Oregon Football Recruiting: Ducks Trending For Multiple 5-Star Defensive Recruits

Can Oregon Ducks Football snag commitments from three more 5-star prospects in the 2025 recruiting class? The Ducks are projected to land 5-star safety Jonah Williams, five-star safety Trey McNutt and a finalist for 5-star cornerback DJ Pickett.

Recruit Jonah Williams watches Ohio State warm up before playing Penn State Oct. 21, 2023 at Ohio Stadium. / Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA

Can Oregon Ducks Football snag commitments from three more 5-star defensive prospects in the 2025 recruiting class? The Ducks are projected to land 5-star safety Jonah Williams, five-star safety Trey McNutt and are a finalist for 5-star cornerback DJ Pickett.

Those are three of the top defensive recruits in the country. Oregon coach Dan Lanning's prowess on the recruiting trail is only intensifying after the Ducks' 2025 class skyrocketed to top-5 in the country. After commits from 5-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore and 5-star cornerback Dorian Brew, the Ducks trail only the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs.

The Ducks just picked up the projection to land Williams, the No. 1 safety and No. 7 overall player in the 2025 class. Williams was leaning trending toward the Texas A&M Aggies but is a unique two-sport athlete who also wants to play baseball in college. The Aggies coach departed for Texas last week and the Ducks have exemplified that they can successfully support a two-sport athlete in Bryce Boettcher.

Recruit Jonah Williams watches Ohio State warm up before playing Penn State Oct. 21, 2023 at Ohio Stadium. / Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA

In an interview in June, Oregon linebacker Boettcher smiled as he describes Lanning as “psycho in his own way.” 

“Lanning is a great coach and cares about his players,” Boettcher told Oregon SI’s Bri Amaranthus. “He has this like, I don't want to say psychotic, but it's almost like psychotic edge to him that makes him so fun to be around.” 

”When he coaches you, he always has this like look in his eyes that he's ready to go for anything,” Boettcher said. 

McNutt is projected to commit to the incoming Big Ten power, Oregon, with considerable 74.7 percent likelihood, according to the latest projection by the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. McNutt is an Ohio-native, and the Ducks have primarily been battling the Ohio State Buckeyes to land his commitment.

The 2025 five-star cornerback Pickett from Zephyrhills in Florida has dropped Georgia out of the running and cut his list down to three schools: Oregon, Miami, and LSU. Pickett recently had official visits to Oregon on June 21, Miami on June 14, and LSU on May 31. Pickett will be making his college decision on July 17.

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