Oregon Ducks' QB commitment leads to recruiting dominoes falling in 2026 class
With the commitment of four-star QB Bryson Beaver to the Oregon Ducks earlier this afternoon, the dominoes are quickly falling for another Oregon QB target in the class of 2026.
Matt Ponatoski, out of Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati, Ohio, was among Oregon's top QB targets in the 2026 class and was considering them as a program within his top four choices. A Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Ohio for both football and baseball, Ponatoski stood in rare air for his accomplishments on both the gridiron and the diamond.
Alongside Beaver at the Elite 11 Finals earlier this month in Los Angeles, Ponatoski received praise from The Athletic's Bruce Feldman for being the CFB analyst's biggest "pleasant surprise" as far as what the Ohio native could do with the ball in his hands.
However, after Beaver's commitment, On3's Steve Wiltfong has logged the Kentucky Wildcats as an expert prediction as a landing spot for the No. 9-ranked signal-caller in the 2026 On300. This shift in Ponatoski's recruitment doesn't come as a surprise, seeing as the Ducks did not plan on taking a pair of quarterbacks in the 2026 class, and thus filled their need for a passer on Wednesday.
Alongside Kentucky, the two-sport star will presumably also consider Alabama and Arkansas, as those two programs were in his previous top four.
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