Tag: Oregon recruiting

4-star Oregon CB Caleb Presley flips to Washington Huskies

Tough blow for Oregon’s 2023 class. 4-star CB Caleb Presley is flipping to the Huskies, staying home in Washington.

The Oregon Ducks got a tough blow on the recruiting trail, getting the news that 4-star cornerback Caleb Presley would flip his commitment to the Washington Huskies, his home-state team.

This is the second player to flip from the Ducks this week, with 5-star QB Dante Moore announcing his commitment to the UCLA Bruins earlier in the day.

Presley, who is rated as the No. 1 player in the state of Washington, is seen by 247Sports as the No. 19 CB and No. 165 overall player in the 2023 class. He has been committed to Oregon since July, but a couple of late visits to Seattle, including his official visit on December 2, appeared to be impactful enough to sway his decision.

This is unfortunate for Oregon, with a big need at the cornerback position on the defense. While it’s tough to lose a blue-chip recruit, Duck fans at least can feel comfortable with the fact that they landed former Alabama Crimson Tide CB Khyree Jackson out of the transfer portal on Sunday.

We will likely see the Ducks continue to try and add defensive back talent this offseason, but losing out on Presley is not something you like to see happen.

Caleb Presley’s Recruiting Profile

SIGNED: 3-star DL Tevita Pome’e is officially a Duck

3-star DL Tevita Pome’e made it official on Wednesday. Welcome to Eugene, Tevita.

The Oregon Ducks got another big body on the defensive line to make it official on Wednesday, getting 3-star defensive lineman Tevita Pome’e to sign his nation letter of intent with the Ducks.

Pome’e committed to the Ducks all the way back in April and has stuck to that commitment, finally becoming an official member of the team.

“I felt really good when I went up there with my family and just seeing how everything works within the team and getting to experience their new staff was awesome,” Pome’e told 247Sports upon his commitment. “They told me about their defensive scheme and shared where they would put me as a big defensive tackle and nose guard. The coaches ran some plays for me and they broke things down with my movements.”

With a lot of depth on the defensive line, it’s unclear how likely Pome’e is to see a lot of playing time, but he is a great depth piece for the team going forward.

Tevita Pome’e’s Signing Day Profile

SIGNED: 4-star cornerback Cole Martin is officially an Oregon Duck

Oregon may have solved its kick returner problem with the signing of 4-star cornerback Cole Martin.

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning and his staff have spent a lot of time in the town of Chandler, Ariz. They were recruiting defensive lineman A’Mauri Washington and now they signed 4-star corner Cole Martin. The two players went to different schools, however.

At 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, Martin is a good candidate for a free safety spot and more importantly, he’s a very good possibility at either as a kickoff returner, punt returner, or both.

The Ducks have had a hard time finding an explosive returner for a couple of years now and the first two highlights of Martin’s video show him as a returner who can hit the hole at full speed and outrun the coverage.

Cole Martin’s Signing Day Profile

SIGNED: 4-star RB Dante Dowdell is officially an Oregon Duck

4-star running back Dante Dowdell officially signed with the Ducks and brings his physical running style to Oregon’s RB room.

Oregon has quietly become a place where running backs can go and flourish. It looks like Picayune, Miss. native Dante Dowdell has the tools to become the next great Duck tailback.

Dowdell, the No. 6 RB in the 2023 class, officially signed with the Ducks on Wednesday.

At 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, Dowdell gained more than 2,100 yards in each of his junior and senior seasons as well as scoring 59 touchdowns in those two years.

It’s those kinds of numbers that will attract the attention of several SEC schools such as Arkansas and Texas A&M, but it was Dan Lanning and his staff that convinced Dowdell to come out West so he can shine.

Dante Dowdell’s Signing Day Profile

Notable Quotes from Dan Lanning following whirlwind signing day for Oregon

“We got a bunch of winners in this group.” Dan Lanning broke down the early signees for Oregon and alluded to more fireworks to come.

If you’re just tuning in you’ve missed a lot.

Wednesday marked the start of the early signing period in college football, and the Oregon Ducks took that opportunity to steal back the ‘Win the Day’ motto from Chip Kelly and make a splash in the world of recruiting.

It started out before the sun was up in Eugene, with 4-star Baylor quarterback flipping his commitment to the Ducks, A couple of hours later, 5-star safety Peyton Bowen announced his flip from Notre Dame to Oregon, and minutes after that, 5-star EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei announced that he was committing to the Ducks over the USC Trojans and Ohio State Buckeyes.

On top of that, 4-star CB Daylen Austin announced his flip from LSU to Oregon no more than an hour later.

You get all of that?

While it’s been a crazy morning in Eugene, there is undoubtedly more to come, with a highly-coveted transfer portal OT announcing his commitment later, along with other potential commitments and flips as well.

Fortunately, Oregon media members were able to talk to Dan Lanning on Wednesday morning during his signing day press conference. Here’s what the Coach had to say:

SIGNED: 3-star defensive end Jaeden Moore is officially a Duck

Oregon was able to sign 3-star defensive end Jaeden Moore out of Visalia, Calif.

