Oregon jumps to No. 26 in On3 Team Rankings with Jahlil Florence pledge

On3 imageby:Keegan Pope•01/31/22•

bykeeganpope

The months of December and January weren’t exactly a banner time for Oregon football recruiting. The Ducks lost more than a dozen commitments from their 2022 class after head coach Mario Cristobal bolted for Miami. Among the biggest were five-star offensive lineman Kelvin Banks and top-50 wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.

New head coach Dan Lanning entered the picture with a lot of work to do, and much of that was delayed until after his stint as Georgia’s defensive coordinator was over, which didn’t take place until Jan. 10. But Lanning and his staff got right to work, and the Ducks got one of their biggest commitments on Monday when four-star San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln defensive back Jahlil Florence re-upped with the Ducks.

His pledge pushes the Ducks up `11 spots to No. 26 nationally in the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings, with a couple more likely additions coming Wednesday on National Signing Day.

Jahlil Florence is a key piece for Oregon

Florence was committed to the Ducks under Cristobal, but ultimately backed off that pledge after he left. USC and Lincoln Riley got him on campus right before the Early Signing Period. The longer he waited, the more teams got involved. But it always came back to the Ducks and their new coaching staff under Dan Lanning.

He announced earlier this month that he was down to five schools: Miami, Oklahoma, USC, Oregon and Florida. He was scheduled to visit the Hurricanes the weekend of January 14th, but ultimately announced he wouldn’t take any more visits two days before he was scheduled to leave. A week after, he announced he was down to two schools: USC and Oregon.

The Ducks won out, though, adding their 12th member of the 2022 class. He joins a group headlined by his high school teammate and fellow four-star corner Jalil Tucker. Lanning and Co. also held on to four-star linebackers Devon Jackson and Harrison Taggart, as well as adding four-star corner Khamari Terrell and four-star wideout Justius Lowe, a former Utah commit.