DSC Inside Read: Recruiting Update ahead of a busy week

 

With dead period in effect, some of the coaches took a little time off ahead of the holiday weekend as they know that the crux of summer preparation for the season begins in earnest. Now, I say in earnest, but there is already a solid plan for fall camp – but if you recall last year there was a lot of fellowship between the staff and players in varying combinations ahead of the official start of fall camp.

With the extension of dead period through the end of July, coaches and players will have a little more time to work on their internal culture ahead of what is expected to be a tough season as the team looks to replace some big time pieces from last year’s Big Ten Champions.

At the same time, the coaches are also continuing their efforts on the trail – and July has traditionally been good to the Oregon football recruiting efforts since the arrival of Dan Lanning. Given Hayes Fawcett’s tweet, it looks like the month will start off with a bang that in addition to Fourth of July fireworks.

I know there are already some names out there as potential possibilities for the three incoming commits, but I want to go over all of the potential players and where I have heard Oregon stands.

Devin Jackson – this one is the most obvious of all candidates. I mean, it does not take much inside information to put two and two together and arrive at the answer. Jackso has set a commitment date of July 3^rd (Thursday) with an early prediction from On3’s Steve Wiltfong in favor of the Ducks.

Jackson does not talk much so it is difficult to get a read on his leaning. Nebraska sources had some confidence a week ago, but that seems to have waned as this looks to be a battle between Oregon and Miami. The Ducks made a strong impression on his visit and there was a solid plan discussed during his visit. Two different sources told me that they feel really good about Oregon heading into the commitment Thursday. Both had been out of the office last week so this was the first chance I had to talk to someone close enough to give me a better sense of what was going on with Jackson.

Tommy Tofi made a secret visit during June as he looked to be 100% sure of his decision to commit to Cal. There are a lot of things he likes about Cal – the chance to play with his older brother, the staff there, especially the Polynesian staff, the opportunity to play early, and the quality of education at Cal.

Despite all of those things, he was thought to be an Oregon lean for a long time before the surprise commit to Cal and he said following his visit that he needed to be ‘sure’ and not take a little more time. He has repeatedly said he is still committed to Cal, but that he will make a final decision sometime before the season. This is one that could be another surprise and it would not be overly shocking given that Oregon offered his younger brother and have a great plan for his future if he makes it to Eugene. (NOTE: This was written prior to his decommitment on Monday from Cal.)

Koloi Keli was another secret visitor last month with Tofi and the feeling I get from talking to people is that he is another that seems likely to flip to Oregon at some point. Is he one of the three that Fawcett mentioned? That part will be a mystery for a few days as no one inside the athletic department is going to answer that right now and Fawcett does a really good job of not giving up the information. (NOTE: I write this on Saturday for release Tuesday. Koloi made the flip official on Monday and, yes, this is one of the three that Fawcett posted on Saturday morning.)

Jalen Lott has a commitment date set for next Monday and if what I have heard about USC is accurate, that leaves Oregon in a really good spot with Lott. I know his sister runs track for USC and that the Trojans were considered favorites just a couple of weeks ago, but they already have four wide receivers committed and are the favorites to land Boobie Feaster. That would make Oregon the team to beat and this is one of those that would be a solid likelihood to be one of the three, but that is still speculative at this time. Needless to say, the Ducks are all in on Lott and would love to add him to the wide receiver group along with Messiah Hampton for this class.

A lot of people are guessing that maybe Immanuel Iheanacho is moving his commitment date up and is one of the three, but right now, that does not appear to be the case. He currently has a date set for early August and while I agree that it seems unlikely he takes his recruiting into August, I also don’t know that he is one of the three Fawcett is teasing.

That one seems more likely to be a separate commitment and the chances are that it will be more than a simple edit from Fawcett. There are still a couple of things to be worked out, but I do expect that Oregon is the spot for Iheanacho when he does make his announcement.

Davon Benjamin is a name some have thrown around as a potential for this week as well. Benjamin has not announced a commitment date yet and has completed all of his visits. There has been plenty of angst on the Benjamin front, but I have been told that Oregon has been all in on Benjamin from very early in the process. There are some who have said he was Oregon’s No. 1 corner prospect for this class and the plan they have for him matches their belief that he is their top guy. While it is not impossible that Benjamin is one of the three, I am not sure if he is ready to make a final decision just yet.

Michigan made a strong push, but they appear to have moved on and taken a commit from others and the feeling is that Oregon is the team to beat., I know that Washington folks feel they have done enough to steal Benjamin, but from the things I have heard, I don’t think that they are accurate in their assessment of where they stand with Benjamin at the moment.

Nick Abrams is one other possibility as he has a commitment date set for July 16, but I am not sure he is one of the three. I think that the Ducks made a strong move on his official visit and the tea leaves are shaping up well for Oregon with other elite programs getting linebacker commits this past week that make it seem like the Ducks might be able to land the McDonogh School (Owings Mills, MD) prospect.

While I think Kelvin Obot is down to Oregon and Utah, I do not think he is one of the three with an edit sent in to Fawcett for an imminent commit to Oregon. I have always believed that if the Ducks pushed hard enough Obot would likely pick the Ducks, I just don’t know that he is at decision time just yet.

All for now, and thank you to everyone for joining me in my new venture at Duck Sports Central! I am excited about the chance to continue doing what I have always done and engaging with you all!