Oregon’s transfer departures are already finding better fits - and in some cases, a real path to playing time.
Makhi Hughes is the clearest example. He came to Eugene with plenty of buzz after a monster two-year run at Tulane, where he piled up 1,378 yards on 258 carries as a freshman and then followed with 1,401 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore.
That production pushed his career total to 22 rushing scores. But at Oregon, Hughes ran into Jordon Davison, who finished with 667 yards and a team-high 15 touchdowns, and Hughes managed just 70 rushing yards in six games.
Now he’s at Houston, where he’s a Preseason All-Big 12 honoree and on the Doak Walker Award watch list.
Hughes is one of 30 Oregon players who entered the portal after the 2025 season, a number that says plenty about the kind of roster Dan Lanning has built. Oregon lost 30 players and brought in 15.
Of the outgoing group, 27 were three-stars and three were four-star recruits. On the flip side, Lanning added 10 three-stars and five four-stars, choosing to strengthen specific spots rather than simply chase replacements.
That approach showed up in the names Oregon brought in, including quarterback Dylan Raiola from Nebraska, safety Koi Perich from Minnesota and cornerback Aaron Scott Jr. from Ohio State. It also explains why so many Ducks left for places where the depth chart looked a lot more open.
Quarterbacks Bryson Beaver, Luke Moga and Austin Novosad all moved on. Beaver landed at Georgia after Oregon added Raiola and still had Dante Moore in place.
Moore remains the starter and enters the season with Heisman Trophy aspirations, while Raiola arrived from Nebraska days before Moore announced his return. That left Beaver, 247Sports’ No. 12 quarterback and No. 174 overall prospect in the class of 2026, as the odd man out after Georgia lost five-star quarterback Jared Curtis to Vanderbilt.
Moga went to New Mexico and is battling for the Week 1 start against Central Michigan. Novosad chose Bowling Green over following Oregon offensive coordinator and current Kentucky head coach Will Stein, and even there he was beaten out for the job by Jay Kastantin, who threw for 3,658 career yards and 28 touchdowns at Assumption College.
The running back room was crowded too. Jay Harris transferred to Kansas State, Hughes went to Houston and Jayden Limar headed to Washington.
Limar’s role shrank from 14 games played in 2024 to eight in 2025, but he still put up career highs with 46 carries, 262 yards and three touchdowns. He now arrives in Seattle as the most experienced player in a depleted Huskies backfield.
There were plenty of exits at receiver as well. Darrian Anderson is at Fresno State, Kyler Kasper at BYU, Justius Lowe at San Diego State and Cooper Perry at California.
Kasper’s move stands out because of the injuries that kept him from getting on the field consistently in Eugene. Chronic foot issues limited him to no more than four games in three of his four seasons.
Now the 6-6 redshirt senior gets a fresh start at BYU, where he could be the No. 1 option. “I haven’t been able to play football how I wanted to in four years,” Kasper said.
“Now it’s that time to go play football and show the world what I can do.”
On defense, Oregon’s front was hit hard. Tionne Gray, Terrance Green, Ashton Porter and Xadavien Sims all moved on, and Jericho Johnson became one of four former Ducks who transferred to California.
Gray had 18 tackles and two tackles for loss in 2025, but the return of A’Mauri Washington and Bear Alexander made his path in Eugene narrow. At Notre Dame, the 6-5, 320-pound redshirt sophomore has a chance to start.
The secondary also saw major movement. Jahlil Florence transferred to Missouri after recording 35 tackles, two interceptions and a sack across his first two seasons at Oregon.
A torn meniscus wiped out all of 2024 and limited him to two games in 2025, but with two years of eligibility left, he can help a Missouri defense that lost its three top cornerbacks. Dakoda Fields joined Oklahoma, while Daylen Austin went to Arizona, Solomon Davis and Kingston Lopa to San Diego State and California respectively, and Sione Laulea followed Florence to Missouri.
The edge group wasn’t spared either, with Tobi Haastrup heading to West Virginia and Blake Purchase to Ole Miss.
For Oregon, this is the flip side of being loaded. For the players leaving, it’s a chance to finally get on the field somewhere else - and in several cases, to do it at Power Four schools.
Time will tell whether Hughes, Florence, Kasper and the rest cash in on those opportunities, but the openings are there now. Lanning’s roster was simply too deep to keep everyone happy.
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Finney also made clear that the message is not coming from one place alone. He credited the leadership around the program, along with the support from coaches and teammates, as part of what keeps the group aligned heading into the next season. For a defense trying to define itself early in the cycle, that matters, because the Ducks are not just talking about talent or potential. They are trying to build the habits that make those things mean something when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]