Oregon QB target Josiah Boyd's recruiting timeline change is bad news for the Ducks

Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are still looking to officially kick off the 2028 recruiting cycle. While the staff has built great relationships with dozens of recruits, and continue to host big groups for each home game, the Ducks haven't been able to land that first commitment that starts the domino effect. Typically quarterbacks are the first to commit in any cycle, and for other schools that has been true.

Oregon appeared to be in a great place with elite quarterback Josiah Boyd in the Summer after the staff offered him a scholarship, including several expert picks for the Ducks to win out. Since that point, it's appeared that everything is trending away from the Ducks.

Josiah Boyd's schedule change spells bad news for the Ducks

Last week, Josiah Boyd's recruitment appeared to be winding down with the 2028 recruit announcing a commitment in Mid-November. One week later, Josiah Boyd has a change of plans as he'll now announced his commitment on October 24th with three finalists in the UCLA Bruins, Kentucky Wildcats, and Oregon Ducks.

While Oregon led early for Josiah Boyd, as of late things have changed a ton, and the Ducks now look to be on the outside looking in. After Boyd visited Lexington for Kentucky's thrilling win over LSU, the Wildcats were suddenly predicted to land the 4-star recruit. Then on Tuesday Morning, Rivals' experts changed their tune, and now UCLA appears to be in the driver's seat.

When you put all the pieces together, it's seemingly pretty clear why there's a sudden change in the timeline for Josiah Boyd. According to Rivals, UCLA is in prime position with Boyd and Hunter Fujikawa with it potentially coming down to who commits first.

Given the fact that the predictions for Josiah Boyd just flipped from Oregon to Kentucky to UCLA all in a short time frame, it's likely that he's going to end up committing to the Bruins. Plenty can still change through the rest of the week, and over the next year with Boyd being a 2028 recruit, but in the sudden future, this is becoming UCLA's battle to lose.

According to Rivals' Industry Recruiting Rankings, Josiah Boyd is the 72nd ranked player in the country, the 6th ranked quarterback in the class, and the 5th ranked player out of California.

If Oregon doesn’t win out in the battle for Boyd it’ll sting, but it’s still far too early to be concerned. The Ducks are still targeting several other quarterbacks including elite Texas native Tristin Gaines who’s currently predicted to land in Eugene. Add in the fact that Oregon has one of the best quarterbacks in the 2027 class Will Mencl on board, and it’s easy to see why recruits may be looking elsewhere with schools who don’t have an elite commit.

Dan Lanning has shown that the Ducks are going to use the Transfer Portal to bring in quarterbacks, and if Oregon goes a cycle without a commit it isn’t going to be the end of the world.

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