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.

Linebacker:

Current Commits:

(3*) Peter Latu – 6’4″, 225 lbs. – Spanaway (Wash.) Bethel
(4*) Jaden Navarrette – 6’3″, 235 lbs. – Norco (Calif.)

The Top Target: (5*) Justin Flowe – 6’2″, 225 lbs. – Upland (Calif.)

Other prospects of note:

(5*) Sav’ell Smalls – 6’3″, 230 lbs. – Burien (Wash.) Kennedy Catholic
(3*) Carson Bruener – 6’2″, 205 lbs. – Redmond (Wash.)
(4*) Noah Sewell – 6’2″, 266 lbs. – Orem (Utah)
(N/A) Jackson LaDuke – 6’3″, 220 lbs. – Sparks (Nev.) Spanish Springs
(4*) Justin Houston – 6’4″, 190 lbs. – Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra
(4*) Jordan Banks – 6’1″, 228 lbs. – Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne
(4*) Jason Harris – 6’7″, 220 lbs. – Gilbert (Ariz.) Higley

Similar to last recruiting cycle, linebacker should once again be a position that is heavily recruited by members of the Oregon coaching staff for 2020. To date, the Ducks have notched verbal commitments from a pair of linebackers in three-star prospect Peter Latu and four-star athlete Jaden Navarrette. Collectively, Latu and Navarrette possess a wide range of athletic attributes that make them versatile options in defensive coordinator Andy Avalos’ defensive scheme. Having predominantly played safety at the prep level, Latu’s combination of size and athleticism makes him a good bet to see the field as a dynamic off-ball linebacker in college. Navarrette is comparable from a physical profile standpoint, having excelled at a multitude of different positions on both offense and defense while at Norco High. However, Navarrette’s future appears to ultimately reside at STUD linebacker; a position that takes advantage of a player’s pass rushing skills in Avalos’ defense.

From there, the Ducks hope to add a pair of five-star recruits to the mix in Justin Flowe and Sav’ell Smalls, who rank as the no. 3 and no. 4 overall recruits, respectively, in 247Sports’ Composite Player Rankings. Landing just one of these players would classify as a major recruiting win for Oregon, but both are firmly in play for the Ducks after each took an unofficial visits to Eugene earlier this spring. In Flowe, the Ducks would receive one of the most highly sought after linebacker prospects of the modern recruiting era. And it’s easy to see why. Spend just a couple minutes watching Flowe on tape and you quickly understand that the Upland (Calif.) native is in a class by himself when it comes to the speed, instincts, and ferocity that he plays with. With 40 offers in hand, USC is the perceived favorite to land Flowe at the moment (100% of 247’s Crystal Ball predictions), but keep tabs on SEC programs like Alabama and Georgia, who have each made big impressions on Flowe this spring.

Though Flowe seemingly plays at a different speed than most other players at his position, Smalls doesn’t surrender much in this regard. At 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Smalls is an athletic phenom who makes plays on both offense and defense at the high school level. However, his future appears brightest on defense as an outside linebacker who fits the mold of the STUD position for the Ducks. Smalls has taken multiple unofficial visits to Eugene dating back to last year and was in town as recently as just a few weeks ago. It’s expected that Oregon will be a top contender for Smalls’ signature at the end of his recruitment, though, like Flowe, expect Smalls to feel a significant pull from a handful of programs in SEC and ACC country.

There’s a solid argument to be made that the safest, most conservative bet to wind up as a Duck from the group of linebacker prospects we’ve included is Noah Sewell. Though he may be the younger brother of Oregon’s Penei Sewell, Noah Sewell doesn’t take a back seat to big bro when it comes to his potential to be a difference maker at the next level. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 266 pounds, Sewell is a massive middle linebacker who moves like a safety. His ability to diagnose a play and close on the ball carrier to make a punishing tackle is special, but he can be just as dangerous with the ball in his hands, as evidenced by his exploits on tape as a running back. Managing his bulky frame will be perhaps Sewell’s biggest challenge as he makes the transition to college (could easily develop into a future defensive lineman), but there’s no doubt that Sewell would be an outstanding addition to Oregon’s defense regardless of what position he winds up at.

Bruener, LaDuke, and Houston likely reside a little further down the list for the Ducks compared to Flowe, Smalls, and Sewell, but all three would be great additions in their own right. Each would be the beneficiary of some added weight and physical maturation, but the raw talent and long-term upside for each player is as clear as day when evaluating them on film. Banks and Harris are also two wildly intriguing prospects, particularly as hybrid defensive ends/outside linebackers. On tape, Banks plays with a relentlessness and passion for the game that smacks you in the face the first time you watch him play, while Harris’ incredible combination of length and athleticism (is also a high-major hoops recruit) brings to mind former Oregon greats such as Dion Jordan and Jalen Jelks.

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
Re-examining Oregon’s targets entering the May eval period: Offensive line
Re-examining Oregon’s targets entering the May eval period: Defensive line