Oregon
Oregon Ducks Predicted To Land Three Recruits On Visits: Ryder Lyons, Messiah Hampton, Davon Benjamin
The Oregon Ducks are hosting three top recruits of the 2026 class who have all been predicted to land with the Coach Dan Lanning’s Ducks through On3’s recruiting prediction machine. Those three players are five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, four-star wide receiver Messiah Hampton, and four-star cornerback Davon Benjamin.
Lyons from Folsom, California, is the No. 15 overall recruit in the nation, Benjamin from Corona, California, is No. 20, and Hampton from Rochester, New York, is No. 48 (per On3).
Lyons is the top uncommitted remaining quarterback in the country, and the Ducks are still looking for their first quarterback to commit during the 2026 recruiting cycle. Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, along with a few other assistant coaches, went to his Northern California home recently.
“They were there for a while, almost three, four hours. We watched a bunch of tape. We watched basically every single game I’ve played. Went through it all with the offensive line coach (A’lique Terry), coach Stein, and coach (Drew) Mehringer. It was great also. Just enjoy being around them.”
– Ryder Lyons via On3
Lyons is a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and will be taking an official visit to Provo, Utah, with the BYU Cougars after his trip to the Pacific Northwest. Due to the Mormon mission that he must take after high school, Lyons won’t start playing college football until the 2027 campaign. He doesn’t have a college decision date set quite yet.
MORE: 5-Star Recruit Jett Washington Calls Oregon Ducks ‘Home’ After Visit
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MORE: Oregon Ducks, Dan Lanning Recruiting Photos Going Viral
First-year Oregon wide receivers coach Ross Douglas’ first offer he gave out with the program was to Hampton, a prospect he has been recruiting since his days with the Syracuse Orange.
“It’s a million other kids out there that play football, and a lot of kids’ dream school is Oregon. So just to be the first one to be offered from that new receiver coach, Coach Douglas, shows I’m high up on the board. I’m really a priority here. He wants me. He wants me to play for him.”
– Messiah Hampton via On3
“He definitely knows a lot about football. He truly genuinely wants what’s best for the players and people around him. His thing is he wants everybody he comes into contact with in life, he wants to better them. So definitely somebody the Oregon fans should definitely be happy to have in their corner.”
– Messiah Hampton via On3
Hampton has already taken trips with the Penn State Nittany Lions on May 16 and the Miami Hurricanes on May 30. He’s also considering the Ohio State Buckeyes from the Big Ten Conference and will be making his decision during his visit to Oregon on June 13.
Benjamin has been to Oregon several times already on unofficial visits over the years (Sept. 23 in 2024, Apr. 17 in 2025), but will be going on this trip with several of his family members, including his own high school defensive backs coach.
“Really just trying to get a good feel. Obviously, Oregon’s been a great fit for me for a long time, but really just get more around players and fully get to ask about how they really like it and how it’s going for them. Because we know that the stability’s gonna be there for the coaches. Unless they have an NFL job or something. Stability’s gonna be there. Dan’s a great guy, how the program’s running, all that.”
– Davon Benjamin via On3
The best uncommitted cornerback in the nation has already taken official visits with the Michigan Wolverines, Texas Longhorns, and North Carolina Tar Heels. Benjamin has one last official visit set up in Seattle with the Washington Huskies on June 20. He’s set to make his college decision on Aug. 2.
BLUE RIVER, Ore. (KATU) — The founder of a former disaster relief nonprofit is being sued for allegedly diverting nearly $837,000 in donations and grants for personal gain.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed the lawsuit Thursday against the founder and executive director of Cascade Relief Team (CRT), Marcus Brooks. In the complaint, Rayfield calls CRT “a sham.”
Brooks is accused of stealing donations and government grants meant for disaster relief following wildfires and flooding in 2020, and using it for personal expenses including casino visits, travel, vehicles, and more.
CRT was founded in 2020 and was hired for cleanup and relief services following the Labor Day Wildfires that burned over 1 million acres across Oregon.
In Blue River, an unincorporated community in the McKenzie River Valley, the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire destroyed nearly 800 homes and burned more than 173,000 acres.
