Oregon Football: Nation’s No. 1 recruit, JT Tuimoloau, plans official visit

Replacing Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2022 and beyond is going to be the toughest task for Oregon football coach Mario Cristobal. He’s been working on that, keying in on recruits like Cyrus Moss as well as the top prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, JT Tuimoloau.

Moss is in the class of 2022 and he looks like a future star at the defensive end spot and Oregon is in a good spot with him, but before Cristobal can even think about Moss, he needs to focus on Tuimoloau.

The No. 1 remaining uncommitted recruit in the 2021 class is planning his official visit schedule for the month of June before making a final decision and arriving on campus this fall.

Oregon is getting one of those official visits.

According to 247Sports, Tuimoloau released his official visit schedule for June with his high school graduation sandwiched in the middle of it. Oregon is getting his second-to-last visit on June 20-22 right before he caps off his cross-country trip to Alabama on June 25-27.

This might actually be a really good spot for the Ducks.

Oregon football could sell him with Kayvon Thibodeaux

There’s one thing Oregon currently has that Alabama, Ohio State, USC, and Washington don’t: the projected No. 1 overall NFL draft pick for 2022.

And he’s a defensive end.

If the No. 1 prospect in the 2022 class wants to make it to the NFL as a first-round defensive end, he could probably choose Ohio State or Alabama and still be in a good position to do that, but Oregon has proven that it can develop elite players. Kayvon was a five-star prospect and only got better under Cristobal and now looks like the top pick for the 2022 NFL Draft.

With Thibodeaux in his final season with the Ducks (barring some drastic change), Tuimoloau could be “the guy” from his sophomore year on while still playing extended snaps in 2021.

Oregon has to sell him on early playing time which he may not get at Alabama or Ohio State.