Oregon Ducks

With the 2013 recruiting cycle winding down, new rumors are popping up regularly as recruits and programs shuffle their plans in order to explore all of their options before signing day. Here is the latest news surrounding Oregon's recruiting efforts as signing day fast approaches.

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Stanford interest might be the highest form of validation for a West Coast offensive line recruit at this point in time. The past weekend, the Cardinal locked up another one of California's top big men.

During a tremendous recruiting weekend, Stanford hosted nine committed recruits and four uncommitted targets.

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This past season, Stanford walked out of Autzen Stadium with Oregon's national title hopes ruined. The Cardinal are also a nemesis for the Ducks on the recruiting trail.

One of the Ducks' top remaining targets in the Class of 2013 appears to be heading for Palo Alto, Calif., instead of Eugene, Ore., and another is visiting this weekend.

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The Oregon Ducks have heard their name called a number of times in recent years during all-star game declarations. With five of the Ducks' top targets announcing last week, Oregon coaches and fans were hoping for some good news. Unfortunately for the Ducks -- who won the Fiesta Bowl a day before the Under Armour All-American Game and the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl were played -- a second straight BCS win wasn't enough to convince any of the five recruits to announce in their favor.

So where exactly do the Oregon Ducks go from here?

Despite missing on some of their top targets, the Ducks are holding steady at No. 22 in the ESPN.com Class Rankings with 13 commits. If they want to stay in the rankings, they will need to add a few more recruits before signing day.

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The West team at the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl has just a handful of uncommitted players on the roster, all of whom are highly sought after recruits.

One of them might not be the biggest name of the bunch, but he has impressed his coaches, teammates and even a United States Marine. OL Thomas Oser (North Hollywood, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) also has an impressive offer list that features schools from the Pac-12 and the SEC. Out of the offers he does have, the same three schools he has been eying for months make up the list from which he will choose later this month.

Oregon, Stanford and Vanderbilt -- where Oser's friend and high school teammate, QB Chad Kanoff (North Hollywood, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) is committed -- make up the 6-foot-5, 280-pounder's finalists and all three have something that gives them an edge over the others.

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On Thursday night, the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks will take on the fifth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Thursday is also a big day for the Ducks -- as well as every other program around the country -- as the recruiting dead period will end when the clock strikes midnight.

Once coaches are able to contact and visit recruits again, expect a flurry of activity from the Ducks' coaching staff. With a few of the Ducks' top remaining offensive targets announcing at various All-American games it seems likely that the first kids they will contact are ATH Tarean Folston (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa), WR John Ross (Long Beach, Calif./Jordan) and TE-Y Thomas Duarte (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei).

Ross and Duarte -- two of the elite offensive weapons in the West -- both confirmed Monday that they will announce their college choice during the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl on Friday. Both four-stars have the Ducks among their finalists. Both players also have UCLA and Washington in their final group as well, with Duarte also considering Notre Dame.

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After the surprising decommitment of OL Alex Redmond (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) -- who has since committed to UCLA -- the Ducks had to re-focus their efforts as they work to piece together their future offensive line. In doing so, they found a new prospect in the most unlikely of places.

Last month, the Ducks received film from OL Jake Pisarcik (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) and liked what they saw. They liked it so much that, despite the fact that no other school at any level had offered him, the Ducks not only flew out to New Jersey to see him, they offered him a scholarship and accepted a commitment from him within a week. Pisarcik's pledge gave the Ducks three offensive line commits in their 2013 recruiting class.

When he committed, the under-the-radar Pisarcik joined in-state offensive line commits Evan Voeller (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) -- No. 181 in the ESPN 300 and an Under Armour All-American -- and Doug Brenner (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) in the Ducks' class. The Ducks have been expected to add three or four offensive linemen during this recruiting cycle. After Ducks' senior Kyle Long recently had his appeal for an extra season denied by the NCAA, it now appears that the Ducks will definitely take a fourth commit along the offensive line.

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It has been an up-and-down week for Oregon and its efforts to reinforce its offensive line. With seniors Nick Cody, Ryan Clanton and Carson York finishing their careers after the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the Ducks have been planning to add three or four offensive linemen to their 2013 recruiting class.

