The Oregon Football season returns on Saturday, and with it starts the return of the recruiting season. The Summer was spent building up the 2027 recruiting class, which now ranks 4th in the Country, and the Fall will truly kick off the 2028 cycle for the Ducks. While the coaching staff has made plenty of offers, if the Ducks are going to start reeling in some commitments, it'll start this fall.
The first game of the season will be a major recruiting event for the Ducks, even though it's not one of the marquee matchups. The Ducks will have a wide variety of 5-star recruits, quarterback targets, and current commits on campus this weekend for the showdown, giving Oregon a great chance to build momentum with some of the top targets in this cycle.
Landen Wade arrives in Eugene as top target for the Ducks
Among the many recruits making their way to campus this weekend is Arizona Native and Basha Bears star Landen Wade. The Ducks have likely watched a ton of film on Landen Wade as Basha beat Will Mencl in the State Championship last season, and once again, to start the season on ESPN. In the game, Landen Wade and the Bears' defensive line applied constant pressure, and at one point Wade knocked Mencl out of the game with an injury.
Caleb Jordan and Landen Wade hit Will Mencl as hard as anyone has been hit this year only to have Chandler’s Brivid Laudermilk drop the hammer-fist to force a fumble two plays later.
— ArizonaVarsity.com 🔥PREPS🔥 (@AZHSFB) August 30, 2026
This is a heavyweight BATTLE#BashavsChandler pic.twitter.com/JyBtJU3EtS
As Landen Wade makes his way to Eugene this weekend, it looks like the Ducks are making a strong push for the elite defensive lineman, and the interest appears to be neutral. Rivals' Steve Wiltfong broke down the recruits to watch for Oregon last week, and right near the top of that list is the Basha native.
"Landen Wade's that very versatile defensive lineman out of Basha, Arizona. Oregon's on the gas for him. I think they have a great shot there."Steve Wiltfong
According to Rivals' Industry Recruiting Rankings, Landen Wade is the 31st ranked player in the Country, the 5th ranked defensive lineman in the class, and the 3rd ranked player out of Arizona.
Landen Wade is going to be a top priority for the Ducks, given the way the 2027 recruiting cycle played out for the Ducks. Dan Lanning and the Ducks narrowly missed out on several top defensive tackle prospects, and if you can make a strong push for a player like Wade, he'd be a massive addition to the pipeline on the interior.
Add us as a preferred source on Google