Tag: Oregon recruiting

Recruiting Superlatives: Highlighting Oregon’s most notable recruits over last 5 years

Who is the most influential Oregon recruit in the last 5 years? What about the biggest recruit to get away? We give some Duck recruiting superlatives.

On Monday morning, Bruce Feldman and The Athletic put out an article in their series of recruiting breakdowns looking at some of the top teams in the nation over the past couple of decades and offering superlatives for some of the most notable recruits to come through the program.

In the article (subscription required) they talked about Joey Harrington and De’Anthony Thomas as two of the most important recruits in program history, and identified Justin Herbert as the biggest developmental project, rising from an overlooked 3-star into the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

I’m not going to bite into Feldman’s writing; it’s very good and deserves your attention. However, it did get me thinking about some superlatives that could be handed out for a more current group of recruits. While Feldman looked as far back as 2000 to identify some top players, I wanted to dial in the microscope a little bit and come of with some superlatives of my own.

For this exercise, I go back five years ago to the 2018 recruiting class, and started from there up to the last class that was signed in 2023. I also threw in a few “future superlatives” for good measure, highlighting a few of the recruits in 2023 and 2024 who I think will have major impacts down the road.

Without further ado, here are my superlatives for the Oregon Ducks recruiting over the past five years:

Jurrion Dickey is wearing what number? Deleted tweet sparks Duck speculation

We would simply like some clarity…

It hardly qualifies as breaking news, but when a new crop of players comes to school and picks which jersey numbers they will wear, it is often notable for interested fans.

However, when one of the most high-profile incoming offensive players chooses a number usually reserved for a defensive lineman, rather than a WR, heads start to turn.

Things get even more interesting when the post about the new number instantly gets deleted.

That’s what took place on Monday afternoon for the Oregon Ducks. 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey announced his arrival in Eugene by tweeting a photo of himself standing next to his locker. Everything was normal about it, aside from the fact that it appears the No. 99 is on his locker, alluding to his jersey number this year.

The tweet was deleted not long after going up, but some screenshots from fans captured the image.

It is incredibly common to see wide receivers with numbers in the 80s, but in my lifetime, I can’t remember seeing anyone wear a number in the 90s, let alone No. 99.

We will wait for clarity and see if the 5-star WR indeed does suit up in the double-nines come this call.

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Ducks jump into top 5 of 2024 recruiting rankings after latest commitments

With two commitments in the last two days, the Ducks have now jumped into the top 5 of the national recruiting rankings.

The Oregon Ducks have been dominating the recruiting cycle on the west coast over the past several months, jumping out to an early lead in the Pac-12 conference and competing with some of the best schools in the nation when it comes to landing elite talent.

Going into the weekend, the Ducks ranked No. 7 in the nation when it came to recruiting standings, boasting commitments from a number of high-end 4-star players like Ify Obidegwu, Aaron Flowers, Jordan Anderson, and Xadavien Sims.

Over the weekend they were able to add a commitment from OT Devin Brooks, the No. 3 player in the state of Oregon, and on Monday they got another commitment from WR Jack Ressler, a standout player from Mater Dei High School.

So where do they now rank in the national standings? Take a look:

Mater Dei WR Jack Ressler commits to Oregon Ducks

The Ducks added a verbal commitment from WR Jack Ressler, one of many Mater Dei products Oregon hopes to land this cycle.

The Oregon Ducks have picked up a second commitment in as many days, landing a verbal from 3-star WR Jack Ressler, an elite pass-catcher from Mater Dei High School.

Ressler is rated by 247Sports as the No. 109 WR in the 2024 class.

He is now the fourth receiver in Oregon’s 2024 class, joining Jordan Anderson, Tyseer Denmark, and Dillon Gresham. Ressler is among the many Mater Dei targets that the Ducks are hoping to land this cycle, going along with Nate Frazier, Zabien Brown, Aydin Breland, and Brandon Baker.

With the commitment, the Ducks have now jumped into the top 5 of the national recruiting rankings for the first time in the 2024 cycle.

Jack Ressler’s Recruiting Profile

Oregon recruits take to social media to rave about visits to Eugene

Oregon recruits take to social media to rave about visits to Eugene

We are finally in “official visit season” in the world of recruiting, and all of the stops are being taken out by the Oregon Ducks as they put on the full-court press in an effort to land some of their biggest targets.

While not all visitors to Eugene this month are on OVs, we have and will continue to see some highly-rated players come through town throughout the month of June.

This past week, a number of highly rated 4-star players and some fast-rising 2025 prospects as well made their way out to Oregon to check out the Ducks. As you would expect, they did not leave without glowing reviews of what they saw.

Here are some of the top reactions from recruits who were in town over the past week.

