Saturday Night Live: A hit with fans and recruits

Coach Willie Taggart and his staff of dynamic recruiters put together a smash hit in their first annual recruiting showcase, Saturday Night Live, held this afternoon at Autzen Stadium.

About 3500 fans attended the event, most decked out in green and yellow. They comprised an appreciative audience for some of the top talent in the country.

As of 10 p.m. the Ducks have added four commits, tight end Teagan Quitoriano from Sprague High School in Salem, tall, sticky-fingered wide receiver Miles Battle from Houston, Texas, spidery cornerback Verone McKinley from Carrollton, Texas, and 6-2, 190-pound wide receiver Arjei Henderson of Richmond, Texas, their first commit of the 2019 class.

The staff succeeded in a dramatic way at reopening the Texas pipeline that brought UO all-time greats like LaMichael James, Darron Thomas, Josh Huff and Bralon Addison, scoring three talented commits from the Lone Star State in one afternoon.

Battle drew appreciative roars from the crowd with five touchdown catches in today's 7-on-7 competition. On the first one he soared over a defender at the goal line, came down with the ball nimbly while tip toeing into the end zone, then flashed the crowd an "O." He beat defenders down the sideline and over the middle and caught everything in reach, and at 6-4 it's a spectacular radius.

It's a big deal landing this standout from Texas. Ole Miss and LSU wanted him badly. The Oregon receiver corps of the future has a lot of talent and speed, but it's a huge benefit to an offense to have at least one TALL receiver, a guy who can win a 50/50 ball at the goal line or move the chains on third down. Battle is 6-4 with a 37.5-inch vertical leap, a lean, mini-megatron with tremendous confidence and Go-Go Gadget arms. He's a sure-handed big target that's a perfect complement to the fleet of speed merchants Marcus Arroyo and the staff have assembled elsewhere in Braden Lenzy, Tre'Shaun Harrison and Warren Thompson.

So often when you watch a college football game on TV you'll see a cornerback break perfectly on a ball and then drop a chance at six. (It happened often to the Ducks last year--they had just nine interceptions all season.) Invariably one of the announcers will say "that's why he's playing defensive back."

Not so with this flock of Ducks. McKinley, Jevon Holland and Steve Stephens all have good hands, and all three of them plucked an interception out of the air at Saturday Night Live.

The same is true for the 2017 class--Thomas Graham, Deommodore Lenoir and Jaylon Redd are all gifted and versatile. The Ducks are putting together quite a stable of fast, athletic guys who can play with and without the ball.

At the end of SNL the coaches lined up everyone for a series of sprints by position groups, and Braden Lenzy was the fastest of a very fast group in two different heats. Lenzy's likely to become a dangerous receiver for the Quack Attack, but he'd be equally effective as a defensive back. Not much doubt about his ability to catch the ball and make plays.

The beauty of it is, if Chase Cota, Devon Williams or Isaah Crocker did decide to join the flock, the Ducks have a lot of flexibility and could very well wind up with a couple of dangerous defenders (Harrison? Lenzy?) who know what to do with the football after they steal it.

The third member of Oregon's contingent of Texas commits is 2019 speedster Arjei Henderson, the most sought-after prospect in the 2019 class. Henderson has a whopping 43 offers, a list that includes Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio State and USC.

He's 6-2, 190 with a 4.48 40 and a dazzling 3.9 second shuttle. Henderson accelerates past defenders like they were bullets in the matrix, as if they were wobbling through air that had turned jello-like in the Texas humidity. Last season as a SOPHOMORE he struck for 1401 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns on 100 receptions, so prolific that he'd make Michael Crabtree and Odell Beckham choke on a hot dog if they wandered into town to catch some prep football.

The Ducks one non-Texas commit of the night is Sprague High (Salem, Oregon) product Teagan Quitoriano, 6-6, 230, a promising tight end who doubles as the leading scorer and rebounder in Oregon 6A basketball. Quitoriano is the Ducks fourth commitment from the state, and if they succeed in landing Talanoa Hufanga and Chase Cota, fans can say Taggart's figurative recruiting fence was way more than an empty campaign promise.

Quitoriano is a gifted athlete but still developing as a football player. He hasn't attended a lot of camps or clinic events, because up to now he's focused on the hardwood. Still, he turned in several nice catches at Saturday Night Live, including a spectacular one-hander for a touchdown, ranging high for the ball, and a couple of nice receptions with defenders draped all over him.

This is another case where athleticism and versatility could make the Ducks a more dangerous and complete team. Quitoriano is a terrific leader and competitor who'd likely make a fine tight end, but the Ducks do have two good ones now in sophomore Jake Breeland and fellow 2018 commit Spencer Webb. Webb was one of the stars of the Saturday Night showcase. He grabbed every ball, an imposing physical specimen with a mature body who looks like he could play right now if it were possible to utilize a waiver wire or early entry in college football.

The Rivals rating system has missed badly on Webb and safety Jevon Holland. It was immediately clear getting a close-up look at both of them that they are each 4-star talents and fabulous finds.

It's possible to project Quitoriano filling out and maturing as a football player in a way that his quickest and most effective route to early playing time might be as an exceptionally athletic defensive end in the mold of DeForest Buckner or Arik Armstead, both of who were very good high school basketball players. Quitoriano might end up catching passes in the Gulf Coast offense, or he could become an force on the edge, a disruptive pass rusher with a long reach and Energizer Bunny motor.

Only very rare athletes are finished products at 17. Most have room to grow and develop. Taggart and co. have assembled one of the fastest and most versatile classes in Oregon history, and it isn't even August. So far, they have 18 commits and a #7 class. Hufanga, who was all over the field and an obvious star at SNL, a guy who led out every drill and looked every bit like a leader of a defense, would absolutely push this group over the top. He's a true game-changer.