Some notes from the weekend:
- Aaron Butler had a really good visit with Oregon this past week and it went about as well as could be expected. The staff laid out a very solid plan for Butler and there was a lot of energy around his potential.
Despite a fantastic visit, this one still feels like Oregon is going to have a difficult time landing the elite playmaker. He has all of the tools to be great – which is why schools like Georgia are so high on him as well. Right now, I just think there are some things working against Oregon landing Butler.
What we need to see, though, is how some of his other visits go. Given that Dan Lanning learned a lot from Kirby Smart, I don’t expect Georgia to drop the ball – and that is still the team that I think leads at this point.
If Oregon can get another visit in the season, that might be a game changer as it would indicate that whatever plan was laid out is something he wants to see more of.
- Tionne Gray got a lot of attention from the staff while he was in town (was still in town Sunday afternoon), and the kind of one-on-one time he is getting with Tony Tuioti, Tosh Lupoi, and Lanning is going to be important.
Oregon did a phenomenal job on this visit doing everything in their power to show Gray the kind of culture that has been built and what the future looks like. I know he loves that the head coach is a defensive minded coach.
Did they do enough to get a flip from his commitment to Missouri? That remains to be seen. I get the feeling that the Ducks have at least given him something to think about with the visit and that this is the kind of elite defender that Lanning knows he needs.
- Federal Way (WA) two-way standout Rahshawn Clark also had a very good visit in Eugene. While Clark is an elite athlete with better long term prospects on the defensive side of the ball, he really wants to play offense and the Will Stein offense is something that really stands out with the 6-0, 180-pounds athlete.
There are a lot of people who feel like he will stay with his hometown school and eventually commit to Washington. Given the number of elite wide receivers still on the board for Oregon, this is one where I am not sure how hard the Ducks will push.
- One name that made it down recently for an unofficial visit that has not yet posted anything on social media is West Salem High School OL Trent Ferguson. Some will wonder why a 6-7, 300-pound offensive lineman who has better than expected feet is unranked. The answer is that he has barely played football.
He played mostly basketball and Lacrosse growing up and did not suit up for football until last season. He showed enough to (then) OL coach Adrian Klemm to get an offer and new OL coach A’lique Terry has done tremendous work building the relationship. I think that this one is Oregon’s to lose, and I also think that he will see his ranking skyrocket once the 2023 season starts.
- There were a few other visitors, all had a great visit, but at the moment, I don’t believe some of those players have a committable offer at this point will do some more digging for Wednesday.
