With spring football now squarely in the rear-view mirror and the dog days of late spring and summer lying just beyond the horizon, now feels like as good a time as any to re-evaluate where things stand with some of the biggest targets for the Ducks in the 2020 recruiting cycle.
Back in February, WFOD set the table for Duck fans by offering an early look at the names on both offense and defense that recruitniks should familiarize themselves with as Oregon looks to repeat their otherworldly performance on the recruiting trail last season.
Today we begin the exercise of revisiting the Ducks’ top 2020 targets by taking a position-by-position look at the recruits currently believed to be in play. At the end of the series, we’ll submit our educated long-range guess as to what Oregon’s class could look like with more than six months remaining between now and the early signing period in December.
Quarterback
The Top Target: (5*) DJ Uiagalelei – 6’4″, 240 lbs. – Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco
Other prospects of note:
(4*) Jay Butterfield – 6’6″, 180 lbs. – Brentwood (Calif.) Liberty
(4*) JD Johnson – 6’4″, 190 lbs. – Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle – **MICHIGAN VERBAL COMMIT**
(4*) Robby Ashford – 6’4″, 210 lbs. – Hoover (Ala.)
(4*) Malik Hornsby – 6’2″, 175 lbs. – Missouri City (Texas) Fort Bend Marshall
For Duck fans who closely follow recruiting, the recruitment of Uiagalelei is well documented and the source of daily speculation. As it currently stands, the nation’s top quarterback recruit has essentially narrowed his decision between the Ducks and defending national champion Clemson. Oregon did everything it could the weekend of the spring game to woo Uiagalelei and his family, which included welcoming back former Oregon luminaries at the quarterback position in Marcus Mariota and Jeremiah Masoli. Both players were favorites of Uiagalelei growing up, as each provided him with deep seated inspiration for what was possible for Polynesian quarterbacks at the highest levels of football. Yet, despite Mario Cristobal and the Oregon coaching staff putting their very best foot forward, it still appears that Clemson remains out ahead of Oregon in the battle for Uiagalelei’s signature. How far ahead is up for debate, but with a looming decision expected sometime in May, there’s very little time (and opportunity) for Oregon to close the gap for the transcendent talent.
If we assume the Ducks miss out on Uiagalelei, it’s important to note that not all is lost. Oregon is still firmly in the mix for highly-touted prospects such as Butterfield, Johnson, Ashford, and Hornsby. At the moment, it appears the Ducks are best positioned to land Butterfield, who visited Eugene days before the spring game and has been recruited hard by the Oregon staff ever since Clemson emerged as a favorite for Uiagalelei. Butterfield’s father, Mark, played quarterback at Stanford (’92-’95) and though they have yet to offer, the Cardinal lurk as perhaps Oregon’s stiffest competition for Butterfield’s services. However, it’s important to note that Stanford is anticipating the return of 2018 four-star quarterback signee Tanner McKee, who should be back from a two-year Mormon mission by the time Butterfield prospectively arrives on campus.
Johnson, Ashford, and Hornsby round out the remaining group of known options at quarterback for the Ducks. Johnson, a verbal commit to Michigan, unofficially visited Oregon roughly three weeks ago and came away impressed with what he saw while on campus. A recent return trip to Ann Arbor, however, seems to have firmed things up for the time being between Johnson and the Wolverines. Oregon has also made the latest cut for Ashford and Hornsby, who have each pared their list to a top eight in recent days.