Oregon football recruiting is at a high-water mark in the history of the program and as such, Mario Cristobal and his staff have been signing high quality prep prospects. The overwhelming majority of the program’s consecutive Top Ten recruiting classes have been comprised of high school stars.

Still, transfers can be uniquely valuable when a program has immediate needs. For the 2020 season the needs were clear given the expected attrition: quarterback depth, offensive line and defensive back. And given the elevated nature of the Oregon program, they are very selective about recruiting in general, including their non-prep signees.

For the 2020 season Duck fans can expect to see plenty of action from all four members of the transfer group, two junior college players OG TJ Bass and S Bennett Williams, and two graduate transfers QB Anthony Brown (Boston College) and S Jordan Happle (Boise State).

“If you are going to bring a guy that is a grad transfer, or a junior college player into your program, you are doing it because they already are physically mature, and you certainly want to target guys that are mentally mature,” said Cristobal. “That from a cultural standpoint they realize they are joining a new family and they have to adapt. They have to come full throttle to make it work.”

With five fall camp sessions under their belts, Cristobal is pleased with what he has seen from the group.

“All of these guys are trying to fit in. I don’t see any of these guys trying to make it about them. They are making it about the team."

Cristobal gave his early assessment of each athlete.

"TJ Bass is going to be an outstanding football player. He is powerful. He's massive. He's smart, tough, diligent, all of those things. I've been extremely impressed with him."

"Bennett had a lot of accolades as a freshman when he was out playing in the Big-10 a little while back. He flashes what we think is going to be one heck of a football player. Smart, he is a really good tackler, great balance and body control, instincts. He has the ability to play man, zone, good blitzer, good in coverage."

"You can imagine being a quarterback coming off an injury like he did, getting here during the time he did and not being able to rep with the football team. Yet to be where he’s at from a schematic and knowledge standpoint, and function the way he is, it’s a testament to him and his upbringing and his DNA. He has been excellent."

"My man Happle. He kind of knows the defense a little bit. He is comfortable with the calls. Besides experience and knowledge of the scheme, another guy who is made of the right stuff. In the short time that he’s been here. You don’t want to say until a guy who has been here for awhile, but everything I’ve seen lends me to believe we have found ourselves a guy who’s going to be a major contributor and a guy who fits in with the culture extremely well."