Oregon picked up a major commitment on Friday. In a recruiting saga befitting a daytime or night time soap opera that stretches back to the 2018 recruiting cycle, Oregon landed a commitment from Devon Williams. As we detailed on signing day in 2018, Williams went down to the wire. He had committed verbally to Oregon and all sides felt that it was over early that morning, but then he had a last minute change of heart and chose USC.
Fast forward to this season and Williams had entered the transfer portal. He still had Oregon at the very top of his list – but there was an issue with Oregon and space; the Ducks were tight and the receiver room had gotten an influx of fresh young talent.
After a visit to Oregon State for the Cal-Poly game, Williams signed a financial aid agreement with Oregon State and the Beavers made an announcement, added him to their roster, and the deal seemed finalized. Much of that, though, was a misunderstanding on the part of the Beavers and a bit of a ‘false start’ on their part in the announcement. But as he returned home, as he said in his commitment tweet, Oregon is where he always felt he belonged and he made his decision Friday afternoon.
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COMMIT IMPACT:
Though he does not count toward the 2020 recruiting class and will not figure in any rankings, this is a major pick up for Oregon.
Any time a team can pick up a former top 50 player in the nation, they have landed a potential major star. Williams has exceptional height at 6-5 and has better bulk than many realize at 210 pounds. He was buried on the depth chart at USC and not seeing the field, so the question on whether he will have an impact will remain until he starts to see some playing time.
Williams’ heart has always been in Eugene and now he has arrived. The difficult part begins now, though, as he has to prove that all of the accolades as a senior were true and that the time in Los Angeles was an aberration.
As we detailed in the Casanova Center message board, he will have to sit out this year but will be eligible for all games next season as long as he progresses properly in the classroom this year. The quarters system that Oregon runs was a critical part of his process to ensure eligibility next season.
POSITION IMPACT:
This likely finishes up wide receiver recruiting for Oregon in 2020. Though Williams does not count toward a class ranking, he does count toward overall scholarship numbers and numbers at the position. He will have three years to play three making him a redshirt sophomore next season.
The Ducks already have commitments from Johnny Wilson and Kris Hutson and were still considering taking one more player at the position for the class of 2020. The Ducks had been pursuing the likes of Logan Loya, Gary Bryant and Alabama commit Traeshon Holden; but the commitment of Williams is likely to end the pursuit of those athletes as the Ducks look to finish out their recruiting class.
While Williams will not count toward the class of 2020, his scholarship will count toward the 95-man limit and that reduces the number of total available scholarships next fall.
COMMITMENT THOUGHTS:
This commitment seemed to have been a two-year process; and it was. This is a testament to why the staff builds relationships, and it also goes to the strength of those relationships. Williams came for another visit earlier this week before returning to Los Angeles to get everything right in his mind before making his decision. It was those relationships that really made the difference.
Oregon State has done a better than expected job getting talent via the transfer portal and their offense was certainly intriguing to Williams; but the relationships he had built at Oregon were too strong and Eugene is a place which ‘felt like home’ all along to the talented athlete.
Now the real work begins for Williams. The reality remains that he was not seeing the field much at USC and there was talk around USC about work ethic. I never saw that problem with him during his senior year and did not see that problem when I covered him at the Polynesian Bowl.
But the Oregon receiver room will be deep and talented next season with a lot of experience and a lot of youth. Williams presents another big target on the edge and that will be something very attractive to Tyler Shough next season. The Ducks backup will get a chance to work with Williams and develop some chemistry starting as soon as he arrives on campus for classes and gets through the NCAA mandated acclimatization period and gets in pads. That time this season and through the offseason will be critical.
Suddenly, the Ducks will have three players 6-4 or taller on the outside with Williams joining another former transfer Bryan Addison and incoming freshman Johnny Wilson. We will be watching closely how he performs throughout the rest of this season and in offseason workouts.
No matter how you slice it, though, this was a major addition for the Ducks and really helps them in the long run. The talent upgrade at the wide receiver position has undergone a significant change in less than two years. What this staff has done to change the talent level in such a short time is beyond impressive – and more talent is on its way
