Oregon Ducks Have Sights Set on 5-Star LB Justin Williams

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The Oregon Ducks and Head Coach Dan Lanning have been building up their football program with excellent recruits and quality signing classes, and they aren’t done yet.

Oregon has been making significant strides in building its 2024 recruiting class, securing 14 commitments so far, with 10 of them coming in the last five months. While the Ducks have already assembled a top-10 class, they are yet to receive a commitment from a five-star recruit. However, that could change in the coming months as they are heavily favored to land Conroe Oak Ridge’s talented five-star linebacker, Justin Williams. Currently, Oregon holds a commanding 97.9% chance of securing Williams’ commitment, according to the recruiting prediction model (RPM).

“Oregon needs guys that are difference makers at linebacker,” Hopkins said. “There’s not a lot of depth there and there’s not a ton of firepower. A guy like Justin Williams has a really clear path to coming in maybe not starting, but seeing a lot of snaps not only because he’s uber talented, but because there’s a spot there for somebody to do that.”

– Oregon Recruiting Insider Justin Hopkins

Top Contenders in on Williams

Oregon Ducks Have Sights Set on 5-Star LB Justin Williams

Despite all the Ducks have to offer, Oregon still faces stiff competition from other top programs across the nation in their pursuit of Williams. Two schools that are firmly in the mix are Alabama and Georgia, both of which have had tremendous success in recent recruiting cycles. Georgia, the back-to-back national champions, and Alabama, who claimed the top recruiting class in 2023, are perennial powerhouses in college football.

Williams has already made unofficial visits to both Alabama and Georgia, further indicating his interest in these elite programs. He visited Alabama in early March and recently made his first trip to Athens to explore what Georgia has to offer. Both schools boast impressive recruiting classes for the 2024 cycle, with Georgia currently holding the top spot and Alabama not far behind at third. Georgia has had the top defense in the nation the last two seasons and both programs have a plethora of players selected by NFL teams each season in the NFL Draft.

“I would say that it’s probably an Oregon versus Georgia/Alabama battle,” Hopkins said. “If you’re able to get him and beat out Georgia and Alabama for him, that’s just a statement victory in itself right there for Dan Lanning. That is a massive win for anybody but for a program like Oregon and a young head coach like Dan Lanning, that’s a massive massive win on the recruiting trail.”

This would be an absolutely huge signing for the Ducks. If Oregon can successfully out-recruit these highly regarded programs for a player of Williams’ caliber, it would be a significant achievement for head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks. Such a victory would undoubtedly elevate Oregon’s reputation and bode well for their future recruiting efforts. The competition for Williams’ commitment remains fierce, but Oregon’s strong position and the allure of its program make them a compelling choice for the talented linebacker.

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