Two Texas Players On Oregon's Radar

The firing of Clemson's head Coach, Tommy Bowden, has resulted in a shake up of the Tigers recruiting class and the Ducks hope to benefit from it. 5-star recruit Craig Loston, the #1 ranked safety in the nation according to Rivals, committed to Clemson back in April but after learning of Bowden's dismissal he's decided to look elsewhere. Listed at 6'2" and 193 lbs he fits the prototypical mold of a large strong safety that has the heigth to disrupt the passing game in the backfield. The Ducks are currently one of his top 3 choices with Texas and LSU. He's from Aldine, Texas which happens to be the same hometown as Oregon QB Darron Thomas. Oregon has had luck recruiting players from Texas...especially since last year. Freshman wide receiver's Garret Embry and Blake Cantu are from Texas along with running back LaMichael James. Just to be considered in Loston's top 3 is quite an achievement considering he holds over 40 offers from teams including USC, Florida and Oklahoma. Oregon may be high on his list due to his ability to fill the void of Patrick Chung immediately...either way I hope he makes a visit.

Here's a video of Loston in action:





The other recruit that is strongly considering Oregon is 4-star linebacker Chris Williams. A native of Abilene, Texas, Williams is ranked the 13th best linebacker according to Rivals. Listed at 6'0" and 230 he has the size to be a force no matter where he lines up on the field. After watching his highlight videos (which I've posted below) there is no doubt that he would probably see the field immediately. In a recent interview with Scout.com this is what he had to say about the Ducks:

"I really like Oregon because it's a good program," he said. "The defense is strong and I like the coaches a lot. They've been recruiting me a lot and seem real interested."

So he thinks Oregon's defense is strong? Maybe he should mention that to the jackasses that sit directly behind me in Section 36 Row 61. Williams does admit that some schools that had initially offered him aren't really showing much interest anymore:

"Schools like Arizona, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St…they offered and that's about it. Besides Nebraska and Oregon, there aren't really any other coaches that I'm talking to on a regular basis."

This bodes extremely well for Oregon considering the coaching staff is making a trip out to Abilene on the 17th of October to make an in-home appearance with Williams and schedule a trip to Eugene. The Ducks will be the next recruiting visit he plans to make, and may ultimately be his last considering he's already tripped out to Nebraska. Williams reports a 3.3 GPA and an SAT score of 1200 so the kid is far from an academic risk. Perhaps he just scares the hell out of the coaches trying to recruit him. I know I wouldn't want to be an opposing quarterback lined up across from him.

Chris Williams Highlight Video #1



Chris Williams Highlight Video #2