So here is the Oregon Duck signing day primer. Still a lot of balls up in the air and a lot of decisions to be made and battling some serious "blue bloods" for our final targets:
Wide Receivers:
Devon Williams. He's down to USC or Oregon. He's the guy on this list that Oregon insiders feel most confident about. He's making his announcement live on ESPN on signing day.
Michael Ezeike: He's also down to USC and Oregon. My guess is that he goes to whichever Williams doesnt. He's a really good consolation prize (I'd very gladly take both if possible).
Tre'Shaun Harrison: Florida State or Oregon. Its pretty much done for FSU, Oregon will just be a hat on the table. The only way this comes back to Oregon is if right at the end distance becomes to much of a factor and he decides to go where his family can see him play. But he seems to be a Willie Taggart guy.
Jaylen Waddle: He's down to Texas A&M, Alabama and Oregon. This one is the pipe dream but he is on record as saying that Ducks offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo is the coach that he has the best relationship with in the country. However, I think the pull to Alabama is too strong. This dude is electric!!
Offensive Line:
Penei Sewell: Alabama, USC or Oregon. Most feel that Oregon currently leads but Alabama and USC are still pushing strong.
Defensive Ends:
Jeremiah Martin: Texas A&M, Washington, Oregon and maybe USC. Pass rushing specialist. Nobody seems to really have a good feel for where he ends up. Texas A&M insiders seem to be the most confident.
Moro Ojomo: Texas or Oregon. With all those O's in his name he is made for Oregon. He's a defensive tackle.
Joseph Ossai: Also down to Texas or Oregon. He's another edge rusher like Martin.
My guess is that the Ducks will end up with 1 of those 3 dlinemen and if I had to guess it will be Ossai. There's a chance they might get 2 of them, and a chance they get none of them.
There are also still a few backup options in play at WR and maybe LB but the names above are the guys to keep an eye on.
If I had to guess the Ducks will finish the class with Williams, Sewell and either 1 or 2 of the other names listed here. Even if its just Williams and Sewell it will still be on paper the best class that Oregon has ever landed which is pretty remarkable considering that we're coming off of two lackluster seasons and we've had 3 head coaches trying to recruit kids in this recruiting cycle.
One last thing if anybody is still reading. When Taggart was here he was intent on filling all the way up to 32 commits and trying to make the splash of a top 5 class. Cristobal is much more content with landing 25-27. The Ducks only have 10 graduating seniors next year so while it would have been exciting to be way up at the top of the rankings, its probably better for the long term health of the program to push some of this years available scholarships back to next year to try and even up the classes a little bit.
All that said, crazy stuff happens in the last 48 hours and all of this could be completely different by tomorrow!