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.
Offensive Line
The Top Target: (4*) Roger Rosengarten – 6’7″, 275 lbs. – Littleton (Colo.) Valor Christian
Other prospects of note:
(4*) Tosh Baker – 6’8″, 275 lbs. – Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle
(4*) Jake Wray – 6’5″, 290 lbs. – Marietta (Ga.)
(3*) Jaylan Jeffers – 6’6″, 260 lbs. – Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro
(3*) Faaope Laloulu – 6’7″, 370 lbs. – Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Francis School
(N/A) Levi Rogers – 6’5″, 270 lbs. – Woodinville (Wash.)
(3*) Nash Hutmacher – 6’5″, 285 lbs. – Chamberlain (S.D.)
(3*) Drake Metcalf – 6’2″, 276 lbs. – Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco
How Oregon addresses the offensive line will be one of the more interesting items to monitor between now and the end of the cycle. Assuming there are no early departures from the current group on the roster, the Ducks are set to lose six seniors to graduation at season’s end – five of which have played significant snaps throughout their collegiate careers. On the surface, one would assume that head coach Mario Cristobal would aim to address that impending exodus with an all-out effort to sign a large offensive line class. Yet, while Cristobal’s affinity for the big fellas up front is hardly a state secret, going hog wild on offensive line commitments in 2020 isn’t totally necessary considering the depth the Ducks have been stockpiling in recent cycles.
One name you can expect Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal to prioritize in the coming months is Littleton (Colo.) Valor Christian four-star recruit Roger Rosengarten. Listed at 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds, Rosengarten combines the athleticism of a tight end with the mean streak of an African rhino, as the highlight reel from his junior season is something out of a superhero movie. With 20-plus offers from blue blood programs from across the country, Rosengarten has no shortage of options to consider, but the Ducks are anticipated to be among his finalists once it comes to decision time. In fact, the Ducks hold two of the three Crystal Ball predictions that have been entered for Rosengarten on 247.
Jeffers, Laloulu, and Metcalf are other names firmly in play for the Ducks in 2020. The former two were in Eugene for unofficial visits the weekend of the spring game, and each picked up a host of Crystal Ball predictions from 247Sports analysts following the weekend. At 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, Jeffers is more of a developmental prospect compared to some of the other names on our list, but it’s hard to deny the tantalizing physical traits that he possesses. Same can be said for Laloulu, though at 6-foot-7 and 370 pounds, the Honolulu native’s biggest challenge may be cutting weight in order to maintain or even increase his athletic attributes. Metcalf is a good bet to man the center position when he arrives on a college campus, as he’s a heady player who has helped anchor a stellar offensive line at SoCal powerhouse St. John Bosco the last couple seasons. Oregon has long been a major player in his recruitment, but the Ducks will have work to do in order to edge ahead of Stanford and perhaps even USC for Metcalf’s signature.
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
Re-examining Oregon’s targets entering the May eval period: Tight end