Football: Recruiting Update | Addicted To Quack

With Fall Camp well underway, the summer recruiting season has slowed down as coaches and players shift their focus to the upcoming season—whether in college or their senior year of high school.

With how accelerated the recruiting calendar is nowadays, by the time August rolls around the 2026 high school class is largely set. Teams may rise or fall a few spots during the season if recruits flip after strong on-field performances, but as of this writing only 9 of 247Sports’ top 247 recruits remain uncommitted. The baseline for high school classes across college football has already been established.

Where Things Currently Stand

As we turn our attention toward the season opener against Montana State on August 30th, where does Oregon’s baseline in high school recruiting sit? The answer: a very good place.

Per 247’s recruiting rankings Oregon holds the 7th-best overall high school class nationally and 2nd-best in the Big Ten. That’s despite having one of the smallest high school classes in the country—only 17 commits, the fewest of any team in the Top 20.

What makes Oregon’s class stand out is the quality of the players being brought in. The Ducks currently lead all of college football with the highest average player rating at 94.39, meaning the average player in this class is a very high 4-star prospect. For comparison, LSU sits second nationally at 93.48 (still a high 4-star average), while Ohio State is 2nd in the Big Ten and has an average rating of 92.26, a mid 4-star.

After signing 56 total players in the 2023 and 2024 cycles (Dan Lanning’s first two full recruiting classes) with average ratings of 90.90 and 92.19, Oregon built up depth to where it needed to be. Now, Lanning and his personnel staff have shifted toward landing as many elite, difference-making players as possible—unlike another West Coast program that hired a coach in 2021 and appears to be doing the opposite.

How High Can Oregon Climb

Given Oregon is taking a smaller class this year, their ceiling in the overall rankings is somewhat limited. If “flip season” goes perfectly and the Ducks land every target they’re pursuing, they could climb as high as 3rd nationally while still holding the nation’s best average player rating. That scenario would require nearly everything to break their way.

A more realistic projection has Oregon finishing somewhere between 5th and 8th. Considering the youth and depth of the current roster—and the Ducks’ proven ability to pull talent from the transfer portal—finishing in the Top 8 of the high school rankings while maintaining the highest average player rating would mark an extremely successful recruiting cycle.

For context, the current Top 4 all have 27 or more commits, while Oregon’s final class will likely max out at 20–21 players.