Christopher Hanewinckel – USA TODAY Sports
The Oregon Ducks have enjoyed a very successful National Signing Day, keeping the Robinson twins committed, flipping a defensive end out of Texas and beefing up their offensive line as well. Mark Helfrich has done his diligence to keep Marcus Mariota upright with the commitments of Evan Voeller and Cameron Hunt.
Voeller and Hunt come to Eugene with plenty of accolades. Each is an Under Armour All-American and both are ranked in the ESPN Top 300 with Voeller (No. 193) ranking as the No. 8 offensive guard in the class and Hunt (No. 296) ranking No. 15. Both guards are huge gets for Helfrich and company and will be major contributors in Eugene for years to come.
Voeller has been locked-in since last April, never wavering on his decision to come to Eugene. He received offers from a number of other Pac 12 schools, but didn’t take any official visits other than his trip to Oregon in September and will be the headliner of a solid group of offensive line commits.
The path to Eugene for Hunt, on the other hand, had a few more twists and turns. Originally committed to the Cal Bears, Hunt wavered when Jeff Tedford was fired at the end of the season. When the Bears lost former OL coach Jim Mihalczik to the Arizona Wildcats, Hunt’s recruitment was thrown wide open as he never meshed with Cal’s new coaching staff.
Oregon quickly moved in and made an offer to the 6-foot-4, 267-pound guard and brought him in for a visit. The Corona, California native also had offers from the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes, but once he left his visits to the Big Ten without committing, Oregon quickly became the favorite for Hunt’s services.
Cal still has a solid offensive line class coming in, with five commitments in 2013, headlined by the No. 20 and 22 ranked offensive tackles Aaron Cochran and Erik Bunte. They will bring in a strong group this fall, but Hunt would have been the best of the bunch.
Oregon now has a pair of elite interior offensive linemen who have the size and skill to make immediate impacts in their up-tempo offense. After losing two starters and three seniors from last year’s line, the opportunity will be there for both to start right away.
You can follow me on Twitter @Teeblerone and Rant Sports @RantSports
