What's Next for Oregon After Landing RB Da'Jaun Riggs?
On Monday, 2024 Washington, D.C. St. John's running back Da'Jaun Riggs announced his commitment to Oregon. His pledge brings Oregon's recruiting class to 18 verbal commitments after Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville offensive tackle JacQawn McRoy committed to the Ducks on Saturday.
Recruiting moves quickly, so now the question is: What's next for Oregon football on the recruiting trail?
Finished at running back?
With Riggs in the fold, Oregon could call it a day at running back, but I don't think they will.
All attention now shifts to Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei running back Nate Frazier. Frazier took official visits to Oregon and Alabama in June and also made it out to Texas A&M and Georgia on unofficial visits.
Based on what I've been able to gather, this is by all means and Oregon vs. Georgia battle for the top all-purpose running back on the West Coast. The Ducks were one of the earlier big schools to offer him in his recruitment, dating back to last fall.
My feel is that he's currently leaning toward Georgia, but Oregon is staying very involved and won't go away easily. I've also been told by someone close to the program that it's a 50/50 battle.
Either way, Frazier has yet to announce a commitment date and I think he'll have a spot at Oregon for as long as he wants. It's not easy to beat Georgia, but I know Carlos Locklyn will keep the Ducks in the mix until the pen meets paper.
What about the 5-Stars?
I bet a lot of Oregon fans are asking this question right now.
Well, Dan Lanning could be closing in on adding his first 5-star recruit in the 2024 class. Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic EDGE Elijah Rushing is the next big recruit set to announce his college decision.
He's scheduled to announce on Thursday July 6 and choose from a top four of Oregon, Arizona, Notre Dame and Tennessee. I've mentioned before that I believe this one is down to Oregon and Arizona and the Ducks are going to have to overcome the Hometown Hero sell from Arizona and playing with his older brother.
I think this is a really close battle, but I still think the Ducks get it done.
What Does Oregon Need?
Prior to Monday running back was a position of need the Ducks still needed to hit on. Now that they have one in the fold that's great, but we all know they'd love to add Frazier.
Aside from running back, linebacker is another major need--if not the biggest--in the 2024 class.
Kamar Mothudi, a big-time linebacker out of Southern California, just announced his transfer to Los Alamitos High School ahead of his senior season. He's set to announce his college commitment on Monday July 10 and Oregon is widely viewed as the team to beat. I don't want to get too repetitive but I'm still feeling good about my March pick for the Ducks.
He's one of the most athletic linebackers you'll find out West and the Ducks would love to add him to their class.