Where Oregon's 2022 Class Stands Heading Into June
After a long hiatus from official on-campus visits, the NCAA recruiting dead period will expire at the end of the month. With the Ducks pursuing the best talent the country has to offer, we can expect a jam-packed recruiting season this summer, starting in June.
There will be a ton of news to follow in the form of visits, camps, and commitments.
But right now, we still stand in the calm before the recruiting storm. Let’s recap where the 2022 class stands and preview how things may unfold over the next few months.
Oregon's 2022 class sits at No. 21 in the country and No. 1 in the Pac-12 according to the 247Sports Composite. The Ducks have eight commits from all around the country.
4-Star Safety Trejon Williams | 6'0, 195 lbs | Portland, Oregon
Trejon Williams in action on the 7 v 7 circuit.
- No. 207 overall (0.9172)
- Jefferson High School
- Committed 3/26/2021
WATCH TREJON WILLIAMS HIGHLIGHTS HERE
4-Star Quarterback Tanner Bailey | 6'2", 190 lbs | Gordo, Alabama
Tanner Bailey slings a pass for the Gordo Green Wave.
- No. 217 overall (0.9157)
- Gordo High School
- Committed 3/8/2021
4-Star Defensive Tackle Gracen Halton| 6'3", 270 lbs | San Diego, California
Gracen Halton sits with his family prior to committing to Oregon.
- No. 245 overall (0.9079)
- St. Augustine High School
- Committed 1/27/2021
WATCH GRACEN HALTON HIGHLIGHTS HERE
4-Star Safety Landon Hullaby | 6'1, 185 lbs | Arlington, Texas
Landon Hullaby playing for the Mansfield Timberview Wolves during the 2020 season.
- No. 351 overall (0.8925)
- Mansfield Timberview High School
- Committed 2/20/2021
WATCH LANDON HULLABY HIGHLIGHTS HERE
3-Star Linebacker Emar'rion Winston |6'4", 250 lbs | Portland, Oregon
Emar'rion Winston on a visit to Oregon in March 2020.
- No. 398 overall (0.8869)
- Central Catholic High School
- Committed 7/16/2020
WATCH MORE EMAR'RION WINSTON HIGHLIGHTS HERE
3-Star Tight End Andre Dollar | 6'5", 230 lbs | Mustang, Oklahoma
Andre Dollar in Autzen Stadium during a visit to Oregon in March 2020.
- No. 446 overall (0.8817)
- Mustang High School
- Committed 9/15/2020
3-Star Wide Receiver Stephon Johnson | 6'0, 175 lbs | DeSoto, Texas
Stephon Johnson at DeSoto spring football practice. Johnson transferred from Lancaster this offseason.
- No. 486 overall (.8784)
- DeSoto High School
- Committed 3/31/2021
Johnson has been busy this offseason working the 7 v 7 circuit.
Unranked JUCO Offensive Tackle Percy Lewis | 6'8", 365 pounds | Perkinston, Mississippi
Percy Lewis blocking for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
- 3-star according to 247 Sports
- Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
- Committed 3/2/2021
As we move into the summer, Cristobal and the Oregon staff will have key decisions to make in a class with limited spots. Simply put, Oregon will likely have to turn away some quality prospects because they don’t have enough available scholarships.
In any given recruiting cycle, any program can sign up to around 25 commits. That number refers to the sum of all high school prospects, JUCO players, and transfers from other FBS programs.
The other limitation, which has seen a slight short-term alteration as a result of COVID adjustments, is the 85 scholarship limit for the total roster at any given time. This is the one that Oregon is pushing up against mostly.
If the Ducks saw all players with remaining eligibility return for the 2022-23 season they would have 81 scholarships players. That would leave only four spots for the 2022 recruiting class.
Clearly that math won’t work, but there are some other factors that will increase Oregon’s numbers.
First, each player who leaves Oregon via transfer would give the program another spot to work with in this recruiting class. History tells us that we will see a few of those.
Additionally, any player who opts to enter the NFL Draft early before their eligibility expires will give Oregon an additional spot. The Ducks have a few names who we can project. Some, like Kayvon Thibodeaux, we are pretty confident will go to the draft after this season. Many believe KT will be a top 10 pick, which would make three straight years of an Oregon player landing in that elite group.
Other players will have a more difficult decision to make. Some other potential early entrees for the 2022 NFL Draft include: Mykael Wright, Mase Funa, Mycah Pittman, Devon Williams, Brandon Dorlus, and Jamal Hill among others.
There’s also a large crop of “super” Juniors/Seniors who will technically have eligibility in 2022 because they were granted a free year during the shortened 2020 season. But players in that group may opt to move on from the program after long careers.
Some notable names in this group include Travis Dye (technically played 2 seasons) , CJ Verdell (2), Johnny Johnson III (3), Alex Forsyth (2), Popo Aumavae (2), DJ Johnson (2), and Isaac Slade-Matautia (2).
So how many remaining spots do the Ducks actually have?
If you estimate that Oregon sees three to five players transfer over the course of the next year (which would be a pretty standard guess), possibly another three or four enter the NFL Draft early, and then lastly have around five leave for graduation from the “super junior” group, that would put Oregon in the range of 16 to 18 available scholarships in this class.
Of course these numbers are all very fluid.
Now, if you remove the scholarships for the eight 2022 commits, then that means Oregon is operating with approximately eight to ten spots left. And I would wager that the Ducks are going to pick up at least four to six commitments by mid July, given what a busy recruiting period this will be.
Here’s the final important note: scholarship management is a crucial skill for any head coach in today’s college football. If you look at the top schools in the sport, you will see a lot of attrition.
Take Alabama as an example. Nick Saban has been able to sign 27, 25, and 27 commits in the past three cycles respectively. Bama can pull this off through a variety of tricks paired with the Tide’s elite development resulting in a sizable portion of early NFL draft departures.
If Oregon wants to compete at the top tier of college football, then Cristobal will need to engage in the same strategies of roster management that the top tier of college football is. That means maximizing the number of scholarship players you bring into your program each year.
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