The one asset Oregon football has to overpay for

At the Peach Bowl Duck fans saw how important strong offensive tackle play is to the rhythm and productivity of an offense.

Indiana wrecked Oregon twice in 2025, and they did it by winning nearly all the battles on the offensive line. In particular, Alex Harkey and Isaiah World got beat off the ball on key downs. Dante Moore had defenders in his face repeatedly, and he didn't handle it well.

What the Ducks need is a big, athletic left tackle to anchor the line, and Jordan Seaton, the transfer from Colorado, is the best in the country at 6-5, 330. A freshman All-American in 2024, he allowed two sacks in 579 pass-blocking snaps.

Seaton entered the Transfer Portal yesterday. The bidding opened at $2 million, and it's quickly climbed to three, and it may reach five. His two leading pursuers are Texas and Oregon.

A five-star left tackle with NFL first-round potential

Seaton is five-star from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, originally from the D.C. area. He's a top NFL prospect in 2027, because few players have his frame and agility.

Oregon's playoff loss to Indiana was a failure in all phases, the kind of blowout loss that requires reevaluation, acceptance and growth.

The Ducks ran into a buzzsaw, again, a team of destiny, a great team of mature and experienced players, operating with tremendous discipline and execution, brilliantly coached.

It doesn't erase all the terrific football Oregon played to achieve their second-straight 13-win season, but it does show how hard it is to win a national championship, what an intersection of luck, preparation, timing and excellence that journey is.

Now the team and head coach Dan Lanning begin preparation for another one.

They made a monumental effort in the opening days of the Transfer Portal and the last days of NFL draft decisions. They brought back the nucleus of the program's best-ever defense, and two dynamic leaders on the offense in Jamari Johnson and Poncho Laloulu. And they're not done. By January 16th fans will know whether Dante Moore, Kenyon Sadiq and Dillon Thieneman are returning for 2026.

But there's one key piece that the Ducks have to pay a market rate for in the transfer portal. The Peach Bowl was a collective failure, a team loss, but they were badly outplayed at tackle versus edge.

They need championship play at the tackle spot, and Seaton is the best tackle in the portal. Lanning and his staff already made one good acquistion in Yale right tackle Matthew Bennett III, a three-year starter, 6-5, 310, twice first team all-Ivy League,

This season Bennett III allowed just nine pressures in over 800 snaps, achieving a PFF grade of 75.4. Most significantly, he had just one penalty all season. Harkey seemed to have one personal foul a game.

Bennett III is a sound acquisition, the value play. Fox Crader and their young tackles, Immanuel Iheanacho and Tommy Tofi, Ziyare Addison and Gernorris Wilson have promises as well. Seaton is the power hitter, the big bopper you pay a premium for to complete your lineup.