Houston DL Ja’Maree Caldwell Commits to Oregon

The Ducks beef up their defensive line with the Houston transfer.

The Ducks added their ninth transfer portal player to the 2024 roster, continuing to fill the needs that departing seniors have left.

After landing the No. 1 ranked wide receiver in the transfer portal in former Texas A&M standout Evan Stewart, Oregon has now landed the No.2 defensive lineman.

Houston defensive line transfer Ja’Maree Caldwell committed to Oregon on Friday afternoon. 

COMMITTED. pic.twitter.com/qF7ZklVKBY

— Ja’Maree Caldwell / Ⓜ️aree (@Maree803) January 13, 2024

The addition is huge for the Ducks with the departures of Brandon Dorlus, Casey Rogers and Taki Taimani.

Caldwell spent the last two seasons at Houston, and in 20 games logged 38 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and a forced fumble. 

Before playing for Houston, Caldwell played a season of JUCO ball at Independence Community College in Kansas. He recorded 7 total tackles, 4 sacks and 0.5 sacks in four games played. Prior to Independence, he played at Hutchinson Community College.

The 6-foot-1, 325-pound defensive lineman was rated as a 4-star prospect in the transfer portal after a successful 2023 season. This was the first time 247Sports rated Caldwell, as he was not rated coming out of high school or community college.

According to the University of Houston’s player profile on Caldwell, he gave up football during his long journey to the Cougars but received the best advice of his life, “quit now, you quit forever,” which made him start playing football again.

He'll join a defensive line that includes Jordan Burch, Keyon Ware-Hudson, Matayo Uigalelei and Teitum Tuioti among others.

QUAAACK: Evan Stewart Commits to Oregon

PODCAST: Texas A&M WR Evan Stewart Transferring to Oregon