Michael Van Buren, nation's No. 3 uncommitted quarterback, pushes up commitment date; Oregon Ducks the overwhelming favorite

St. Frances Academy (Maryland) four-star quarterback Michael Van Buren is down to Maryland, Oregon and Penn State

Originally, St. Frances Academy (Maryland) four-star quarterback Michael Van Buren had set a July 8 commitment date.

But it turns out the 5-foot-11, 185-pound signal-caller will be ready a lot sooner.

On Sunday, the nation's No. 11 quarterback (and No. 3 uncommitted signal-caller) made it clear he will be pushing up his decision date to May 20:

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Van Buren is down to a final three of Maryland, Oregon and Penn State, but experts are universally predicting one school in recent weeks.

The Ducks.

Why?

Oregon has been trending as the team to beat for several weeks, but that culminated on April 13 when multiple Oregon coaches and recruits sent out cryptic tweets hinting at a commitment.

Immediately, Van Buren became the prime suspect, and further reporting has only solidified that theory.

Since those tweets, Oregon has added Sunnyslope (Arizona) three-star quarterback Luke Moga, but Van Buren has made it clear that the Ducks planned to take two quarterbacks in this class and he was comfortable with that.

In other words, expect Van Buren to announce and Oregon commitment next week. 

Analysis

Van Buren is an ESPN five-star prospect and a 247Sports high three-star prospect, although he is very likely to climb to low-to-mid-four-star status on the latter soon. 

But that makes sense to some extent.

247Sports grades recruits based on NFL potential, and Van Buren's size limits that.

He's definitely under 6-feet tall and is still pretty thin.

But the talent is hard to argue with.

At the Elite 11 Eugene regional, he won the most accurate quarterback competition, beating out Pinnacle (Arizona) five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, the nation's No. 1 overall prospect. 

So, while Van Buren isn't the biggest quarterback, his accuracy is certainly noteworthy.

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Published
Andrew Nemec, SBLive Sports
ANDREW NEMEC, SBLIVE SPORTS

Andrew Nemec covers national high school recruiting and brings more than a decade of experience. Andrew hosts "Recruiting with Andrew Nemec" on ESPN-affiliate 1080 The FAN in Portland, Oregon. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Oregon.