Where the Oregon Ducks Are Standing Out in Recruiting

The Oregon Ducks have consistently been able to land some of the best recruiting classes under coach Dan Lanning. In the NIL era in college football, programs have to be willing to open their checkbooks to land elite talent.

Oregon Reportedly Among Top Spenders in Recruiting

oregon ducks dan lanning recruiting nfl prospects commitments nil spending big ten sec programs class rankings 2027 eugene — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning leads practice for the Ducks Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Eugene. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

There’s never been a more expensive time to recruit high school talent. On3 spoke to anonymous general managers about just how much some of these recruits are costing and who the biggest spenders have been.

“It feels like $350,000 was the starting price for a low four-star this year,” said an SEC general manager. “We’ve reached the period where everyone has an agent. There are no layups anymore in high school recruiting. Nothing is even reasonably priced.”

According to these anonymous general managers, among the top spenders are Oregon, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Miami, and Notre Dame.

This would check out when looking at Rivals most updated 2027 recruiting class rankings. Their top four consists of all of those schools minus Texas Tech.

No. 1: Texas A&M Aggies
No. 2: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
No. 3: Miami Hurricanes
No. 4: Oregon Ducks
No. 5: Oklahoma Sooners

Oregon has the No. 4 ranked class in the country with 23 total commitments. 15 of these commits are rated either four or five stars. The most recent commits are from four-star athlete Tae Walden Jr. and four-star cornerback Hayden Stepp.

Taking into account the estimate for lower four-star recruits were estimated at being worth at least $350,000 and Walden and Stepp both being on the higher end of four-star recruits, it’s very reasonable to think that these two players alone cost $1 million.

It's a high price to pay, but in the end could be worth it. Especially for a program like Oregon, who is still chasing their first national championship in school history. The Ducks have inched closed to a national title in each of coach Dan Lanning's first four seasons at the helm in Eugene.

In 2022, Oregon went 9-3. In 2023, they were right on the doorstep of making the College Football Playoff. They went 11-1 in the regular season, setting up a Pac-12 Championship game against the Washingotn Huskies. A win would have just about locked up a stop in the four-team playoff. The Ducks fell short.

2024 was a dream regular for the the Ducks. They ran the table, going 12-0 and capping that off with a Big Ten championship victory. The season came to an abrupt end in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Ohio State. Oregon got back to the playoff in 2025 after an 11-1 regular season. The Ducks made a run, but were eliminated in the semifinal by the Indiana Hoosiers.

Will Oregon's fortunes get better in 2026? They are certainly recruiting at a high enough level and have been trending in the right direction. The season will kick off on Sept. 5 against Boise State.

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