Under Dan Lanning, Oregon‘s recruiting has gone from very good to elite — taking the Ducks program with it into the upper echelons of college football.They signed their third-straight top-5 class in 2026 and fourth straight that ranked in the top 10. Combined with their ability to add elite talent in the transfer portal, it has made them an annual contender for the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance.But while other programs have continued to take upwards of 30 high school signees in an era of expanded roster limits, Lanning and Co. have focused on quality over quantity. In the past two cycles combined, they signed only 41 high school prospects.In the 2026 class alone, programs like North Carolina and USC signed 35 players or more, while Georgia, Miami, Tennessee and Notre Dame signed at least 30.
Oregon’s classes are instead stacked almost solely with blue chip talent. In 2025, 17 of their 18 signees ranked as four- or five-stars. In 2026, it was 19 of 23.
During that span, the only team to sign more Rivals Industry five-stars (of which Oregon signed seven) was Texas with eight. They’re on pace to sign another ballyhooed group in 2027, headlined by six early blue-chip pledges. This month alone, they’ve landed commitments from five four-stars to push their class up to No. 6 in the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.
In the span of 24 hours earlier this week, UO secured a commitment from five-star passer Will Mencl — Rivals’ No. 1 player at the position — as well as top-100 safety Semaj Stanford. With only eight commitments, the Ducks also have one of the highest average rating per pledge in the country. Ducks commitments by positionQuarterbackFour-star Will Mencl, No. 49 NATL. (No. 3 QB)Running backFour-star Cadarius McMiller, No. 171 (No. 10 RB)Offensive tackleThree-star Avery Michael, No. 410 NATL. (No. 36 OT)Defensive lineFour-star Zane Rowe, No. 112 NATL. (No. 11 DL)Four-star Cam Pritchett, No. 275 NATL. (No. 29 DL)CornerbackFour-star Ai’King Hall, No. 74 NATL. (No. 11 CB)Four-star Josiah Molden, No. 193 NATL. (No. 24 CB)AthleteThree-star Sam Ngata, No. 678 NATL. (No. 20 ATH)