Ducks Digest

No. 1 Defensive Lineman in 2025 Places Oregon Among Top Schools

The Ducks remain in the running for elite talent in the trenches.

Max Torres

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The recruiting dead period has come to an end and over the weekend one of the best players in the country trimmed his list of schools.

Savannah (Ga.) Christian Prep defensive lineman Elijah Griffin cut his list of top schools to 12 and Oregon made the cut. The Ducks were joined by Georgia, Colorado, Louisville, Miami, Florida, Clemson, LSU, South Carolina, USC, Duke and Alabama. 

Griffin is listed at 6'5", 285 pounds and Sunday's recruiting cutdown took his list of 34 reported scholarship offers to 12. 

The Georgia product is rated a five-star (0. 9989) recruit according to the 247Sports Composite. The same system ranks him the No. 3 player nationally, the No. 1 defensive lineman and the No. 1 recruit in Georgia. 

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Kirby Smart and the in-state Bulldogs could be the team to beat early for Griffin, as 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong has placed a crystal ball prediction for Georgia. Griffin took a couple of visits in January, specifically to Florida, Georgia and Clemson.

Oregon signed one of the best defensive line classes in the country last cycle, highlighted by a trio of All-American standouts in Elijah Rushing, Aydin Breland and Jericho Johnson, who have all enrolled early. We'll see if Dan Lanning and the Ducks can get Griffin out to Eugene for a visit this spring, which typically serves as one of the most critical windows in majority of recruitments. 

Other names to watch along the defensive line for Oregon this cycle include Trajen Odom, Nasir Wyatt, Jayden Woods and Isaiah Gibson among others.

Oregon's 2025 recruiting class

  • 4* WR Dallas Wilson (Tampa, FL)
  • 4* WR Adrian Wilson (Pflugerville, TX)
  • 4* QB Akili Smith Jr. (San Diego, CA)
  • 3* EDGE Matthew Johnson (Concord, Calif.)
  • 3* OL Chavez "Sandman" Thompson (Melbourne, FL)

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Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.

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