I am angry that my community was taken advantage of
Just months after the fire, long-time Blue River resident Melanie Stanley said CRT stepped in and promised help to the community.
“For us, it was…like a savior at that point,” Stanley said.
Stanley was the manager for the Blue River Resource Center and worked for Brooks to help facilitate recovery efforts. She said CRT operations slowly became questionable.
“None of us knew the level at which all of this stuff that finally came out was at,” Stanley said. “We knew that there was some stuff that had started to look hinky or feel hinky, or there was just some lack of communication that was happening. There were some other things that were happening, and so we just all were kind of guarded.”
In fall of 2023 the nonprofit was reported to have run out of money, and Brooks allegedly fired staff without disclosing the organization’s financial conditions and did not notify donors or beneficiaries. Stanley was one of those people fired.
The state now claims the funds that were meant to go towards communities like Blue River, never made it out of Brooks’ hands, including donations given by Blue River neighbors.
“I am angry that my community was taken advantage of, and I am angry that they now have to worry about trusting when something else happens, because we know something else is going to happen,” Stanley said. “We hope to God it’s never anything as big or as bad as what has happened, but you know, we also have learned that groups like Locals Helping Locals…they are our foundation, and they are because they’re us.”
The state is seeking to recover the money, permanently bar Brooks from serving in a leadership role at a charitable organization and dissolve the nonprofit.
Stanley said Brooks’ actions have tainted reputations.
“We as a community and as the people from the community who helped kind of put all of these things together, we did what was asked of us,” Stanley said. “We did help clean things, and we did help get things to provide, you know, more progress and get things moving forward, and we did good work, and so I just really hope that this is not overshadowed.”
According to Stanley, Blue River’s recovery now stands at 50%.
“We will be very picky from here on out about who and what groups gets let in to help with anything,” Stanley said. “And sadly, it may be to our detriment, but he did more damage now, as far as reputations go, and for that I’m angry. I’m very angry.”
The Oregon Ducks have been progressing through the class of 2027 with hopes of landing some of their top target’s commitment on both the offense and the defense.
With many names left on the board, the Ducks have started to receive some great news, including some news from someone they have been targeting since they offered back in January of 2025.
Darius Johnson Releases His Top Four Schools
One of the Ducks top targets’ in the 2027 class at the cornerback position is Darius Johnson. Johnson recently released his top schools with Hayes Fawcett, as he is entering a crucial part of his recruitment. The four schools he has listed at the top include the California Golden Bears, Michigan Wolverines, UCLA Bruins, and the Oregon Ducks.
Johnson is one of the better cornerbacks in the country. He currently ranks as the nation’s No. 178 prospect in the country, No. 20 player at the position, and the No. 14 player in the state of California, according to Rivals. Landing his commitment would be major for any of the schools, as he is someone who could see the field early due to his size, and his growing ability to lockdown a side of the field all by himself.
More About Darius Johnson
Johnson currently measures in at 6-1 and 155 pounds, and will be someone who continues to add weight through his high school program, and will eventually have the chance to really improve his frame when he gets to college. As of now, each of the four schools has a solid chance to win its recruiting battle, but there seems to be a clear leader at this moment.
The leader for the Ducks target seems to be the Michigan Wolverines, who have the only scheduled official visit at this moment. It seems likely that the talented prospect will schedule his other official visits sooner rather than later now that he has officially cut down his list. If the Ducks want to land his commitment, they will need to get him on an official visit because they are likely trailing at this point.
What If He Committed to Oregon Today?
If he were to commit to the Ducks today, he would be the ninth commitment for the Ducks in the class of 2027. He would also be the third cornerback commit for the Ducks in the class of 2027, which is a position they have been recruiting heavily. The cornerbacks the Ducks have at this moment are four-star Ai’King Hall from the state of Alabama and four-star Josiah Molden from the state of Oregon.
Some of their other commits at this moment include four-star EDGE Rashad Streets, four-star defensive linemen Zane Rowe, and four-star EDGE Cameron Pritchett. This class is shaping up to be another top-five class if the pieces continue to fall into place for Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff.
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