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Oregon Ducks News: Harmon out after MCL sprain, Ducks lead country in 5-star chase, Lherisse makes big plays

A daily rundown of stories, highlights and links in Oregon sports
ByDale Bliss|
Pittsburgh first-round draft pick and Pro Duck Derrick Harmon was carted off the field Thursday night during the Steelers' 19-10 win at Carolina in their final preseason game. Diagnosed with an MCL sprain, he's expected to be out 4-6 weeks.
Pittsburgh first-round draft pick and Pro Duck Derrick Harmon was carted off the field Thursday night during the Steelers' 19-10 win at Carolina in their final preseason game. Diagnosed with an MCL sprain, he's expected to be out 4-6 weeks. | Travis Register-Imagn Images

Ducks rookie Harmon suffers a setback

Picked 21st by Pittsburgh in the first round, Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon immediately impressed coaches and teammates with his ability and work ethic, earning a starting job in his first pro training camp.

Harmon's mother died on draft night. After being a part-time starter at Michigan State he blossomed with the Ducks, racking up 55 quarterback pressures and five sacks in his junior season, the most pressures in major college football. He signed a 4 year, $17,973,604 contract with the Steelers with a $9.7 million signing bonus, all of it guaranteed.

The MCL sprain means he'll start the season on the IR, but initially the injury looked much worse. Steve Reed of the AP wrote, "His knee twisted awkwardly as he was engaged with a blocker on a pass rush. He was in tears with a towel over his head as he rode on the back of a cart to the locker room."

For a player who had overcome so much adversity and risen so quickly, it's a setback, but a minor one. Diagnosed with an MCL sprain he could return to the lineup as soon as their September 21 game at New England, game three of the regular season.

Last year the team started 2-0 and 10-3 but slumped in December, making the playoffs with a 10-7 record. They lost 28-14 to Baltimore in the Wild Card round, one-and-done in the postseason for the sixth year in a row.

Oregon football recruiting update

With NIL and revenue-sharing it's a year of extreme parity in college football recruiting. Twenty different teams have a commitment from a five-star recruit after South Carolina landed interior offensive lineman Darius Gray yesterday.

The Ducks currently rank No. 7 in the country in the 247Sports Composite with 17 commitments, but the quality is extremely high.

Duck commit shines in opening week of prep football

Oregon commit at defensive back Xavier Lherisse and Eau Gallie lost a tough one in their opener, losing 41-31 to Vero Beach after quarterback Joseph Allen went down with a knee injury in the first quarter.

They scored two late touchdowns after falling behind 41-19, down by 15 at the half. With Allen out the team had to resort to the Wildcat Formation, but Lherisse made big plays.

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