At Central Catholic 6-5, 235 tight end George Van Sandt plays for Charlie Landgraf, a former offensive lineman at Oregon from 2016-2019, a member of the 2019 Rose Bowl Champions.
The Rams were 10-3 last season and 11-1 in Van Sandt's sophomore year. He's a three-star tight end who committed to Arkansas in April but recently decommitted after receiving an Oregon offer on May 7th.
He's an old-school football player, a throwback. His highlight film shows a dogged blocker who stays on assignment, disciplined with his hand position and smart about timing in checking one defender at the line and moving him off him to block another downfield.
Like the Ducks when Landgraf was there Central Catholic is a run-first operation and at times the sytem requires Van Sandt to lead block and pull like a tackle, and he takes to those assignments with gusto, driving defenders to the ground. He logs snaps on defense, a physical pass rusher.
George Van Sandt 6-5, 235 tight end from Central Catholic. Old-school football player with good hands
— Dale Bliss (@AutzenZoo_Bliss) May 29, 2026
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The tape doesn't show them throwing to him much, but he slips out in the flat with a crisp break and latches on to the football, shedding a defender in the end zone for a touchdown.
Style-wise, he'll remind fans of David Paulson or Josh Wilcox, a hard worker, dependable. His offer list entering his senior season includes Dartmouth, Princeton, Harvard and Cornell in addition to the Razorbacks, San Diego State and Tulane so it's evident that he's intelligent.
Van Sandt squats 385 and he has an 81.5-inch wingspan, clocked on the GPS at 21.1 mph. He's versatile. Landgraf and the Rams use him as an in-line tight end, in the slot, on special teams and defensive end.
When the Ducks offered he told Keegan Pope of Scoop Duck, “The Ducks offer was exciting and validating. I have worked by butt off and an offer from the Ducks made me feel like that work was being recognized by a top program.”
The Central Catholic star's recruiting has blown up this spring with interest from Texas A&M and more schools from the Power 4. A quick check of his highlight film readily shows why. Smart, athletic tight ends with good size and a work ethic make an offense go.
It's easy to see Van Sandt projecting to a player like Patrick Herbert or Johnny Mundt, not a freakish specimen like Kenyon Sadiq or Kendre Harrison, but a hard-hat football player who stays on assignment.
On June 19 the Ducks take official visits from four-Star tight ends Anthony Cartwright of Franklin (Mich.) Detroit Country Day and Malik Howard of Oak Ridge (Tenn.) High School. Van Sandt visits on June 5 with an opportunity to lock up a spot.
Starting tight end Jamari Johnson is a draft-eligible junior, and after grabbing 32 passes for 510 yards last season he's projected to be an early pick next April, maybe even a first-rounder. The Ducks depth chart for 2026 features Johnson backed by five-star freshman Harrison, redshirt freshman Andrew Olesh, a four-star transfer from Penn State, Clemson transfer Markus Dixon and redshirt sophomore A.J. Pugliano from Grants Pass, plus Nebraska transfer Dayton Raiola, a former quarterback from Buford, Georgia.
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