EUGENE — For the second year in a row, Oregon signed a top 100 prospect on national signing day, adding four-star receiver Gatlin Bair to what is widely ranked as the best recruiting class in program history.
The addition of Bair gives the Ducks 27 high school and junior college scholarship signees and two preferred walk-on specialists to its 2024 recruiting class, plus 11 transfers, two of whom are preferred walk-ons.
The class is ranked No. 3 in the 247Sports Composite, best ever for the program, with the most points (293.22) in the outlet’s talent evaluation score in program history. The group is also ranked No. 4 by On3 and No. 6 by Rivals, which has Oregon No. 2 overall when including its transfer additions.
“We have a lot of talent on this roster,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said on the school’s in-house radio program. “This is the most talented roster I’ve had since we’ve been here.”
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The No. 43 overall player in the 247Sports Composite, Bair is the highest-ranked player in Oregon’s class. Also a renowned sprinter, Bair intends to take a two-year LDS mission before enrolling.
“He has every single movement, every single skill set that you want in a football player,” offensive coordinator Will Stein said on the school’s radio program. “He’s not just a track kid; he is a football player. Obviously he plays wide receiver. Probably will play on the edge for us because he can take the top off the defense, has elite hands, elite speed and toughness as well.”
From Burley, Idaho, Bair initially committed to Boise State and decommitted after former Oregon defensive coordinator Andy Avalos was fired as head coach. Bair considered Michigan and Oregon and committed to the Ducks last weekend.
“I think we ended up being Gatlin’s first choice as all the tea leaves started to sort,” Lanning, who did not hold a news conference on Wednesday, told Rivals. “I think it goes back to a measure of consistency. Knowing what his family was looking for, knowing what he was looking for and knowing that Oregon checked every one of those boxes for him.
“I feel like Gatlin’s probably been trending this way for a while and he had to make sure that he had clarity for himself because I know it’s not something he wanted to go through multiple times. He’s got an unbelievable family. He’s been training his entire life to be a superb athlete and he’s worked extremely hard for it. To see it all come to fruition, I’m really excited about.”
The Ducks are projected to have 91 scholarship players in the fall, six over the limit, not including Bair. UO was in a nearly identical position at this time last year, and further attrition will come after spring practice, with the spring game set for April 27.
RELATED: Oregon flips pair of receivers, signs 26 to 2024 recruiting class that could be best in program history
The roster has nearly as many seniors (23) as the past two seasons combined (25), and those veterans are spread out across every position room with the exception of running back, where Noah Whittington is entering his fifth-year junior season. Seven of those seniors signed during Mario Cristobal’s tenure and all of them will spend at least as much time, if not the majority of their careers, under Lanning. They’ll be part of the program’s inaugural season in the Big Ten, with aspirations of earning a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff and contending for a national championship.
“I think we got a lot of work between now and then,” Lanning said. “But I do think that we have the pieces to the puzzle that are going to allow us to have a really good team. What that looks like, time will tell. It’s going to be about our offseason work. You don’t win a game on paper. You got to go practice. You got to become a team. That’s the process over the next few months for us, is building a team.”
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