Oregon Ducks News: Explosive recruiting news highlights nation's birthday

Fourth of July fireworks in the college football recruiting chase

Five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo committed to Texas Tech Friday, 6-6, 275 from Mansfield, Texas.

ESPN reported that Ojo signed a fully-guaranteed three-year contract with the Red Raiders worth $5.1 million. He chose the Lubbock, Texas school over Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas after making official visits to all five.

In the most recent rankings from 247 Sports, Ojo is the No. 5 overall prospect and No. 1 offensive tackle, the highest-rated recruit in TTU history.

His commitment underscores again how volatile the market for freshman college football players has become. Ojo is 17, with one more season to play at Lake Ridge High in Mansfield.

His agent Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management told ESPN, "Football is a brutal sport, and athletes are not able to play professionally until their graduating class has been in college three years. It was important to be able to secure Felix Ojo's future and give him and his family some security as he continues to develop into a first-round NFL draft pick."

This one signing elevated Tech's 2026 class from No. 36 to No. 23 in the national team rankings. They've finished in the national Top 25 just twice, in 2011 and 2025.

For the Ducks it's an advantage to have a talented player go to the Big 12 rather than adding to the imposing stable at playoff contenders like Ohio State, Michigan or Texas, yet it's sobering to see what unproven players are getting after the House Settlement and NIL.

The Ducks landed their own five-star tackle Wednesday, Immanuel Iheanacho of Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, Maryland, ranked No. 8 overall as an interior lineman by 247, No. 4 as an offensive tackle by On3.

The star ratings expire on the first day of practice, and they don't always agree with one another on basic facts, though they've shown to correlate strongly with team success and NFL futures.

Last year's national champion Ohio State built their team with recruiting classes ranked 3, 4, 4, 4, and 2. Other recent national champions have all been strong recruiters, though the Michigan national championship team benefited from the Covid extra year and a strong core of players who passed up the draft and stayed in the program for an additional season.

Georgia's national championship squads in 2021 and 2022 featured a couple of No. 1 recruiting classes. Kirby Smart sent eight players to the first round in those two seasons. The Bulldogs had a record 15 drafted in 2022. Talent wins, but it's getting more expensive.

Blue-chip wide receiver commits go to USC and (?) Sacramento State

USC won a commitment yesterday from Boobie Feaster, a four-star wide receiver from DeSoto, Texas. The Trojans got him over Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M, their 31st commitment in the 2026 class.

The Ducks will try to keep pace in the coming days as 6-5 Miami wide receiver Calvin Russell announces today, four-star Texas wideout Jalen Lott on Tuesday. Oregon is in the final group for each, trending to land Lott. Both visited Eugene in June.

Odd news came out of Sacramento yesterday. The Hornets and new coach Brennan Marion got a commitment from four-star wide receiver Xavier McDonald of Morton, Mississippi, winning out over Ole Miss, LSU and North Carolina.

They also won a recruiting battle for Paducah, Kentucky athlete Chance McPike, another 2026 four-star, the two highest-rated recruits in program history. Sacramento State competes in the FCS Big Sky Conference. They were recently denied in a bid to move to the FBS but continue to pursue it.

The trend in college football continues to be more parity combined with higher prices, a monumental challenge to the foundations of the sport. It needs a labor agreement, leadership, vision, structure and sanity.

A program like Oregon with a sound, cohesive plan and expert talent evaluation is best suited to thrive in the chaos.

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