Oregon's recruitment of elite 2028 QB Josiah Boyd has taken a wild turn that's bad news for the Ducks

The 2028 recruiting cycle is starting to ramp up as schools are hosting dozens of recruits each weekend. The Oregon Ducks have had a slow start to the cycle as Dan Lanning and his staff are still looking for their first commitment to kickstart the class. Typically, quarterbacks are the first to commit in each cycle, marking a great place for the Ducks to start.

This Summer, it seemed like the Ducks were in a great place to land a quarterback commitment to start the class. After offering quarterback Josiah Boyd, the California Native called Oregon a dream school, and the Ducks were heavily predicted to land the 4-star recruit. While Oregon jumped out to an early lead for Josiah Boyd, the recruitment is starting to take a wild turn.

UCLA and Kentucky appear to be ahead of Oregon for Josiah Boyd with commitment date nearing

Over the Summer, Oregom was the first school predicted to land Josiah Boyd, and it seemed as if the Ducks could get him on board sooner rather than later. Since that point, seemingly every other school has taken the lead with his commitment date set for November 23rd.

Josiah Boyd visited Will Stein and Kentucky for the Wildcats wild win over Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers. After Boyd took the visit to Lexington, the Wildcats were predicted to land the California native as the apparent new front runner in his recruitment.

Kentucky may have led for Josiah Boyd, but that lead seemingly didn't last too long as the recruitment has taken another turn. On Tuesday, Rivals has shifted their predictions once again with experts Greg Biggins, Brandon Huffman, Steve Wiltfong, and Adam Gorney all predicting the Bruins will keep Boyd in-state.

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.

Given the turns this recruitment has taken as of late, Oregon appears to be fading in the recruitment of Boyd. Both UCLA and Kentucky are off to incredible starts to the season, and new coaching eras, and the buzz each program has may be too much for the Ducks to overcome in this battle. There's still just over a month left until Boyd commits, so the staff can still make up some ground, but it's hard to see that happening.

With Josiah Boyd fading out of the picture, other quarterback recruits are going to become the focus for Dan Lanning and his staff. The biggest name to follow is Texas native Tristin Gaines who's currently predicted by Rivals to land in Eugene, but that recruitment is far from over much like Oregon is seeing with Josiah Boyd. Gaines just spent the weekend at LSU, and other programs are going to continue to make their pitch.

Will Mencl committed in the 2027 class along with Dan Lanning's tradition of adding transfer quarterbacks doesn't make it the end of the world if Oregon doesn't sign a quarterback in any given class. Getting a quarterback on board would be great for building up the rest of the recruiting class, but it also isn't the end of the world.

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