The Week in Recruiting: Arkansas makes a move, Oregon’s big visits

This week in recruiting is a collection of thoughts and things of interest from me as a recruiting expert that either didn’t rise to the level of being their own story, or for which I did not have time to make into a story this week.

Arkansas saw a big jump for its recruiting class this week with two high-profile commitments.

Hudson Henry, the little brother of former Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry committed to the Razorbacks Thursday. Henry is 6’5 230 pounds, and is a beast of a tight end out of Little Rock (Ark.) Pulaski Academy. Henry might be the best tight end in the nation, and he is considered the top player in the state of Arkansas.

This is easily the biggest recruiting win in Chad Morris’ time at Arkansas. The previous staff’s inability to bring in the few high quality prospects the state produces was a major problem. While Morris hasn’t been knocking it out of the park with this in-state class, he landed the biggest prize. And it was one he had to have.

But Henry isn’t the only star to say yes to the Razorbacks this week. On Monday, four-star defensive end Dante Walker of Ellenwood (Ga.) also said yes to the Razorbacks.

And four-star safety Jalen Catalon, of Mansfield (Texas) has also been picking up some crystal ball picks for the Razorbacks on 247Sports.

Arkansas is now 17th in the national rankings. The Razorbacks have six four-stars and 16 three-stars. That is not competitive with the big teams in the SEC West, but it’s very good by Arkansas standards.

The Oregon Ducks did a great job to land four-star linebacker Jared Casey of Louisville (KY). The credit for this recruitment can be given to Cort Dennison, the former Louisville coach who joined the staff at Oregon this year. Dennison is one of the best recruiters in the country. The decision was a close one, and a source tells me that Wisconsin really made Casey think.

The Ducks now have the No. 4 class in the nation, with 22 commitments, 14 of which are rated four-stars.

And they’re expecting a huge visitor this weekend for the Washington game in defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, of Thousand Oaks (Calif.). Thibodeaux is a five-star and arguably the top player in the nation. Most think it is a battle between Alabama and Florida State for Thibodeaux.

Defensive end Braylen Ingraham of Ft. Lauderale (Fla.) is also expected to attend. Ingram is high on Miami.

Cine is a physical tackler with great closing speed, a versatile player in the mold of a Richard LeCounte, as you can see in these highlights.

Sampson James, the 10th best running back in the entire 2019 class, will stay home and be an Indiana Hoosier — flipping from his longtime Ohio State commitment. The Avon back becomes Indiana’s highest-rated recruit ever in the modern recruiting rankings era.