On Tuesday, Oregon football hosted its annual Pro Day, where 15 Ducks worked out in front of scouts representing 31 NFL teams.
“Reflecting on the decision to come here,” guard Emmanuel Pregnon said. “I believe it was honestly one of the greatest decisions I’ve made in my life.”
The Oregon Ducks football program will put forth 18 draft-eligible players from their 2025 campaign. Of those 18 players, 13 transferred into the program. All three players who sat out represented transfers with safety Dillon Thieneman and left tackle Isaiah World coming from Purdue and Nevada in 2025, and running back Noah Whittington from Western Kentucky in 2022.
After his strong performance at the NFL combine, Thieneman did not test. Whittington and World both nursed injuries and did not participate.
Head coach Dan Lanning has brought in 67 transfers across his first five recruiting cycles at Oregon. The program has seen 115 players transfer out, but proudly boasts that they have never lost a starter to the transfer portal.
Of those 67 transfers, 12 played themselves into NFL draft picks, and this year’s class expects to add seven more to that total per Pro Football Network’s latest seven-round mock draft.
The only draft-eligible Ducks who spent their whole careers with Oregon are tight end Kenyon Sadiq, punter Ross James, and Oregon natives: long snapper Luke Basso, offensive lineman Charlie Pickard, and linebacker Bryce Boettcher.
Oregon has always been a destination for transfers, but in the portal era of college sports that we see now, Lanning and the Ducks have been one of the top teams in the transfer market every year.
Some schools bring in large transfer classes, but Oregon has prioritized quality over quantity, with the largest haul being 18 in 2023. Lanning and his staff have secured a top-25 transfer class every year they’ve spent in Eugene.
A gem of the 2025 transfer class, Pregnon was one of the biggest contributors to Oregon’s line in 2025. Pregnon is in the discussion for the best interior lineman in the draft class, and attributes his success to the community in Oregon’s personnel.
“I’m really just grateful,” Pregnon said. “I’m forever grateful for everyone that helped curate such an elite environment that allowed us so much success.”
Talent evaluation has been a strong suit for the Ducks; some players are highly touted recruits with five-star status, like World and Thieneman. In contrast, three-star transfers like defensive back Jadon Canady have been diamonds in the rough for Oregon.
“I think coming in, me and Dillon set a high bar,” said Canady when asked about the impact left by the 2025 transfer class. “Me and him are guys who came in and led by example and by voice.”
Canady entered a crowded defensive back room in 2025, where Oregon brought in four top high school defensive back recruits, including five-stars Na’eem Offord and Trey McNutt. Many questioned what his role would be as he came to Eugene as an undersized nickel with just one final year of eligibility.
He exits his brief Duck career after a season as the starting nickel with a handful of crucial plays for Oregon and earned himself a combine invite, something that would’ve surprised every Duck fan a year ago.
Thieneman’s electric combine performance thrust him into first-round discussions, where he is projected 29th by the PFN mock draft. He sets an example of how transfers view Oregon, a place to come and develop into NFL talent.
Thieneman could have gone anywhere in the country when he declared as the top safety in the 2025 portal. His choice to come to Oregon and thrive surely influenced the decision of the top 2026 transfer safety Koi Perich from Minnesota.
Perich is Oregon’s top portal acquisition this cycle, and enters his third collegiate season, an almost identical situation to Thieneman a year ago. Perich fits the mold to be another projected first-round Duck in 2027.
Eugene has become a talent factory for the NFL, and this upcoming draft should add between six to nine Pro Ducks to continue to bolster Lanning’s resume as a developer before a loaded 2027 NFL Draft, which already projects multiple Ducks to be selected high.
The NFL draft is April 23rd-25th, beginning at 5:00 pm PST on Thursday at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.