Every Pac-12 team’s highest ranked recruit in school history

Who is the top-rated recruit to ever sign with a Pac-12 team? Props to you if you know it off the top of your head.

Every year, the topic of recruiting rankings comes up, and the same schools across the nation start to brag about where they rank annually, while others tend to claim that rankings don’t matter, and lobby for the importance of coaching and development instead.

In the end, both play a massive role in success. While some of the top players in the nation can struggle to reach their ceiling without proper coaching, even the best teachers in the nation may not reach the pinnacle of success without the most talented players to work with.

In the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks have largely reigned supreme over the past decade when it came to recruiting rankings in the conference, though teams like USC and Washington have given respectable efforts over the years as well. Rather than look at recruiting rankings in the conference over the years, we wanted to take a step back and look at some of the top recruits that have played out west.

Which team has had the single best player or the single highest-rated recruit sign with their squad in the past 25 years?

We dug into the history books to find out.

Ducks extend offer to 2025 QB after recent visit

Oregon re-extended an offer to 2025 QB Jamar Malone after his visit to Eugene this past week.

It appears that the Oregon Ducks, and offensive coordinator Will Stein in particular, like what they see from 2025 QB Jamar Malone.

After the Ducks extended an offer to Malone a year ago, they re-offered him with Stein at the helm of the offense this past week following Malone’s visit to Eugene. Standing at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, the 2025 product has some great size to him, and has obviously caught the attention of the Ducks.

According to 247Sports, Malone is rated as the No. 21 QB in the 2025 class, and No. 334 overall player. There is still a long way to go in his recruitment, so it will be interesting to see how things play out with the Ducks in the mix going forward.

Jamar Malone’s Recruiting Profile

Elite 2025 S Jonah Williams puts Oregon among top schools

The No. 27 overall player in the 2025 class has the Ducks among his top schools.

While much of the focus in the college football recruiting world this past month has been surrounding the top players in the 2024 class and where they are going to take their official visits this summer, the Oregon Ducks continue to put in work with the 2025 class as well, making headway with some of the best athletes in the nation.

On Thursday morning, 4-star safety Jonah Williams announced his top 12 schools, keeping the Ducks in the mix along with other teams like Ohio State, USC, LSU, Oklahoma, and Texas, among others.

Williams is rated by 247Sports as the No. 27 overall player in the 2025 class.

Williams received his Oregon offer from new safeties coach Chris Hampton back on May 8, 2023, but has yet to take a visit to Eugene. We will likely see him make his way out to the Pacific Northwest at some point in the coming months.

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Top-100 WR Nick Marsh puts Oregon among top schools

4-star WR Nick Marsh, the No. 99 player in the 2024 class, received an offer from Oregon just 3 weeks ago.

On Thursday, they landed among his top schools.

The Oregon Ducks are already off to a great start when it comes to amassing elite talent at the wide receiver position in the 2024 class. With commitments from 4-star Jordan Anderson (No. 127 overall, No. 19 WR) and 4-star WR Tyseer Denmark (No. 189 overall, No. 28 WR), coach Junior Adams has done a great job of securing a pair of top-30 pass-catchers in the upcoming class.

Don’t think they’re done amassing talent, though.

On Thursday afternoon, 4-star WR Nick Marsh announced his top five schools, keeping the Ducks in the mix. Marsh is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 99 player in the 2024 class, and the No. 16 WR.

Marsh also included Pittsburgh, Penn State, Michigan State, and Kansas among his final schools.

At the moment, there are predictions on the 247Sports Crystal Ball for Marsh to commit to the Michigan State Spartans. Marsh just received an offer from Oregon a couple of weeks ago on May 18, and has yet to take a visit to Eugene.

Once that happens, and he can meet Junior Adams in person and get a feel for what the facilities and atmosphere are like at Oregon, we may see a change in the predictions.

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No. 4 CB in 2024 class puts Ducks among top schools

No. 4 CB in 2024 class puts Ducks among top schools

Demetrice Martin, Chris Hampton, and Dan Lanning have been doing a great job of recruiting some of the most elite defensive backs in the nation this past cycle, and it looks like they might not be done on that front either.

4-star cornerback Bryce West is among the top players available at that position in the 2024 class, and he recently listed his top 7 schools, keeping the Oregon Ducks in the mix with teams like Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, and Michigan.

West is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 4 cornerback in the class, and the No. 43 player overall. He is also rated as the No. 1 player in the state of Ohio, and is currently heavily projected to commit to the in-state Buckeyes.

West took a visit to Eugene back in March, and if Lanning and the staff play their cards right, they could be in the mix to get an official visit from the blue-chip CB as well.

Bryce West Recruiting Profile