ADVERTISEMENT

DSA Inside Read: Recapping huge weekend

Scott Reed

Duck Hall of Famer
Staff
Mar 17, 2003
26,709
29,469
113
Going to put tomorrow's article out here right now for your pleasure.

Oregon hosted a large contingent of recruits over the weekend while also getting some talented former players in town. With a perfect weather weekend in the state with lots of blue skies and sunshine, the staff had the perfect setup for a bigtime weekend and it really could not have gone much better.

Will Oregon land every recruit that was in town this weekend? That seems unlikely. Nonetheless, we will go down the list of all uncommitted visitors and see where Oregon stands after a big weekend.


This will be interesting to watch over the next few days. For a long time, Texas Tech has seemed like the inevitable choice. Oregon gave Bethel-Roman plenty to think about and there is a potential that the long-time favorite gets pushed aside. Oregon has certainly made a push and the visit answered a lot of questions.

There is a lot of ground to make up, though, as Oregon entered the picture late with an offer a month ago. With the decommitment from Tyseer Denmark and canceled visit of Ryan Pellum, getting Bethle-Roman would be a nice addition to the class.


Breland really does like the Oregon program and the staff a lot. Will it be enough to overcome the likes of Georgia and his hometown school USC? Those will both be difficult challenges. Lanning, Tosh Lupoi, and Tony Tuioti have done tremendous work staying near the top for Breland, and having him in town with Tionne Gray helped a lot with creating a vision of the two playing together.

I am not ready to call this for Oregon because there is a long time until signing day and elite defensive tackles are hard to find – especially on the west coast, so teams are going to keep pushing no matter what happens in the next few weeks. Oregon is going to be in this right up until the end and have positioned itself very well.


The Texas cornerback is set to commit next week and the Ducks look to be in very good shape. Will the Ducks take two more cornerbacks? That is a possibility and this weekend the visit went exceptional for Johnson. The vision of Demetrice Martin for Johnson was very well laid out and the family would be absolutely on board with Oregon.

But there is some debate about how many more cornerbacks Oregon will take in 2024, leading us to the other corner visiting this weekend.


The coaches were really impressed with the JUCO prospect and Laulea was equally impressed by his visit. Watch what happens over the next couple of days. The Ducks feel like Laulea could make a quicker impact at the next level and there is a chance that they get a commitment from the four-star prospect in the next couple of days.

If that happens, right now I think that the staff would likely not take another cornerback in this class. That means you should also watch whether Johnson pushes back his commitment. This could be a ‘first one in’ situation.


There is not much more that can be said about how visits go – McClellan had a fantastic trip to Eugene and there is the very real possibility that he continues to keep Oregon near the top, but the reality is that the Ducks are going to be in an uphill battle. While Junior Adams is one of the best wide receiver recruiters in the nation – so is Ohio State coach Brian Hartline – and that is ultimately the likely destination for McClellan at this point.


I have been very bullish on McRoy for a while. I think that the Ducks did everything right this weekend and I feel like McCroy is going to be on quack watch moving forward. Unless something crazy happens, this one looks like it will turn in favor of the Ducks.


I first spoke with Taumua at the Polynesian Bowl this past January and have felt from the beginning that if Oregon wanted to land the elite interior offensive lineman, they would be in the lead. The visit this weekend did nothing to change that opinion and I think it only strengthened the belief that he will ultimately be a quack for A’Lique Terry and the Oregon offense.


While in town, Mothudi got to meet former Duck Kayvon Thibodeaux and that really made a strong impression. I have said for quite a while that I thought he ultimately ends up at Oregon. Again, this weekend did nothing to dissuade me from that viewpoint. Ducks are definitely on quack watch here, Don’t be surprised if Mothudi commits without a formal commit date set in advance. He could go that route, but this weekend seemed to solidify everything for him.


While all of the players loved meeting Thibodeaux, this could be the biggest fish that showed up this weekend and you can be sure that the ability to chat with Thibodeaux about Oregon and the NFL was powerful for Simmons. Does that change the equation for the Ducks? Maybe a little. I am still not sure that Oregon can win this battle right now, but they made their strongest pitch this weekend and did everything in their power to position themselves.

Could this come down to how the defense looks this season? That is something that oftentimes gets mentioned. I don’t know that it will matter much. For Simmons, it will be about the school that offers him the right combination of NFL preparation and academics. Will NIL be a part of his choice? Absolutely. But that is not a bad thing for Oregon. The Ducks have shown an ability to compete at that level, so it won’t hurt Oregon’s chances. But it also will not be the deciding factor.


If the Ducks take two running backs in this cycle, I am convinced that Riggs would be that second. But right now, there seems to be the feeling that there will only be one taken, and that one spot has to be held for Nate Frazier. Riggs absolutely loved Oregon and Coach Locklyn. So much so that there are some who feel that if Oregon would have taken a commitment, Riggs would have quacked as a part of the weekend.

Some of this is going to be relationship-building, though, because it is very difficult to know what happens with the running back room after this season. If there is no unexpected attrition, then the Ducks probably only take one.

Riggs is well aware that the Ducks have Frazier ahead of him and understands the reality that space is limited. If Frazier goes elsewhere, expect the Ducks to double back here.


Platt won’t be committing until early September – so don’t expect a quack emoji anytime soon for the Yelm (WA) linebacker. He spent a lot of time with Mopthudi and the linebackers on this staff and had the opportunity to really dig deeper into the program meeting the entire staff and spending more time around the city of Eugene than he had on prior visits.

He loves the staff and the atmosphere. This one is still going to be a little bit of a battle as the Sooners have done a really good job recruiting Platt. In the end, I think this one also turns in Oregon’s favor and Platt eventually gives the Ducks some good news at the beginning of their season.
 
Last edited:
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT

Go Big.
Get Premium.

Join Rivals to access this premium section.

  • Say your piece in exclusive fan communities.
  • Unlock Premium news from the largest network of experts.
  • Dominate with stats, athlete data, Rivals250 rankings, and more.
Log in or subscribe today Go Back