Oregon Football: Can Ducks land 4-star TE Jaleel Skinner?

The best programs in college football seems to have an elite pass-catching tight end with the perfect combination of athleticism and toughness. Oregon is hoping to follow that trend.

Mario Cristobal got it started with the additions of Terrance Ferguson and Moliki Matavao in the 2021 recruiting class and both enrolled early this spring. They impressed in the spring game and proved that the future at the position is bright in Eugene.

Cristobal is trying to capitalize on that momentum on the recruiting trail with four-star tight end Jaleel Skinner from South Carolina.

The talented tight end who 247Sports‘ Andrew Ivins compared to Jared Cook just released his top 10 schools and Oregon made the cut along with some heavy-hitters.

Florida, Texas, Miami, Arizona State, Clemson, Alabama, Florida State, LSU, and Oklahoma round out the absolutely loaded top 10 and it shows that Oregon has some work to do.

Skinner reminds me of a poor man’s Kyle Pitts, at least right now, because he’s a leaner tight end with an incredible catch radius and athleticism who will likely need to bulk up before he can handle blocking at the collegiate level. If he’s even a fraction of Pitts — or Cook — then he’s going to be a really good college tight end.

Does Oregon football stand a chance?

The 94th-best recruit in the 2022 class has one of the most loaded top 10 lists that I can remember and there’s not a single program on there that isn’t in the national spotlight on a yearly basis. That will make this tough on Oregon.

Obviously, Oregon is a national brand and that could help here, especially if the Ducks can secure a visit, but everyone else on the list is also a known football school.

Cristobal is a great recruiter and he has a background at Alabama and excelled in Tuscaloosa so he could sell Skinner on that but he may just want to play for Nick Saban himself. The very early favorites look to be Clemson, Florida, and Florida State and I would also put Alabama in that top group, but the Ducks could still make up some ground.

As long as Oregon can get a visit, it’ll have a shot.

Right now, however, landing Skinner is a major long-shot.