Dylan Williams commits to Oregon Ducks; Elite 2024 California linebacker picks UO over Michigan State

Oregon beats out Michigan State; Williams decommitted from USC last fall

Long Beach Poly (California) four-star linebacker Dylan Williams announced his commitment to Oregon on Friday, choosing the Ducks over Michigan State, Washington, UCLA and Miami.

He set a final five — UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Miami and Texas — and took officials to all but Miami in May and June, but in the days leading up to his commitment, his recruitment has reportedly come down to two schools: Michigan State and Oregon.

SBLive Director of Recruiting Andrew Nemec predicted Williams-to-Oregon late Thursday. 

Williams first committed to USC in April 2022, then decommitted and reopened his recruitment in the fall.

"It's pretty simple, if you want to play defense and you want to stay out west, you go to Oregon," Williams told Rivals during his live commitment announcement. "There is no better development ... with (head coach Dan) Lanning's background, (defensive coordinator) Tosh Lupoi and (defensive analyst Brian Michalowski), I feel like we're about to take over. We're about to bring a Natty back west. We're about to take over the west, for sure."

247 Sports' Steve Wiltfong predicted Williams-to-Oregon narrowly, while Rivals had him trending to Michigan State.

Michigan State wasn't listed in the 6-foot-3, 210-pound backer's top 7 he announced in April, but Oregon was.

Williams was among the more dominant defensive presences in southern California high school football last year.

As a junior at Long Beach Poly, he logged 79 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, seven pass breakups, a forced fumble and an interception and led the Jackrabbits to a 10-1 record, Moore League title and a CIF Division I state quarterfinal appearance.