Oregon kicked off July with a recruiting surge that came fast and hit hard. Within a half-hour window Wednesday afternoon, the Ducks landed four-star athletes Hayden Stepp and Tae Walden Jr., two of the bigger remaining names still on the board in the 2027 cycle.
Walden, a 6-foot-2 do-everything prospect from Collierville, Tennessee, announced for Oregon first. He can play receiver, cornerback or return kicks. Basically, he’s the kind of player Dan Lanning and his staff have been stockpiling as they build for a future in the Big Ten.
Then Stepp followed. The top-50 recruit from Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas is projected as a shutdown corner at the next level. He already has a connection in Eugene: former high school teammate Jett Washington is in the Oregon secondary right now. Stepp will likely line up next to rising star Brandon Finney Jr. in the 2027 season, which is a scary thought for opposing quarterbacks.
Both players turned down serious interest from some of the biggest programs in the sport. Walden had Georgia and LSU pushing hard. Stepp had offers from Alabama, LSU and others. They both picked the Ducks anyway.
Walden said the energy on his campus visit sealed it. He bought into Lanning’s vision for how versatile players fit into the system, and that was enough to beat out Kirby Smart and Brian Kelly.
How the momentum built
This wave didn’t come out of nowhere. Oregon landed three-star interior offensive lineman Lex Mailangi from Mater Dei in Santa Ana on June 24, which kicked off a stretch of four commits in about a week. The Ducks now sit at 23 verbal commitments for the 2027 class.
Walden and Stepp bring something this class really needed: athleticism that can impact multiple phases. Walden is the kind of guy who can line up at wideout on one drive and at corner the next. Stepp is a pure cover corner with size and instincts that make him a potential Day 1 starter down the road.
It’s still early in the cycle, but Oregon is building a class that looks different from the typical Pac-12 recruiting hauls. The Ducks are going head-to-head with SEC programs for elite talent and winning some of those battles. That wasn’t happening five years ago.
The staff has recruited aggressively since Lanning took over, and it shows. They’re not just winning on the trail in their own region — they’re pulling kids out of SEC country and Las Vegas power programs. The message is working.
Oregon opens the 2026 season in August with a College Football Playoff appearance still fresh in everyone’s mind. The roster has young stars. The recruiting class is loaded. July just added two more reasons to pay attention.
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