In this day and age of college football, there are many ways to build a roster. While established coaches focus primarily on high school recruiting and player development, other new coaches often rely on the transfer portal to find established players to join and run their systems.
There is a large difference between these two methods, with all 138 FBS programs falling somewhere in between.
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For the Oregon Ducks, we’ve seen a shift in methodology over the past few years under Dan Lanning. Early in his tenure in Eugene, he relied heavily on the portal to attract change-makers like Bo Nix, Bucky Ervin, Christian Gonzalez and Tez Johnson. Lately, though, we’ve seen the number of impact transfer additions decrease each year as he’s been able to acquire talent from the prep ranks and build depth.
Now, in 2026, The Athletic claims Oregon has sent a stern message with its transfer class, which only has 12 players. That news? “We don’t need much help.”
When looking at Oregon State’s incoming 12 players, you could argue that at most three will earn a starting job — Coy Perich, Iverson Hooks and Carl Williams IV. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the number was just one, as Peric is the only starter who can’t be missed. Elsewhere on the roster, there’s enough depth and talent to believe Oregon State will rely on the players that got them here.
When looking at the national landscape and studying the offseason movements of projected title contenders, it’s clear that many programs evaluated their rosters, identified some holes that needed to be filled, and began plugging them into the portal.
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Based on Oregon State’s portal movement, or lack thereof, it’s not hard to see them taking stock of their roster and saying, “For the most part, we’re good.”
It’s a strong message as they chase the 2026 title.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks transfer class sends strong message, The Athletic reports
