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Oregon’s early signing class shows a desire to not let THAT happen again.
The additions on offense will draw the headlines from this 2024 Oregon Ducks signing class, no doubt.
You’ve already read about Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore, and on the first day of the 2024 early signing period Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff hounded the opposition and picked off recruits left and right.
Ryan Pellum, a top-100 receiver who woke up Wednesday committed to USC, is now Oregon’s. The same for Jeremiah McClellan, a top-50 WR who will join the Big Ten in 2024 not as an Ohio State Buckeye, but instead a Duck.
After finishing second nationally in total offense in 2023, the Ducks replaced their Heisman-finalist quarterback with two of the most sought-after transfers in the portal and countered the loss of Troy Franklin to the NFL with the signing of six receivers. They added Jay Harris, a Division II All-American at running back and JacQawn McRoy, a 6-foot-8, 365-pound, top-100 tackle who should give offensive coordinator Will Stein plenty of time to draw up plays to keep the notoriously high-efficient Ducks humming on offense.
If the Ducks are going to swim in a post-Bo Nix world, the 2024 signing class added a whole lot of buoyancy.
Of course, the offense isn’t the reason that Lanning wasn’t also fielding questions about the College Football Playoff on Wednesday.
Oregon lost only two games in 2023, and both were because they couldn’t stop Michael Penix Jr. and Washington’s passing game. The Ducks couldn’t pressure Penix enough. The Ducks couldn’t cover Washington’s receivers when it mattered. And ultimately it was the six plays of more than 20 yards that the Huskies put together that broke the foundation of a defense that otherwise had its way with the Pac-12. And while Penix and receiver Rome Odunze will be in the NFL next year and can’t hurt the Ducks any longer, it doesn’t appear that Lanning and his program have any intention of losing games in that sort of fashion moving forward.
Oregon’s fifth-ranked class is composed of seven defensive players alone ranked within 247 Sports’ Top 150 national players.1For context, Washington’s 2024 class has one player on either side of the ball within the top 150.
The Ducks signed one of the nation’s top transfer safeties in two-time All-Big 12 selection Kobe Savage from Kansas State. They signed four of the nation’s top 30 linebackers. And the work they did on the defensive line might be some of the finest recruiting seen around Eugene.
The Ducks landed a pair of five-stars: the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Aydin Breland from Mater Dei and the 6-foot-6, 251-pound Elijah Rushing out of Salpointe in Tucson. Breland is the No. 4 DL in the country. Rushing is the No. 4 edge rusher.
“They both have great size,” Lanning said Wednesday. “They both come from dominant programs. They’ve been coached hard. They’re guys that have a skillset of guys that I’ve coached in the past and have an eagerness to get better.”
That’ll fit right in on a defense that already saw dramatic improvement from Lanning’s first year to his second. Oregon improved from 71st to 22nd in total defense in 2023 and limited six different opponents to 10 points or less.
In fact, only one team scored more than 30 points on the Ducks. It was the Huskies. Twice. Because of that, Penix and UW will be playing in the playoff.
Then he’s gone.
But that’s not going to stop the Ducks from recruiting just in case the Huskies happen to find his clone — especially as Wednesday marked Oregon’s first signing day competing against teams in the Big Ten.
As of Wednesday, Oregon (5th nationally) ranked ahead of the Big Ten’s two playoff teams Michigan (15) and Washington (36), and only behind Ohio State (4th) in the conference. It’s the Ducks’ highest-ranked class of all-time and one that’ll bolster a roster that’s been built up continually since Mario Cristobal took over the program in 2018.
But Lanning hasn’t posted a video of himself smoking a cigar yet like last year. He passed on an opening statement to his press conference and opted to go straight into questions. He had a few bags under his eyes, said it was a great day for his Ducks and knows, more than ever after this season, wins aren’t just handed out based on recruiting rankings.
It sure doesn’t hurt, though.
“The best way to enhance your team is to enhance your talent and then it goes into developing that talent,” he said. “When we have that, we’ve got a great, great chance to be successful here.”
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor
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And that doesn’t include Kansas State transfer Kobe Savage, a two-time All-Big 12 selection at safety.