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning and his staff is clearly making the defensive line a focus in their first complete recruiting class and they just added a good one out of Visalia, Calif.

At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Jaeden Moore should be one of those quick edge rushers that will eventually be difficult to account for. He had a monster junior season where he was credited with 17.5 sacks. Moore added nine more this year.

He was recruited by Washington, California, and Boise State before signing with the Ducks. Most recruiting services have Moore as a mid-level recruit, but under the Ducks’ scientific approach to sculpting the body, Moore could be one of those diamonds in the rough.

Jaeden Moore’s Signing Day Profile

SIGNED: 3-star linebacker Jerry Mixon is officially a Duck

3-star linebacker Jerry Mixon made it official on Wednesday, signing his national letter of intent with the Oregon Ducks.

The Oregon Ducks are in need of some added depth in the linebacker room after losing former five-star Justin Flowe to the Arizona.

Reinforcements are on the way, as three-star athlete Jerry Mixon out of San Francisco officially put pen to paper to sign with Dan Lanning’s program in Eugene.

Described as one of the most athletic linebackers in the region by Greg Biggins of 247Sports, Mixon has proven he can play well in space and make plays on the ball – and while he may not be an instant contributor he has a lot of long term potential especially with this coaching staff.

His frame could allow him to play more of a speed rusher role, or if he bulks up he would be an ideal fit in the middle of Tosh Lupoi’s defense.

Mixon is a three-star prospect ranked just outside the top 50 linebackers in his class. He had interest from UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and Missouri before ultimately committing to Oregon in August.

5-star Peyton Bowen says last-second decision led to commitment to Oregon

According to Bowen, the 5-star safety’s decision to flip from Notre Dame to Oregon was made at the very last second.

In today’s era of college football, a lot of high school athletes and transfer portal players often make their commitment decision based on which team is offering the most NIL money, rather than which team they want to play with the most, or have the best relationship with.

That wasn’t exactly the case for 5-star safety Peyton Bowen, who announced his commitment to the Oregon Ducks on Wednesday, flipping from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Bowen has been committed to Notre Dame since January 1, 2022. He stayed committed throughout the year, but other schools continued to pursue him, Oregon being one of them. The Ducks made a strong case to flip him, as did the Oklahoma Sooners, and the Fighting Irish worked hard to keep him in South Bend.

In the end, it came down to a gut decision from Bowen. When going to make his official announcement on Wednesday morning, Bowen stood up and said that he would be committing to…. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

He put a Notre Dame hat on his head. Then he took the hat off.

“That doesn’t feel right.”

Bowen then put on an Oregon Ducks hat and threw up the Oregon ‘O,’ saying that he would commit to the Ducks. 

We’ve seen this move a lot in the past from high school recruits trying to make a show of their commitment. This doesn’t feel like it was a move done for flash for drama, though. According to Bowen himself, it truly was a last-second decision that landed him at Oregon.

In the end, Bowen chose the Ducks, and you could feel the exuberance throughout Eugene at the news. Of course, things got even better a few minutes later when it was announced that 5-star edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei would be joining him as well.

It was a great morning in Eugene, and the Ducks are getting some incredibly talented players to come play for Oregon.

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BREAKING: Ducks flip 4-star CB Daylen Austin from LSU Tigers

Demetrice Martin and the Ducks pull off the flip. 4-star CB Daylen Austin is headed to Eugene.

The Oregon Ducks got another big win on Wednesday, successfully flipping 4-star cornerback Daylen Austin from the LSU Tigers and getting him to commit to Dan Lanning and the Ducks.

It was believed early on that Austin, who has been committed to LSU since May, wouldn’t end up signing his national letter of intent until February, but after a visit to Eugene this past weekend, the Ducks apparently were able to move that timeline up and convince the blue-chip prospect to flip to Oregon.

Austin is rated by 247Sports as the No. 12 CB and No. 109 overall player in the 2023 class, and he is a big addition to Oregon’s recruiting class. With the loss of CB Christian Gonzalez to the NFL this offseason, the Ducks have a major need in the secondary, and they are bringing in some nice prospects along with Alabama transfer Khyree Jackson through the portal to address those needs.

Austin is now the fourth defensive back addition in Oregon’s 2023 class, joining 4-star Cole Martin, 4-star Kodi DeCambra, and 3-star Collin Gill.

Daylen Austin’s Recruiting Profile

SIGNED: 4-star wide receiver Ashton Cozart is officially an Oregon Duck

Oregon has signed 6-foot-4 receiver Ashton Cozart out of Texas. Cozart turned down Alabama and Oklahoma to be a Duck.

The 2023 Oregon Ducks football recruiting class will be the first class completely made up of strictly Dan Lanning’s recruits. Receiver Ashton Cozart might be an example of what the prototypical Duck recruit looks like under this coaching staff.

At nearly 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, Cozart seems to be that receiver where quarterbacks can throw the ball up and just let him go get it. The Flower Mound, Texas native turned down offers from Oklahoma, Alabama and other high-profile schools in order to be an Oregon Duck.

Depending on which recruiting service one looks at, Cozart is around the Top 25 receivers in the country.

Ashton Cozart’s Signing Day Profile