In the midst of its season, Oregon football turned to recruiting on National Early Signing Day in December 2025. The Ducks emerged with one of the nation’s best classes, stocked with defensive backs that will continue the program’s reinvention at the position and offensive skill players that should raise the ceiling on the 2026 season.

In total, head coach Dan Lanning signed 21 commits — by 247Sports’ rankings, that split into three five-star recruits, 13 four-stars and five three-stars — in addition to five-star wideout Gatlin Bair, who returned from a two-year mission to join the program. It’s Oregon’s fourth consecutive top-10 ranked class, and the second straight top-three group.

Defensive backfield restocks with talent after 2025 reset

In 2025, Oregon completely turned over its secondary with five new starters and allowed the third-fewest regular season passing yards in the nation. That was in part due to true freshman Brandon Finney Jr. and redshirt freshman Ify Obidegwu’s emergence at cornerback — and the 2026 class looks ready to build on their success.

The Ducks added six defensive backs in the 2026 class, including five-star safety Jett Washington (6-5, 205 pounds) and four-star cornerback Davon Benjamin (5-11.5, 180 pounds). Washington was the nation’s best recruit at the position and will add size and talent to an already-stacked room that includes four former blue-chips, while Benjamin should front another wave of depth — Finney and Obidegwu are both expected to return. None of the corners have the size to match the two 2025 starters, but watch for how the Ducks integrate them early.

Skill rooms add upside

Autzen Stadium is used to freakish athletic talent — Kenyon Sadiq has made that a regular occurrence — and the Ducks have more coming. Dual football and basketball recruit Kendre Harrison (6-7, 243 pounds) joins as a tight end, while four-star running back Tradarian Ball enters as the nation’s fourth-best recruit at the position with Oregon expected to return true freshmen Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr. Bair, who clocked a 10.15-second 100-meter time as a high school junior, will add another five-star talent to the receiver room alongside four-star Jalen Lott (fourth-nationally at the position), four-star Messiah Hampton and three-star Hudson Lewis.

The Ducks shouldn’t face as much turnover on the field as they did following the 2024 season, but Sadiq is expected to head to the draft, Whittington is out of eligibility and quarterback Dante Moore’s future is draft-eligible for the first time. Oregon will have a new offensive coordinator, too, after Will Stein took the head coach job at the University of Kentucky, and they’ll have depth at nearly every position to play with.

Trenches add recruits amid change

The place Oregon should expect change is the offensive line, where all of its starters could leave following the season. Left guard Emmanuel Pregnon is one of the best in the 2026 draft class, left tackle Isaiah World projects as a strong option for franchises at a vital position and center Iapani Laloulu has stepped up in 2026. Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi is gone, too, as he becomes the head coach at Cal.

Oregon added five-star Immanuel Iheanacho (6-6.5, 345 pounds), four-star Tommy Tofi (6-6, 330 pounds) and three-star Koloi Keli (6-3, 290 pounds) to the room with the class, but it could also be a position group that the Ducks address through the transfer portal. Last season, Oregon added three of its 2025 starters (Pregnon, World, tackle Alex Harkey) there.

Multiple key players could be gone on the defensive side of the trenches, too; EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei is a top talent, and defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington made huge strides in 2025. EDGE Teitum Tuioti is eligible, too, but could follow Uiagalelei’s trajectory and return in 2026. Either way, the Ducks added five-star Anthony “Tank” Jones (the top recruit in Alabama) and three-star Dutch Horisk at his position alongside four-star Willamette High School defensive lineman Tony Cumberland and four-star Price Tavizon.