July in Oregon: Success or Failure?
The title is probably a bit misleading. We’re not about to talk about living in the state of Oregon in July. There is virtually no way you can consider July a failure month living in Oregon. The suns out, and even if its hot, you’ve got rivers and lakes everywhere to cool yourself down. As long as the smoke stays out, July’s in Oregon are pretty amazing.
For myself, you can catch me on the lake as much as I can get away with.
But we’re going to talk about recruiting. Last year, the month of July wasn’t especially kind to the Ducks. This year it felt that way, but was it really all that bad for Oregon? That’s what fans want to think. But is it justified?
Well let’s take a look. Let’s start with the bad.
The Misses
5-Star LB Justin Williams (Georgia)
4- Star DB Aaron Scott Jr. (Ohio State)
4-Star EDGE Elijah Rushing (Arizona)
4-Star OL Preston Taumua (Nebraska)
4-Star OL Isaiah Garcia (Utah)
A good list of recruits here the Ducks missed out on. But of course the one that stung the most was linebacker Justin Williams. ‘The one that got away.’ Oregon was the runner-up which unfortunately doesn’t count for anything in recruiting. Although it’s starting to.
Otherwise Rushing was probably the next big sting. I don’t think anyone expected Aaron Scott to commit to Oregon. And while I do list Taumua and Garcia as misses, they are survivable IMO. I’m also not sure Rushing is gone for good so we’ll just keep tabs there.
The Hits
4-Star OT Jac’Qawn McRoy
4-Star LB Dylan Williams
4-Star LB Kamar Mothudi
3-Star RB Da’Jaun Riggs
4-Star WR Adrian Wilson (2025)
4-Star QB Akili Smith Jr. (2025)
Well if this is failure, then I guess we know where the bar is set. I won’t dispute the misses, J. Williams stings, Rushing does too. But Oregon added two of its most important pieces to date in July, linebackers Dylan Williams and Kamar Mothudi. No matter what, those are two guys Oregon can’t afford to lose in this cycle.
I love the addition of Riggs at running back along with Shaq McRoy to an already very good offensive line class. Throw in the two high-profile 2025 commits and look, what do you know, maybe July wasn’t the failure many have made it out to be after all.
