Five Most Important Recruits for Oregon to Land

A very important end of month recruiting event is approaching. Next weekend the Ducks will host recruits from all recruiting classes for its annual Saturday Night Live event. Which really marks the shift from recruiting to football.

The Ducks sit at 20 commits and the No. 11 ranked recruiting class in the country. But Dan Lanning and his staff really have some ‘big fish’ left to fry to complete this class and push towards a top 5 finish. These big fish will ultimately be the key to the finish of this class for Dan Lanning. He’s built out a solid commit list but not especially big on ‘firepower.’ Yet.

Here are the five names I think are key for Oregon to land and push this class back into the top ten and closer to the top five.

4-Star LB Brayden Platt (No. 212)

With Justin Williams trending to Georgia, Platt becomes a massive key for Dan Lanning and his staff. I know Platt isn’t ranked quite as high as some of the others on this list, but he is a very big key for the Ducks. Not only is he a position of need, his skillset is nearly exactly what Lanning looks for at linebacker. He’s a freak athlete, he’s fast, great change of direction, good instincts. While he might not be Justin Williams, he is a very strong compliment to Dylan Williams and Kamar Mothudi in this class at linebacker.

5-Star OT Brandon Baker (No. 21)

Nothing will push your class ranking up like landing a five-star. While Baker is one of the elite tackles in the country, he’s going to be a tough pull for Lanning and staff. Ohio State, Texas, Nebraska and others continue to push hard for Baker. Not only is he a good player, he also comes from the recruiting pipeline that is Mater Dei. A commitment from Baker would almost certainly get Oregon back in that top ten.

5-Star DL Aydin Breland (No. 26)

No surprise here with Breland. He’s a newly minted five-star in the recent rankings update. He’s an elite level lineman also at Mater Dei which only adds to the importance of landing him. Right now this one figures to be a battle between Oregon and Georgia but this one seems to be trending in favor of Oregon however.

4-Star EDGE Solomon Williams (No. 256)

Probably not a name you expected but hear me out. With Oregon missing out on Rushing and not being a factor for Colin Simmons, it’s important to land a good EDGE player in this class. Know who Oregon is battling for with Williams? Alabama. Which tells me his ranking will only go up as the cycle goes on. This is one I know Dan Lanning is going to pour a lot of resources into.

4-Star DL Jericho Johnson (No. 124)

I feel bad listing three defensive linemen in this update but when you have 20 commits it’s more about rounding out the class. While I love the idea of Oregon landing Jeremiah McClellan and what he would add to the class, the reality is they could miss at wide receiver and still be fine. The same at running back and they are full at quarterback. So the work is really left on the line of scrimmage and again we are talking about a highly ranked defensive lineman out West. Adding Johnson not only makes your class better, it keeps him away from regional opponents like USC and Washington for example.

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