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 continue 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.
Tight End
Current Commit(s): (3*) Seth Figgins – 6’7″, 225 lbs. – Thousand Oaks (Calif.) Westlake
The Top Target: (5*) Darnell Washington – 6’8″, 248 lbs. – Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines
Other prospects of note:
(4*) D.J. Rogers – 6’3″, 230 lbs. – Sammamish (Wash.) Eastside Catholic
(3*) Jack Yary – 6’7″, 249 lbs. – Murrieta (Calif.)
As long as Mario Cristobal is the head man in Eugene, the tight end position figures to be a position of major import for the Ducks. Currently, Oregon is carrying six scholarship tight ends on the roster, which is the same number they carried entering last season. That appears to more or less be the magic number moving forward considering the Ducks have a verbal commit from three-star prospect Seth Figgins and are actively pursuing other targets at the position.
In Figgins, the Ducks are getting a dynamic 6-foot-7, 225-pound athlete who not only excels as both an in-line blocker and pass catching option, but has also demonstrated promise as a pass rusher from the defensive end position. The major question surrounding the SoCal product, however, has to do with durability. Figgins missed virtually his junior season due to an injured clavicle, though is expected be full-go for his final season of high school ball.
Topping the list of known options that Oregon hopes to pair Figgins with is five-star athlete Darnell Washington. Washington may be the most intriguing athlete of any player in the 2020 class due to both his unique physical profile and the fact he could just easily star at defensive end as he could at tight end. He’s not especially polished at either position, but Washington’s physical gifts are too good to pass up. With some seasoning, he could develop into a nightmarish weapon. The tricky part, however, could be keeping him on the West Coast, as both Alabama and Georgia are in hot pursuit of the Vegas native.
Rogers and Yary are also names to keep a close eye on as the 2020 recruiting cycle rolls on. At 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Rogers is more of an H-back who is particularly adept as a pass catching threat who is detached from the line of scrimmage. With 30 offers from programs across the country, the Ducks will have a battle on their hands for one of the top offensive weapons from a loaded 2020 class in the state of Washington. Yary, meanwhile, is a hulking 6-foot-7, 249-pound prospect who could have a bright future as an offensive tackle should his body take him that direction. In fact, it may be the position he’s destined to play, as his father is Pro Football Hall of Famer and USC All-American Ron Yary. With that, it’s no surprise that USC holds 100 percent of the Crystal Ball predictions on 247Sports for the younger Yary.
Re-examining Oregon’s targets entering the May eval period: Quarterback
Re-examining Oregon’s targets entering the May eval period: Running back
Re-examining Oregon’s targets entering the May eval period: Wide receiver