Oregon Football Recruiting: 4-Star Linebacker Keith Simms Commits

Oregon Football picked up a big Class of 2016 Commitment in a key area of need on Defense on Saturday. 4-Star Linebacker Keith Simms commited to play for Oregon.

More from Autzen Zoo

• Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
• Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
• Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
• Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
• 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2

There was a concern in Eugene when former Oregon Football Defensive Coordinator Don Pellum was demoted that the 2016 Recruiting Class was at risk, but when Oregon Football hired Brady Hoke some eyebrows raised and when it was announced he was changing the Defense to a 4-3 scheme the excitement started to build. Now, just in his new job for a few weeks,  Hoke and Head Coach Mark Helfrich may have landed a big cornerstone for the future in Maryland 4-Star Linebacker Keith Simms, who announced his commitment to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday.

It was a full court press when Oregon sent a team to his home for a visit last week and he apparently liked what he heard. Andrew Nemic from the Oregonian discussed the signing and called the Linebacker position the most important on the Defensive side of the ball. Oregon loses a ton of talent at that position to graduation and with two big recruits in Lamar Winston and now Keith Simms to fill the pipeline for at least 2016, rotationally Oregon should be in good shape.

Next: Former Linebacker Michael Clay Joins 49ers Staff

Simms is the Oregon Ducks 18th official commitment for the Class of 2016 leading up to National Signing Day later this week.  The commitment of Simms puts Oregon as the 4th best Class in the Pac-12 for 2016 according to 247Sports.