The Week That Was

 

1. The Oregon Basketball team finished a really successful first season in the B10 and will face #12 seed Liberty in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Seattle. In typical Dana Altman fashion, the Ducks are playing good basketball entering the dance, having won 8 of their last 9 games. If the Ducks win Friday, they’ll face the winner of Arizona vs Akron on Sunday. 

2. Football Spring Ball kicked off last Thursday, and all indications are that the staff, players and entire department were fired up to get going. According to Ducks Rising’s own Bryce Boettcher, the motto of the offseason has been, “so what now” coming off an undefeated season, yet humbling playoff loss. Subscribers can read below for updates on early standouts, positional battles and more. 

3. The Oregon baseball team won 2 of out 3 games against Monnesota at home, moving to 5-1 in conference play. The Ducks have to be considered the favorite to win the conference right now, but have to limit losses in conference and mid-week to maintain their chances at a high national seed. The ability to host a regional and super regional is a huge advantage in baseball. The series against Oregon State, Spring Game weekend, will be pivotal. 

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Team Update

 

Nasir Wyatt: One of the first names that came up in conversations with staff. He has put on 20 pounds since getting to campus and could end up contributing earlier than expected off the edge. 

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Moore and Perry: Both true freshmen receivers are already making plays in practice. For all the headlines Moore is getting, well deserved, Perry is going to be a good one as well.

 

OL: BIG. That’s the word that continually came up in discussions. Harkey and World have been at Tackle, and Pregnon is going to be the best Guard we’ve had in some time. I expect no drop off from last season in this unit.

 

Ify: Again, Have heard rave reviews coming out of camp and as you’ll see by my depth chart below, I expect he’ll be a big contributor next year. 

 

Young Standouts: Other names that keep coming up in conversations as early contributors next year will be: Tionne Gray, Aydin Breland, Brayden Platt, Jerry Mixon, Jeremiah McClellan. Staff is happy with the development of Ferguson, Brooks and Crader but feel they probably need another year. They also really like the way Matt Johnson has acclimated so far and feel he will reshape his body and be a good one. Lastly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Addison or Utu push for some two-deep opportunities as the season goes. Both have come in ready to work and really driven to contribute early. 

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My Updated March Projected Depth Chart Look:

 

QB: Moore, Novosad 

RB: Hughes, Whittington, Riggs 

TE: Sadiq, Johnson, Saleapaga

X: Stewart, Benson

Slot: Moore/Lowe, Gresham

Z: Jmac, Kasper

LT: World, Addison

LG: Pregnon, Rogers 

C: Poncho, Brooks

RG: Iuli, Rogers

RT: Harkey, Ferguson

 

Edge: Matayo, Rushing 

DT: Washington, Gray 

DT: Alexander, Breland 

Edge: Tuioti, Purchase 

ILB: Boettcher, Platt 

ILB: Jackson, Mixon

Star: Austin/Canady, Brew 

S: Theineman, Flowers/Woodyard/McNutt 

S: Lopa,  Flowers/Woodyard/McNutt 

CB: Johnson/Sione/Florence 

CB: Ify, Offord/Fields

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Recruiting Update​

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WR Recruiting: The staff has a clear top 5 at WR in Henry, Russell, Dixon-Wyatt, Lott and Hampton. Right now, my best $$ would be on signing the last three players and then making a run in the fall at Chris Henry Jr. 

 

QB Update: Staff did everything in their power to sign Curtis, and specifically get his family onboard. One thing brought up to me was that he obviously decommitted from Georgia originally for a reason, and you don’t often see kids recommit to the same school. Staff expects a decision in the next few weeks. If Curtis does commit, Ryder Lyons will be an interesting one to follow. He is essentially a 2027 because of his mission, but it will come down to resource allocation with Curtis already commanding some serious $$. If Curtis does commit to Georgia, I fully expect we will sign Lyons, who Stein has developed a really great relationship with. In that scenario, we would still sign a 2026 QB and staff is really intrigued by Houston QB Commit Keisean Henderson. 

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Ili: Staff believes his recruitment will come down to OVs, probably an us vs SC battle.

 

DBs: Staff feels good on Elbert Hill and Devon Benjamin

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Agents: An interesting note to pass along. Agents are really pushing recruits to slow down the process and take visits. This clearly benefits agents as they are able to drive up the price tag as the process goes. Because of this, it really doesn’t make sense to push hard for these March/April commits when June OVs are happening either way. You can expect the staff to make a push for their guys come June, similar to the last few cycles. 

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May Scavenger Hunt Weekend: With that in mind, pay close attention to who shows up for our May Recruiting Weekend. This weekend is being designed for our top targets and 100% takes only. If you see recruits announce a visit for that week, which we will track at DR, it means the staff views them as a high priority and they are a realistic and serious target. 

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Your $$ at Work​​

We are up over 600% since the beginning of the 2024 season and climbing each day. We are grateful to our new members and want to especially shout out Carlton Luther and Alex Roitman for upgrading to Heisman level and joining our board. 

 

Right now, our big priority in finalizing the web/desktop version of the Ducks Rising Community for part 2 of the DR 2.0 launch on April 1st. We believe this addition will be a great upgrade for users. Similarly, we are working through plans to include referral links and incentives attached to them. 

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What’s to Come at DR​​

April 1st: Ducks Rising 2.0 Part 2 Launch

April 1st- April 14th: Bryce Boettcher Live Q&A

April 1st- April 14th: Tyler Dean Live Q&A

April 26th: Spring Game Ducks Rising Tailgate (Details to Come)