Oregon Ducks Hosting Nation's No. 2 Prospect Zion Elee For Michigan State Game

The Oregon Ducks will have one of their biggest recruiting targets for the class of 2026 in attendance Friday night against Michigan State. 5-star edge rusher Zion Elee has narrowed his list of finalists to Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Penn State.

Oregon Ducks Hosting five-star prospect Zion Elee For Michigan State Game / @D1zion26 on Twitter/ X

The Oregon Ducks will have their Big Ten conference home opener against Michigan State on Friday, October 4 at 6 pm PST. Attending the game and visiting campus over the weekend will be five-star class of 2026 recruit, edge rusher Zion Elee, according to 247Sports.

The Ducks do have a connection to Elee's high school, with former St. Frances cornerback Ify Obidegwu as a current freshman on Oregon's team.

Elee's last visit to Eugene was for Oregon's "Saturday Night Live" camp in July.

"It was a great visit," Elee said to SI's Andrew Nemec. "What stood out, honestly, was their facilities and how close they are to the school houses and town. A really nice place, in general."

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning walks the field ahead of the game as the Oregon State Beavers host the Oregon Ducks Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Scout on Zion Elee: “Built in a Lab to Get After the Quarterback”

Zion Eilee is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound edge rusher from Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently a junior at St. Frances Academy. Elee is a 5-star prospect in the class of 2026 and is ranked as the No. 2 overall in his class per 247sports.

Scouts and recruiting analysts think very highly of Elee. 247sport’s national analyst Hudson Standish had this to say about Zion Elee.

“One of the more complete edge prospects in recent memory at this stage of the evaluation process… It feels as if he was built in a lab to get after the quarterback,” Standish says. “He has elite measurements and a combine testing profile that could be mistaken for a field-stretching X receiver.”

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Standish goes further in-depth about what makes Elee so special outside of his physical measurements. 

“Building blocks of his game are a lightning-quick first step, closing burst, and ideal reactionary athleticism,” Standish says. “Laterally explosive and can quickly move gap-to-gap or chase down ball carriers from the weak side. Motor consistently runs hot; there might not be a better edge rusher in the 2026 cycle at quickly redirecting to wrap up evasive quarterbacks.”

“He (Elee) should be viewed as a potential instant impact 3-4 outside linebacker at the next level who could eventually put on a show at the NFL combine,” Standish remarks.

Recruiting Battle for Zion Elle 

Georgia wide receiver Adonai Mitchell (5) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the second half of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff NCAA college football game between Oregon and Georgia in Atlanta, on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. News Joshua L Jones / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

Zion Elee has cut his list of schools down to five in August, per Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Nemec. The five schools that Elle will choose from are Oregon, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and Penn State.

There are still a lot of things that can change in the class of 2026, but currently, the Oregon Ducks rank as having the No. 5 best class per 247sports.

Penn State is ranked No. 3, Georgia at No. 8, Ohio State at No. 31, and Alabama at No. 33. Now obviously, we don’t expect to see Alabama and Ohio State this low once we get further along the process. 

These are all top-tier programs and Oregon will have their hands full trying to get Elee to commit to a school across the country from his hometown. However, if there’s a man for the job to get it done, it’s Ducks coach Dan Lanning. 

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