Oregon football recruiting: Five-star DB Trey McNutt commits as Ducks climb into top 10 of rankings

Oregon added a five-star prospect to its recruiting class over the weekend, when safety Trey McNutt announced his commitment to the Ducks over Florida, Ohio State, Texas A&M and USC. McNutt is ranked the No. 1 safety in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports and is considered the No. 23 overall player in the class.

His commitment vaulted Oregon’s 2025 class from No. 11 to No. 6 in the 247Sports Team Rankings and gave the Ducks their highest-ranked defensive back commitment in program history. Originally from Ohio, McNutt’s pledge to the Ducks is further evidence of the program’s nationwide recruiting profile under third-year coach Dan Lanning.

The 6-foot, 180-pound safety joins receiver Dakorien Moore of Duncanville, Texas, as the second five-star commitment in Oregon’s class, which is up to 15 commitments. Oregon finished with the nation’s No. 4 class in the 2024 cycle after landing the No. 9 class in 2023.

McNutt shined as a junior at Shaker Heights in Cleveland, where he’s played on both sides of the football. He racked up 61 tackles with 12 pass breakups on defense last season while adding 611 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns on offense. Here is more on his game 247Sports national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu:

Track athlete who brings that speed to the football field. Good high school receiver who shows twitch and ball skills there that will translate to defense but not out of the question a school could give him offensive looks. Has played safety and corner. Will come down from the safety position and support the run. Good tackler who will hit and drive through contact, not just a drag down tackler, and takes good angles. Can be a college free safety, nickel, or move around for a defense. Has enough size and length but is not elite as far as physical size measureables. Playmaker with toughness and those abilities will translate to wherever a school wants to use him. Physically put-together and should be ready to play early in his career provided he gets up to speed on the coverages and roles his school needs him to play. Projects as a high-impact college player and potential early draft choice.

McNutt has posted multiple 100-meter dash times under 11 seconds in track and has also competed in the 2000-meter. In addition to McNutt from Ohio, the Ducks have also received commitments from touted prospects in Texas, Maryland, Florida, California , Illinois, Nevada, Arizona and Washington from within the 2025 class. 

Lanning’s success in talent acquisition has made Oregon and its NIL support from Nike co-founder Phil Knight a source of envy by other coaches. 

“I wish I could get some of that NIL money that [Knight is] sharing with Dan Lanning,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart joked at SEC Media Days. “But that’s another note.” 

Lanning, who was Georgia’s defensive coordinator under Smart from 2019 to 2021, had already developed a strong reputation as a recruiter before arriving at Oregon. The pairing of that skillset with Oregon’s investment in attracting top talent has made the Ducks a national title contender as the program enters its first season in the Big Ten.

“Recruiting, it’s not one thing,” Lanning said during a Pate State sit down at Big Ten Media Days. “It’s the evaluation, it’s the 321 different schools that we hit this offseason in spring recruiting. It’s the 23 satellite camps. It’s the phone conversations, the text message threads. It’s the relationship building. All of that is built to have an opportunity sit at the table, to have a seat at the table at the end to be in that discussion. Then, is NIL a part of it? Absolutely. Find a top-10 program that it’s not a part of their program right now. You better be willing to do it and figuring out ways to do it. It’s a part of our process but not the only part of our process.”