Jackson Cantwell came away from his Oregon visit with the conviction that Oregon has done everything possible to win his commitment and lay out a plan for for him.
"I had a blast," he wrote on social media. The 6-8, 320 offensive tackle is the nation's No. 1 recruit for 2026 and No. 1 OT after recording 158 pancake blocks for the Nixa High Eagles during a 13-1 season last fall, state runner-ups in Missouri Class 6 football.
Cantwell signed with powerhouse agent Drew Rosenhaus last September. He carries a Waffle House banner onto to the field before every game.
In a story for Rivals, Cantwell spoke about the Ducks' pitch to him. He told national recruiting analyst Greg Smith:
“The amount of time and effort they poured into me and the attention to detail stood out.”
“They have a plan for me to develop and even to be a dual sport athlete at a high level too. They are heavily invested and think I could be the guy to get a lot of dominoes to fall in the 2026 class.”
A national champion in the shot put taking aim at Michael Carter's 46-year-old record throw of 81 feet, 3.5 inches, Cantwell benches 505 pounds. Both his parents made the U.S. Olympic team. His father Christian won a Silver medal in Beijing in 2008, two months after Jackson was born.
His mother Teri (Steer) Cantwell was an NCAA champion in the shot at SMU and coached throwers at the University of Missouri and Oklahoma State.
After his visit he told Smith that Oregon demonstrated a full commitment during his visit. "They are heavily invested and think I could be the guy to get a lot of dominoes to fall in the 2026 class."
Cantwell's a 4.0 student who took the ACT college entrance exam at the end of his 8th grade year, teaching himself trigonometry to prepare for the test. He scored in the 97th percentile.
His final group in a heated recruiting chase includes Miami, Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon. It's been a deliberate and methodical process, conducted by a gifted and intelligent kid with two former world class athletes as parents.
Georgia offers two recent national championships. The Buckeyes just sent 14 to the NFL. The Miami coaching tandem of Mario Cristobal and Alex Mirabal developed Penei Sewell into an Outland Trophy winner. The Ducks just sent Josh Conerly to the Washington Commanders as a first-round draft pick.
Cantwell has one more visit scheduled before his revised commitment date on May 13. He'll return to Athens one more time for an unofficial on May 10.