to recruiting. Napier and company have a lot of ground to make up and every inch they can gain makes a difference.

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