Oregon Ducks News: Seismic shift in football recruiting, the Dan Lanning edge, focus on value

Football recruiting undergoes seismic shift

Ross Dellenger of CBS reports that NIL collectives paid athletes $2.82 billion in June, an increase of 824% from the previous year. The figure comes from the annual NIL report by Opendorse, the company that processes the transactions.

The company projects athletes to receive $2.75 billion in revenue-sharing plus their NIL money.

This is a superheated marketplace. It's the California Gold Rush. It's Dutch tulip bulb futures in the 17th century. Teams are overpaying for players and frontloading contracts. Four-star 2026 offensive tackle Kelvin Obot committed to Utah Tuesday and his package will reportedly pay him more than Josh Conerly received as a two-year starter at Oregon last year.

Dan Lanning chases historical greatness

Make no mistake, Dan Lanning can still recruit, and the record shows he's a program-builder with a sound plan for staying ahead of the changes.

In his first three years at Oregon Lanning is 25-0 against unranked opponents, 6-4 against opponents in the Top 15 as he builds his roster toward the type of players he wants to develop.

He's never lost a starter to the portal, though 14 of his former players are projected to start at other programs in 2025, after being unable to find playing time on the Duck depth chart. Robby Ashford is going to be the starting quarterback at Wake Forest. Dante Dowdell is RB-1 at Kentucky.

Lanning wins the games he's supposed to win, and he's built one of the strongest rosters in college football for 2025. Even with the inordinate difficulty of recruiting in the NIL era, he and his staff have selected 11 sound and in some cases undervalued prospects for the 2026 recruiting class. They've been strategic.

List from Duck Sports Central, Scott Reed's new website on football recruiting and Oregon Sports:

2026 Oregon Commits

•  — S Jett Washington
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Las Vegas (NV) | Bishop Gorman
•  — TE Kendre Harrison
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Reidsville (NC) | Reidsville
•  — RB Tradarian Ball
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Texarkana (TX) | Texas High
•  — DL Tony Cumberland
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Eugene (OR) | Willamette
•  — WR Messiah Hampton
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Rochester (NY) | James Monroe
•  — LB Tristan Philips
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Ventura (CA) | Ventura
•  — DB Xavier Lherisse
  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Melbourne (FL) | Eau Gallie
•  — QB Bryson Beaver
  ⭐⭐⭐ | Murietta (CA) | Vista Murietta
•  — EDGE Dutch Horisk
  ⭐⭐⭐ | Riverside (CA) | St. John Bosco
•  — DL Ami Moala
  ⭐⭐⭐ | Eugene (OR) | Willamette
•  — OL Koloi Keli
  ⭐⭐⭐ | Honolulu (HI) | Farrington

The theme and the key is VALUE

Despite the frenzy, no program has unlimited money to spend on recruits, though Texas and Ohio State seem to come close.

If fans look closely at the players Oregon has signed, there's a theme. They've been strategic. They've found risers and alpha dogs.

Max Torres of On3 Sports calls Oregon quarterback commit Bryson Beaver "one of Rivals' biggest off season risers in the 2026 class."

Torres wrote:

"There are few if any quarterback prospects who’ve seen their recruiting stock take off quite like Beaver. In the last month the former Boise State commit reeled in major SEC offers left and right and showed that he could hold his own with the nation’s best at tis year’s Elite 11 Finals."

The Ducks have just one offensive lineman committed for the 2026 class, but that lineman is Koloi Kelly, an under-the-radar three-star from Hawaii. Island kids often get overlooked and have to fight for recognition nationally. They don't get the exposure and hype of big-name prospect camps and recruiting site profiles.

Look at the film:

Reed, who is the most measured and meticulous prospect evaluator in the business, writes:

"Koloi Keli might not turn heads immediately with eye-popping measurables, but once the tape rolls, it’s clear he’s one of the most physically dominant linemen in his class. At around 6-2 and 290 pounds, Keli has a naturally compact build that lends itself well to interior line play."

"His combination of foot speed, heavy hands, and nastiness stands out, and he brings a relentless attitude to every snap."

--The impressive thing here is that despite its conservative size, the Oregon class stands out for quality. Jett Washington is a pure dawg, the kind of difference-making safety that gives an entire defense a personality, not unlike Dillon Thieneman on the current roster.

Willamette coach and former Oregon fullback Josh Line calls defensive tackle Tony Cumberland one of the best athletes he's ever coached.

Hampton may get his fifth star after a standout performance at the OT7 Championships. Lherisse displayed ballhawk qualities in the same competition.

The Ducks are still in the hunt for Deuce Geralds, Immanuel Iheanacho, Jalen Lott, Nick Abrams and Tommy Tofi. The plan is sound, even in the chaos of a frenzied marketplace.

Read More: