Oregon loses the race for Cantwell, pivot to Iheanacho

Oregon made the final cut for schools on Jackson Cantwell's radar, but ultimately lost out to Miami. They were also competing with Georgia and Ohio State. Cantwell is the number one player nationally, and had been long tied to the Ducks. He is a Missouri native, also the home state of Oregon head coach Dan Lanning.

While it felt that Oregon was one of the top players in the recruitment of Cantwell, towards the end it felt that it had became a two-team race, between Georgia and Miami. On the day of his commitment, ON3's Steve Wiltfong logged a prediction for Cantwell to commit to the Hurricanes, which he ultimately was true of course.

Cantwell's commitment to Miami makes sense, although they have not been as good of a team as the others involved. Oregon fans should be familiar with one of the reasons Cantwell selected the Hurricanes, as former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal and former offensive line coach Alex Mirabal are both with the 'Canes.

When they were at Oregon, they developed offensive linemen well, including now NFL all-pro, and former Outland Trophy winner Penei Sewell.

This is not to detract from the Ducks at all. As we all know, the Ducks have been able to develop talented offensive linemen at a very impressive rate, most recently seen with the first round selection of offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr, and the second round selection of center Jackson Powers-Johnson in 2024.

What do the Ducks do now?

The Ducks have long been tied to fellow five-star offensive tackle, and the nation's number four recruit (Rivals), Immanuel Iheanacho. The Maryland native stands a daunting 6 feet 7 inches, 340 pounds. Currently, he holds 34 offers, with Oregon being the perceived leader, according to Rivals, and according to Iheanacho himself.

This is a similar situation to what Duck fans saw recently with Jared Curtis' decision to join the Bulldogs of Georgia. Oregon lost out on his recruitment, and seemingly immediately pivoted all of their attention to another player of the same position, Ryder Lyons. Steve Wiltfong of ON3 "fong-bombed" Lyons to the Ducks essentially right after Curtis' decision.

With Oregon losing out on Cantwell, Iheanacho is not only the obvious choice, but could very well be the right choice. This is not a case of the Ducks having to settle for a three or four-star recruit because they lost out on the number one guy. They are simply pivoting from one five-star recruit to another.

Iheanacho has been to Eugene, most recently in early April, as pictured above. Additionally, he was paid a visit by offensive coordinator Will Stein, offensive line coach A'lique Terry, and receivers coach Ross Douglas.

There is no need for Duck fans to panic because of Cantwell's decision not to be a Duck. Yes, the recruiting class needs to improve, and yes, it will. The summer official visit season has not happened yet, and Oregon finally landed a commitment from five-star edge rusher from California, Richard Wesley. Looks like that USC "fence" around California is permeable.

It is expected that Oregon will maintain its involvement with five-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene, who recently committed to Washington as well. Iheanacho is likely to be a Duck, and the rest of the class will continue to take shape. Dan Lanning has historically "closed" his classes very well, and the class of 2026 should be no different.