Last week, the state of Oregon’s number six recruit committed to the USC Trojans. Daniel Green, a linebacker from Madison High School, took to twitter and announced he will be attending USC in the Fall of 2017. This is the 2nd target from the state of Oregon who has decided to take their talents outside of the state (DT Marlon Tuipulotu being the other). Oregon only offered three more recruits from its home state, CB Elijah Molden, OT Alex Forsyth, and CB Demetrius Douglas, and they need to start proving they can keep talented players in-state because it will set up future pipelines for years to come.
Oregon hasn’t been very active in recruiting their own state in recent weeks. In fact, I’ve talked to one recruit in the state and he said "I’m not feeling the love" from the Oregon coaching staff. They’ve given out five offers to good recruits and two of them have decided to go into a different direction. They still have three recruits on the board as I mentioned earlier, but the only recruit I am confident in saying he should be committing to Oregon is CB Demetrius Douglas. The other two, Molden and Forysth, have a lot of other offers and Stanford is coming on strong to Molden and USC is doing the same with Forsyth.
One big reason Oregon needs to do well recruiting its own state is because the 2018 recruiting class is loaded with talent. So far, Oregon has three ranked recruits who each have a 4-star ranking and the top recruit boasts a 5-star ranking. If you want to compare it to this year’s class, the 2017 class only had two 4-star recruits. This year is important for laying down the groundwork and proving to these younger kids, Oregon can and will be successful with recruits from their own backyard. If a younger kid sees all of the in-state talent leave, then they will most likely do the same.
So where does Oregon go from here? I think the first step is to offer S David Morris from Sherwood High School. Morris is another talented in-state kid who shows great toughness and instincts. Although Morris has said he will be making his decision May 31st, if Oregon offered, I have a strong feeling he will reconsider his options.
Oregon also has to ward off poachers such as Stanford, USC, and Washington. USC and Washington have already stolen one recruit each from the Ducks, LB Daniel Green and DT Marlon Tuipulotu, but they can’t have the Trojans or Dawgs steal anyone else. Forsyth’s is a guy who could be headed to Los Angeles, but his first major offer was Oregon, so hopefully that resonates with him when it comes time to make his decision. Oregon also has to be wary of Stanford, but they might be harder to ward off. Even though Molden is a legacy, Stanford is making up ground. 247sports Oregon Recruiting Analyst Justin Hopkins even thinks Molden will commit to the Cardinal.
Oregon is in a tough spot going into the summer of 2016. They have two recruits committed, but they will need to improve upon this in the coming months. If Oregon doesn’t have at least four commits by the time the football season starts I will be worried. Oregon has locked down some of their best players in recent memory during the summer (RB Royce Freeman, CB Arrion Springs, and WR Darren Carrington). If Oregon can pickup two more commits over the summer, worry not because their best recruiting tool will be on-field play. As of right now sit back, relax, and enjoy the turbulent ride.