Recruiting impact: Deommodore Lenoir

How hot is Oregon recruiting right now? Red. In the last two weeks the Duck class of 2017 has more than made up for its slower start with five commitments including a big one on Thursday. Duck Sports Authority takes a look at the latest Duck in the next installment of Recruiting Impact: Deommodore Lenoir commitment.

Deommodore Lenoir is one of the premier prep athletes in the nation, and backs it up at the No. 3-ranked ATH in the country and the No. 85-overall prospect. The Rival100 honoree participated in the Rivals Five-Star Challenge in Atlanta earlier this month, and will be at the Opening in Portland in July.

In Atlanta Lenoir told Duck Sports Authority that Coach Neal saw him as a cornerback who could slide over to safety. Some schools recruited Lenoir at wide receiver and he is a perfectly capable return man as well.

Basically in the overall scheme, the 2017 DB target would be 3 or 4, heavy on the CB’s. While only Reggie Daniels graduates after this season, five scholarship players will be graduating after 2017. In order to stock the depth chart for the future, the Duck staff will need to add players this year as the team is light on FR/RFr DB’s.

From the Ducks’ viewpoint Lenoir is a perfect commit to the class. With versatility to play either CB or S, Coach Neal can be more flexible with the other DB’s he targets. And there are some very good ones looking at Oregon this year.

One of the significant impacts of this commitment is that the time could be running short for some of the top guys to make their move or not.

Rivals100 CB Thomas Graham is highly interested, as is Rancho Cucamonga teammate Rivals100 ATH Jaylon Redd who also could play DB. And then there is Duck legacy Elijah Molden and a number of other top offers. With two or three slots remaining the door is closing, and may not be open on signing day.

Anything is possible. Lenoir will most likely be arriving in the Fall of 2017 in time for fall camp. Arrion Springs and Chris Seisay will be seniors, and Ugo Amadi will be a junior. Presumably two of those three will be on top of the CB chart at that time. So the most likely route to Lenoir to the field, like all freshman will be special teams. His versatility will help him with potential freshman playing time and the Ducks do tend to play about a third of each incoming class lately.

In any case, Lenoir has the talent to be an excellent player at the Pac-12 level and is an exciting get for defensive backs Coach John Neal and the Ducks.