The early signing period has come and gone, and there is no lack of intriguing storylines out West. So let’s get to some takeaways from the week that was in recruiting.
1. We have to start with Oregon, don’t we? The Ducks didn’t have a stunning flurry like they did to open the signing period last year, but they flipped top-100 receivers Jeremiah McClellan and Ryan Pellum from Ohio State and USC, respectively, and also signed four-star defensive lineman Jericho Johnson, who was one of the last uncommitted blue-chip prospects out West.
Though Oregon put together a well-balanced class, it’s clear Dan Lanning’s emphasis was on the defensive front. Almost half of the Ducks’ blue-chip signees (10 of of 21) play along the defensive line or at linebacker. That’s quite the talent infusion and one that will prepare Oregon well for the Big Ten.
2. Of course, Oregon is set up better than any other school on the West Coast when it comes to NIL because of the Nike relationship, Phil Knight, etc. After the 2023 recruiting cycle, one assistant in the Pac-12 referred to the Ducks as “Pac-Man in the Pac-12 from an NIL standpoint.”
Lanning and his staff, led by defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, are relentless recruiters as well. That combination created quite the gap between the Ducks and every other West Coast program in the rankings in the 2024 cycle.
Oregon’s class ranks sixth in the 247Sports Composite. The second-best class out West is USC at 18th. As noted, the Ducks signed 21 blue-chip prospects — the Trojans landed just 10.
Is the gap getting wider?
“That’s hard to really judge because signing day isn’t what it once used to be,” said Adam Gorney, Rivals’ national recruiting director. “There are so many portal implications now coming into this. … But in terms of just solely high school kids, yeah, absolutely.”
3. Oregon and USC are usually the top recruiters out West. The No. 3 spot has typically rotated between several programs. Surprisingly, that spot belongs to Stanford this cycle with a class that ranks 30th nationally.
We went in-depth on Stanford’s class back in June. The Cardinal took a few hits late in the season (three players decommitted), but the core of the class remained even though Stanford finished 3-9.
Troy Taylor landed two blue-chip defensive linemen (Benedict Umeh and Dylan Stephenson), which is a position of need, and held onto quarterback Elijah Brown, who was the centerpiece of the class.
Stanford lost quite a bit of talent last offseason after the coaching transition, and the program is not equipped to replenish its roster through the transfer portal, so this 23-member class will be good for building depth.
“A lot of kids if Stanford would’ve gone 0-12 or 12-0 would’ve gone to Stanford,” Gorney said, “but it’s certainly impressive that they had a really tough season but continued to recruit well.”
4. Washington concluded the early signing period with the No. 36 class, which is surprising considering how successful the Huskies have been on the field the past two seasons under Kalen DeBoer. We hit on why that might be a few weeks ago, but recruiting could potentially see a boost next cycle given the College Football Playoff appearance. In the meantime, the Huskies should be popular in the portal. They’ve already landed some solid transfers like Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers and Arizona State defensive lineman B.J. Green.
5. Utah brought in its best-ever recruiting class last recruiting cycle, 20th nationally, but its 2024 class ranks 63rd overall and 13th in the new 16-team Big-12. Part of it was a numbers game (only 15 signees), but Utah usually signs classes that rank in the low 30s.
The Utes do return some good pieces (quarterback Cam Rising), but we’ll see how they make up for some key departures such as two-way standout Sione Vaki (NFL Draft) and young receiver Mikey Matthews (portal).
6. As for the other schools that will soon scatter to leagues across the country, Arizona was the only program that finished among the top 50 nationally (49th). It’s not as flashy as the Wildcats’ 2022 class, which sparked the program’s turnaround, but Jedd Fisch’s staff has proven it can evaluate well.
Arizona’s rival, Arizona State, wasn’t too far behind the Wildcats. The Sun Devils signed just one blue-chip prospect, four-star running back Jason Brown out of Seattle. Arizona State has already been extremely active in the portal with 14 transfer commits.
7. Washington State’s class is ranked 62nd nationally, which is in line with where the Cougars have finished the past five cycles. Washington State is always a tough place to recruit to, even more so now that it’s without a conference home.
At least it has continuity at head coach with Jake Dickert.
8. The same can’t be said for Oregon State, which is in the same situation as Washington State but lost head coach Jonathan Smith, and several staff members, to Michigan State.
The school promoted defensive coordinator Trent Bray to replace Smith. Bray took over under less-than-ideal circumstances, and his first class ranks 111th nationally.
“Where do they go from here? What is the spark to get recruiting again?” Gorney said. “Jonathan Smith was an offensive-minded guy. He could recruit decently well there, make more with less. … Now they’re going to a defensive guy as a head coach. How does that change things?”
Smith’s staff was known for being one of the best in the league when it came to evaluations. Bray was part of that. Can he replicate that same sort of success?
9. Colorado held onto five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton, which was a major victory for Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes signed only six high school players, though. Yes, we understand, the transfer portal exists, but that’s still a staggeringly low number of high school signees, and it still leaves questions about the roster build in Boulder.
“Can Deion understand what recruiting is in this day and age or is he really comfortable just really building his team out through the portal,” Gorney said. “It’s certainly a different approach. I’m not going to say it can’t work, but signing five or six high schoolers for a team that wasn’t devoid of talent last year but clearly needed more depth than anything is an issue. Because portal guys — good ones — aren’t transferring to be depth.”
10. UCLA signed only 10 players and just three who rank inside the top 500 nationally. Chip Kelly is on shaky ground and has lost a chunk of talent through the transfer portal — most notably former five-star quarterback Dante Moore. And the Bruins have not only lost key players, they’ve lost them to fellow future Big Ten programs. Moore transferred to Oregon while defensive backs Kamari Ramsey and John Humphrey have committed to crosstown rival USC.
Recruiting is not going well. Kelly has done a solid job utilizing the transfer portal, but it hasn’t led to more than nine wins in a single season. So the outlook isn’t great.
“How does Chip get this going?” Gorney said.
11. Cal didn’t sign a player who ranks inside the top 600 nationally, which is rough. Justin Wilcox’s 2021 class ranked No. 29, but his last three have come in at 59th, 79th and 60th, respectively.
Like Arizona State, the Golden Bears have dipped into the portal to try to find some talent. They’ve already received commitments from North Texas quarterback Chandler Rogers and Notre Dame receiver Tobias Merriweather.
12. San Diego State is ranked only fourth in the Mountain West, but Sean Lewis made a pretty good splash in a few weeks on the job. The Aztecs are the only Mountain West program that has signed a blue-chip prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle — four-star defensive back Jason Mitchell. Lewis also signed three-star quarterback Danny O’Neil, who had been committed to Colorado for most of the cycle, and landed three-star corner Isaiah Buxton and three-star running back Cincere Rhaney, who were both committed to other programs at one point.
Gorney describes three-star wideout Will Cianfrini as a potential sleeper in this class.
“I think San Diego State was the winner out of that one,” Gorney said. “He (Lewis) did a good job getting there and bringing immediate excitement to the program.”
— This article originally appeared in The Athletic.