Oregon Football: Grading the Ducks' 2013 Recruiting Class

Mark Helfrich, you have just wrapped up your first recruiting class as a head coach. What are you going to do next?

Go back to work.

Helfrich, in his first season after being promoted from offensive coordinator to replace Chip Kelly, had the difficult task of keeping together Kelly’s class with a little more than two weeks to spare.

Helfrich’s efforts to give Oregon one of the nation’s top recruit classes was met with many challenges. The main challenges came from Ohio State’s Urban Meyer—one of the best recruiters in all of college sports—trying to flip four of Oregon’s top commits in Dontre Wilson, Darren Carrington and the dynamic duo of twins Tyree and Tyrell Robinson.

The last minute heroics from Helfrich resulted in the Ducks having the nation’s No. 26 rated class according to ESPN.

Top Prospects

For a full list of Oregon’s signees, check out the official story on GoDucks.com, Oregon’s official athletic site.

Helfrich and his staff did a wonderful job in getting 19 kids to sign national letters of intent with the Ducks, all of whom will solidify Oregon’s standing as one of the nation’s top teams.

Across the board, you can see a plethora of talented skill players and, most importantly, physical defenders and linemen to aid in the Duck’s struggle against SEC teams.

Here are the top signees from the 2013 class. For the full scoop on all 19 signees, click on the link above.

• Joe Walker- LB (JUCO)
• Thomas Tyner- RB
• Tyree Robinson- WR
• Cameron Hunt- OL
• Evan Voeller- OL
• Matt Wogan- K
• Torrodney Prevot- DE
• Johnny Mattingly- LB

Biggest Surprises

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1. Dontre Wilson’s decommitment:

 Wilson was an Oregon commit since May of 2012, but a last minute push from Urban Meyer and Ohio State caused the Ducks to lose one of their top prospects.

Many thought that Oregon would be able to keep Wilson after his comments following the Fiesta Bowl, and De’Anthony Thomas success at a position many assumed Wilson would be filling within the next few seasons.

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2. Johnny Ragin III Sticking with Cal:

 It was Ragin's dream to play for Oregon, which makes it odd that he chose to stick with Cal.

Hats off to Ragin for sticking to his commitment to the Golden Bears. Cal is a great school and program, and I wish him nothing but the best of luck in his career, but many are still surprised that he chose to not play for his dream school. 

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3. Damion Hobbs’ Signing:

Hobbs is a great athlete who had a successful high school career, but his recruitment by Helfrich and his staff is still a little odd to me. Oregon will have a redshirt sophomore starting at quarterback in 2013 and two sophomores as backups.

After Bryan Bennett’s transfer, I would have thought it a better idea to try and get a signature from Tanner McEvoy, a JUCO quarterback who would have given the Ducks a more experienced backup. McEvoy signed with Wisconsin. 

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4. Torrodney Prevot Flip:  

Prevot came out of nowhere when he announced that he was signing with the Ducks. Helfrich and his staff were not only able to get Prevot, the No. 19 DE in the country, to decommit from USC, but they were also able to fight off Texas A&M at the same time. 

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Grade

Overall, Oregon was able to sign a class fitting of the No. 26 ranking in the nation. The Ducks filled their needs at linebacker and offensive line, while also signing some great offensive skill players at the same time.

Tyner is without a doubt the headline of this class, but don’t sleep on guys like Danny Mattingly or Juwaan Williams.

I would have liked to have seen more ESPN 150 recruits, and the loss of Wilson definitely hurt this class ranking.

Grade: B+