The Ducks and their fans had been awaiting word on the status of standout senior OL Kyle Long's appeal for an extra year of eligibility. After the NCAA declined Long's appeal this week, the Ducks know what they are faced with. It now appears the Ducks will look to add a fourth lineman to offset the loss of Long.

The Ducks will return three starters along the line -- Hroniss Grasu, Jake Fisher and Tyler Johnstone -- and currently have three offensive line commits expected to join the program next summer. The three players -- Evan Voeller (West Linn, Ore./West Linn), Doug Brenner (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) and Jake Pisarcik (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) -- are all likely destined for redshirts once they arrive on campus.

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When former Oregon OL commit Alex Redmond (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) decommitted from the Ducks last month, it made the offensive line an even bigger priority in the Class of 2013. Redmond committed to UCLA last week, leaving the Ducks with two open spots on the line.

One of Oregon's top targets, OL Thomas Oser (North Hollywood, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) became an even higher priority with Redmond's pledge. Oser is down to three schools, with the Ducks possibly holding a slight advantage in the battle for his signature.

"I really like everything about Oregon's program and their style of play," Oser said. "Their offense is really fun to watch, and I think it would be fun to play in. They have a good thing going, and it would be an honor to play for them."

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With a week off from practice last week, the Oregon coaches hit the road to visit their commits and top targets as they look to solidify their recruiting class with signing day only two months away.

The coaches spread far and wide to cover the recruiting trail. While on the road, they offered a scholarship to a fast-rising 2013 LB recruit.

The Ducks seem to have moved on from RB Derrick Green (Richmond, Va./Hermitage), the No. 5 RB in the ESPN 150. They are now focused on Tarean Folston (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa) and Alvin Kamara (Norcross, Ga./Norcross) for the final running back spot in their class. Folston -- No.79 in the ESPN 150 -- plays things close to the vest, but it seems like a battle between the only two schools he has officially visited, Oregon and Notre Dame.

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With a week off from practice, the assistant coaches for the Tostito's Fiesta Bowl-bound Oregon Ducks
hit the recruiting trail last week. In addition to visiting their current commits, the Ducks' coaches also visited their primary remaining targets for the Class of 2013.

They racked up the miles as they visited players in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, among others.

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The Oregon Ducks were holding steady with their offensive line recruiting for a couple of months with three recruits committed. Then three-star offensive tackle Alex Redmond (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) decommitted in mid-November. That hasn't stopped him -- or the Oregon coaches -- from keeping a line of communication open.

Before stopping in to see Nico Falah (Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco) and Thomas Oser (North Hollywood, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) when the contact period for coaches began last week, Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood stopped in to see Redmond at his high school.

"We just watched some film and he told me how he still thinks I can be a big part of their future," Redmond said. "He just wanted to come by and see me and see how my elbow was feeling."

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The Ducks hosted an impressive group of official visitors last weekend when they took on the Stanford Cardinal. There were no commitments made publicly, but the Ducks appears to have made a big impact on all four visitors.

they remain committed to USC and Stanford, respectively, Nico Falah (Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco) and Peter Kalambayi (Matthews, N.C./Butler) both came away impressed with the Oregon program and have a lot to think about before signing day. Tarean Folston (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa) was also impressed and, according to his high school coach, might be done with visits and ready to decide between Notre Dame and Oregon.

Bryan G. (Glendale, Calif.): Nico Falah said "Oregon is back in it," but also said he is still a Trojan. Is the fact that he said Oregon is in it just post-visit talk or is he truly considering the Ducks?

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After a bye week and a Thursday night road game, the Oregon Ducks return to Autzen Stadium this weekend to take on Colorado on Saturday. The struggling Buffaloes aren't the only ones coming, either. One of the top players in the country will be in Eugene for an official visit.

A limited number of spots remain in the Ducks' recruiting class, but there are some big names who could cause the Ducks to finish with a flurry. The Ducks aren't in the lead for any of the big names they are involved with, but visits to Eugene have changed more than a few minds over the years.

" Four-star safety Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) will make the long trek to Eugene this weekend. The Ducks are a longshot for the No. 40 player in the ESPN 150, but he has built a good rapport with the Ducks' staff and likes the defensive style of the Ducks.

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