Oregon's Quarterback Recruiting: Panic or Patience?

So this cycle has not really worked out as Oregon had hoped in quarterback recruiting. I mean it really started with the very late decision by 5-Star Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele to sign and later end up at Cal. Can’t blame him for walking into the quarterback room at Oregon and feeling like it was a much easier path to start at Cal.

Oregon moved on and made a massive push for 5-Star QB Jared Curtis who ultimately ended up at Georgia. In my mind with the way Oregon’s current quarterback room sets up, Curtis would have been an ideal and seamless transition for Dan Lanning.

Now that comes with variables as does the rest of this article. And keep in mind, Oregon is one of the best at giving themselves options and rolling with the punches. Because of the transfer portal you have to operate this way. And because of the transfer portal I’m also nearly zero concerned with Oregon signing a prep quarterback in this cycle. While it might be preferred, it wouldn’t be an issue if the Ducks miss on every option and hit the portal. The success rate in the portal has been really good at the position.

But they continue on expanding options with a lot of uncertainty about how it could play out.

I really like Ryder Lyons the football player. He’s a terrific quarterback and I think he could be a big addition for Oregon. The only thing preventing me from getting too giddy is the fact he’ll take a mission and then you are counting on a prep to come in that’s been a year away from football. That presents some challenges.

We don’t know what any of the current quarterbacks at Oregon will do. Dante Moore could play one year, two, we don’t know. So again, we could see a one year transfer portal quarterback fill in the ‘gap’ depending on what happens if you were to sign Lyons.

Oregon is recruiting some other 2026 prep quarterbacks who have other challenges.

The Ducks might be the team to beat for four-star Matt Ponatoski. Who’s a terrific player with lots of upside. The problem is, he might be an even better baseball player and could end up in the draft. And the biggest downside there is if that happens, you won’t know until next July. You could conceivably sign Ponatoski and Lyons and end up with neither for a couple of years from today. That’s a pretty big hole in your roster at the position.

Oregon is also kicking the tires and turning things up with Mission Viejo (Calif.) quarterback Luke Fahey. His commitment would give you a recruiter down in So Cal and a pretty sure addition for the 2026 class. It might end up being the safest combination if you land Fahey and Lyons together. But that is far from a guarantee at this point.

In the end, I’ll say it again, if Oregon misses on all of these options I’m still not concerned. I don’t say that about every position, but I do at quarterback. They have a good room now and while developing a prep quarterback would be nice, I really could care less how Oregon wins games as long as they keep winning games.

So my suggestion to you all is to be ready to roll with it just like this staff. There’s a number of combinations that work and there are options. But in the end you can easily find an option in the portal if for some reason your roster calls for it.