Recruiting update: the Jake Fisher visit and offensive line

National Signing Day is Wednesday February 2nd.  January 30 is considered a "quiet period," and January 31-February 3rd a "dead period," in which no in-person contact with a recruit is allowed.  For a complete calendar of the various NCAA recruiting windows, click here.    Charlie Zegers of about.com also defines a dead period:

Definition: A "Dead Period," as the name implies, is a time when nearly all recruiting activity is temporarily shut down.

During a dead period, coaches cannot:
•Make in-person recruiting contacts
•Conduct in-person evaluations -- on or off-campus
•Schedule official campus visits
•Allow unofficial campus visits
•Offer complimentary tickets to games


The only permissible communications during a dead period are phone calls (limited by NCAA regulations to one call per week) and correspondence.

Rob Moseley reported on his blog that top offensive linemen Jake Fisher was in town Saturday for a recruiting visit, attending the Oregon women's basketball game with Scott Frost.  From Traverse City Michigan, Fisher originally committed to the University of Michigan but reconsidered after Rich Rodriguez was fired, anticipating coaching changes and upheaval in the program.

Scout.com  reports Fisher is a converted tight end, 6-7 273 with the frame to become an elite tackle.  He also punted and played defensive end on his high school team, an indication of his athletic ability.

Tom Markowski of The Detroit News wrote Fisher is the highest-ranked uncommitted player in the state, having taken recruiting trips to Michigan, Michigan State and Florida, with home visits from coaches at all three programs.  Chip Kelly visited the Fisher family on Friday prior to the offensive tackle's visit to Eugene.  Rivals rates Fisher the 49th-best offensive tackle in the country.  In an article by Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel  his high school coach Tim Wooer provided this evaluation: 

"As a player, he's 6-7, 270 and his best football's in front of him," said Wooer. "Once he gets on a college meal plan and gets in a weight training facility where he can really dedicate himself to the weight room, he's just going to explode. He's going to take off and go."


Duck Tracks:  If Fisher goes with the Ducks, he'll be a terrific addition to the class of strong, athletic linemen they've recruited in this cycle.  They have verbal commitments from Andre Yruretagoyena, Jamal Prater, Tyler Johnstone, and James Euschler of Aloha.  All five have the athletic frame and potential to follow Wooer's formula.

One of the criticisms of Oregon after the national championship game is that the Ducks weren't big enough or physical enough on the front lines, that Auburn dominated the game on the line of scrimmage.  Every coach wants to sign players who are 6-8 320 with 4.6 speed and a 3.7 GPA, but they aren't found in abundance.  Elite offensive linemen have to be developed in the weight room, training table and practice field.  Most need a year or two to develop to acclimate to the system and grow.

Oregon's spread requires linemen who are agile enough to block downfield and on the perimeter.  It's a difficult balance, requiring that coaches have the ability to evaluate, project and teach young players to their potential.  They can't simply plug in the next stout human tree trunk you'd find in programs like Wisconsin or Nebraska.  In Chip Kelly's system linemen have to be mobile and intelligent.   Bulk alone isn't enough.

In the last several years Steve Greatwood has done a marvelous job of coaching up his o-line, having sent Adam Snyder, Max Unger and several others to the NFL.  In this class, he's getting superb raw material, and the future of this group is tremendous.  Should Fisher choose Eugene, it becomes even brighter.  In those offensive-line-versus-defensive-line matchups of the coming years, the Ducks won't be conceding an advantage to anyone.   Not that they ever did.