Pac-12 football recruiting: Assessing the winners (Oregon) and losers (Colorado) from the early signing window CU produced a paltry haul of prep recruits while the Ducks dominated

The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports.

The early signing period is a wrap, thus completing most of the heavy lifting in the 2023-24 recruiting cycle.

Despite the transfer portal wrestling away much of the December intrigue from the high school recruiting process, the talent still has to come from somewhere.

So, let’s look at the Pac-12’s biggest winners and losers from the three critical days.

Loser: Colorado. We know coach Deion Sanders wants to focus on the transfer portal. But only six high school signees? No matter how many transfers are brought in, that won’t cut it. Convincing five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton to sign his letter of intent saved the Buffaloes’ class from being a complete and utter disaster. But even with Seaton, a product of IMG Academy, the class is ranked last in the Big 12 (out of 16 schools) by 247Sports.

Winner: Oregon. What a close for the Ducks, who flipped two receivers initially projected to play in the Big Ten with other schools: Jeremiah McCllelan (Ohio State) and Ryan Pellum (USC). The Ducks also added the No. 1 prospect in Northern California on Thursday in defensive tackle Jericho Johnson, and easily have the best defensive line class in the Big Ten. (Besides Johnson, Oregon landed two five-star prospects, Aydin Breland and Elijah Rushing.) Four signees are rated as the No. 1 prospect in their state, and that doesn’t take into account Oregon’s success with the transfer portal. Coach Dan Lanning’s cigar smoking has probably picked up after securing the No. 6 class in the country, according to 247Sports.

Loser: USC. The Trojans thought coach Lincoln Riley would resurrect a recruiting process that had stagnated during the Clay Helton regime. And Riley’s first full class did just that. But his second? Not so much. The Trojans have only the fifth-best incoming class in the Big Ten after losing committed players on signing day (for example: Pellum to Oregon) and landing just two Top247 prospects from California. This was not what USC fans envisioned when Riley was hired.

Winner: Stanford. Coach Troy Taylor’s first full class at Stanford is among the top 30 nationally and No. 6 in the ACC.  Quarterback Elijah Brown, the headliner, went 41-2 as the starter at powerhouse Mater Dei High School, with two national titles. And there may not be a more inspiring player in the class of 2024 anywhere in the country than defensive lineman Benedict Umeh, who was diagnosed with Stage IV Lymphoma in the summer, battled through chemotherapy, and is currently in remission. He’ll enroll at Stanford next month.

Loser: UCLA: It’s Year 7 for coach Chip Kelly but the first recruiting cycle for the Bruins as a member of the Big Ten. And the incoming class ranks just 17th in the Bruins’ new home (and a meager 76th nationally). Kelly has never prioritized prep recruiting, but with the conference change, we thought UCLA might ramp up efforts with high school prospects. Well, we thought wrong. The only class rated lower in the Big Ten belongs to Northwestern, which fired its longtime coach (Pat Fitzgerald) in the summer and didn’t take the interim tag off David Braun until mid-November.

Biggest early signing win: Oregon. The Ducks flipped a pair of receivers on Wednesday, none bigger than St. Louis native Jeremiah McClellan, a four-star prospect who switched from Ohio State to Oregon.

Biggest early signing loss: USC. The Trojans also lost their own receiver in Ryan Pellum, a four-star recruit from Long Beach, who flipped to Oregon.

Biggest Sleeper: Oregon State quarterback Kallen Gutridge. After leading Wilsonville (Oregon) to the Oregon 5A state title, Gutridge had zero scholarship offers. Enter new OSU offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson who, like Gutridge, is a former Oregon high school product. Gutridge had major college basketball scholarship offers and thought his future would be on the hardwood. However, late interest from Gunderson gave Gutridge a chance with the Beavers.

Lastly, a look at the top players joining Pac-12 programs …

Top high school signees

1. Colorado offensive tackle Jordan Seaton
2. Oregon defensive lineman Aydin Breland
3. Oregon edge rusher Elijah Rushing
4. USC offensive lineman Jason Zandamela
5. Oregon linebacker Brayden Platt

Top transfers

1. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (from UCLA)
2. Arizona State tailback Raleek Brown (from USC)
3. USC safety Kamari Ramsey (from UCLA)
4. Colorado defensive lineman Quency Wiggins (from LSU)
5. Colorado receiver Will Sheppard (from Vanderbilt)