McLaughlin: Oregon Ducks’ high-profile QB battle on the 2026 trail
By SPENCER McLAUGHLIN
Contributor, 750 The Game
Normally, Oregon having a 4-star QB like Jonas Williams flip to USC should make Duck fans disappointed. Williams is a really talented and mobile QB recruit in the 2026 cycle that has a good arm. His potential to start in college is incredibly apparent.
In this instance, his change of heart to the Trojans is likely indicative of good things to come for Dan Lanning on the trail. I could write more about USC’s surge, something that Trojan fans have been waiting for ever since Pete Carroll left, but that hasn’t been finalized yet. USC had a couple of high-profile defensive linemen committed in the 2025 cycle but they ended up going elsewhere. Oregon, however, is far more proven in the recruiting ranks with their current head coach than USC is with theirs.
Lanning has pulled in 3 straight top 10 high school classes and has done well in the portal, too. USC elevating its recruiting game would be a notable development, making life tougher for “That Team Out West” to be the dominant national recruiting power in the region as they have been for the last several years. The Trojans also landed 5-star DL Jakheem Stewart in the 2025 class, a big-time prospect whom Oregon recruited rather heavily.
So is Jonas Williams a sign of the tide flipping back to Los Angeles and away from Eugene? I don’t think so.
Williams’ departure from the 2026 class for Lanning and OC/QB Coach Will Stein has opened the door to put the gas down on landing 5-star QB Jared Curits. The Nashville, TN native is the #1 signal caller in the 2026 class and the #2 overall player. He’s 6’4” 225lbs and though I want to compare him to Justin Herbert, his high school tape looks like Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills.
Normally, a player of this caliber would have his recruitment excite fans all across the summer months as he weighs options and visits and everything in between. Reports appear to indicate this could be wrapped up in a couple of weeks.
The finalists? Oregon and Georgia.
Dan Lanning vs Kirby Smart is a fun storyline to keep in the back of your mind. Sure, it could be more about the OCs Will Stein and Mike Bobo who determine where the talented 17-year old lands. There are no bad options here for Curtis, who is going to choose between the reigning champions of the Big 10 and SEC to play his college ball.
I wonder how much Will Stein has pointed out what his offense has generated recently. Carson Beck regressed at Georgia in 2024 and he transferred to Miami to try and revitalize himself like Cam Ward did a season ago for the Hurricanes. Meanwhile, Stein was quietly generating his 2nd straight Heisman finalist at QB. Dillon Gabriel was selected to represent Oregon in New York City a year after Bo Nix did the same.
The good news for Oregon is they’re a part of one of the top 2 leagues in the country, which is currently the conference that has won the last two national titles. I doubt that Curtis’ view of the SEC has dampened. I brought it up because I have publicly stated how much I despise what happened to the Pac-12 and that Oregon felt forced to join the Big 10.
But would Curtis be giving the Ducks this serious of a look if that hadn’t unfolded?
I guess we’ll never know.
Spencer McLaughlin is an Oregon Ducks football contributor to 750 The Game. He also hosts the “Locked On Oregon Ducks” and “Locked On College Football” podcasts and has work featured throughout the season here.