As part of the lead-up to the spring game, Duck Sports Central rolled out a position-by-position recruiting series tied loosely to the Wednesday War Room. The idea was to look not only at what Oregon has on the roster, but how the Ducks are building the next layers of the program.
Now that spring football is over, it makes sense to revisit those boards with a little more context.
At quarterback, that conversation starts with a simple point: Oregon’s 2027 class appears to be done at the position.
The Ducks landed Will Mencl, and that should close the book on the 2027 quarterback cycle barring something completely unexpected. We have already written quite a bit about Mencl, including a premium scouting report, so there is no need to overcomplicate this part of the discussion. Oregon identified a quarterback it wanted in that class, got him in the boat, and can now move forward without turning the 2027 board into a weekly guessing game.
That matters because quarterback recruiting is different. At most positions, there is room for multiple takes, board movement and late reshuffling. At quarterback, especially in the modern era, the board is often smaller, more delicate and more relationship-driven. Once a staff takes its quarterback, the focus usually shifts pretty quickly to the next class.
That is where Oregon is now.
The Ducks have their 2027 answer in Mencl. They also have a current quarterback room that can be used as a recruiting tool. Dante Moore gives Oregon a high-end starter and a visible example of quarterback development inside the program. Dylan Raiola gives the Ducks another former national recruit learning the system and building toward the future. Brock Thomas gives the room a player who understands the offense and has earned trust inside the building. Akili Smith Jr. gives Oregon another developmental arm with a familiar name and long-term upside.
That is the backdrop for the 2028 board.
And after the spring game, the Ducks have more than just names to sell. They have a weekend.
Dan Lanning talked after the game about the value of recruits seeing the full Oregon picture. The former players were back. NFL draft moments were happening during the game. The fans showed up. Current players were competing. The staff was operating. The city had one of those spring weekends where everything seemed to point toward Autzen.
For quarterback recruits, that kind of setting matters. It is one thing to hear about Oregon’s quarterback history. It is another to see Moore running the offense, Raiola throwing deep balls, Thomas delivering the game-winning shot to Dakorien Moore and Smith getting developmental reps in the same stadium where Marcus Mariota and Justin Herbert once became first-round picks.
That is the picture Oregon is trying to paint for 2028 quarterbacks.
And the board already has some interesting pieces.
