Oregon pulls 4-star LB Darrian Franklin out of Downey, California
Written by Ryan Wright
Many offseason Pac-12 recruiting battle has been waged in the target rich recruiting soils of Southern California. One particular battle ended with the Oregon Ducks coming out on top over the weekend snatching prized linebacker Darrian Franklin out of the backyards of UCLA and USC.
Downey High School outside linebacker Darrian Franklin shocked many bucking high expectations that he would stay in California committing to USC at some point in the recruiting process despite the fact that the Ducks have made sure everyone knew how high a priority the 6’1”, 210 pound, recruit was to their 2016 class.
Franklin was a two-way star for the Vikings in 2014 pulling down 15 passes for 243 yards but made his mark on defense coming up with 88 total tackles including 8 sacks and 1 interception.
Downey turned in a 10-4 season in 2014 with a stacked team that included senior 1,000 yard rusher Justin Huff and defensive standouts Chris Blanton (118 tackles) along with Manny Ramirez (100 tackles) but the Vikings are absolutely loaded heading into the 2015 season with 1,800 yard rusher Daevon Vigilant returning along with speedster and Washington State commit Jalen Thompson and junior quarterback Trevor Hill.
Beyond USC and UCLA, Franklin picked the Ducks over offers from Miami, Arizona State, Michigan, Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, Pitt, San Diego State, UNLV, Boise State, and Washington among others.
The Ducks now have 10 verbal commitments to their 2016 recruiting class with half the class hailing from California high schools.
2016 Oregon Ducks Verbal Commitment List
CB Troy Warner, 6’0”, 185 lbs, Mission Hills HS, San Marcos, California
SS Brady Breeze, 6’0”, 185 lbs, Central Catholic HS, Portland, Oregon
LB Darrian Franklin, 6’1”, 210 lbs, Downey HS, Downey, California
DE Hunter Kampmoyer, 6’4”, 240 lbs, Bishop HS, Bishop, California
OG Jacob Capra, 6’5”, 265 lbs, Placer HS, Auburn, California
TE Cameron McCormick, 6’5”, 230 lbs, Summit HS, Bend, Oregon
RB Vavae Malepeai, 6’0”, 195 lbs, Mililani HS, Mililani, Hawaii
WR Theo Howard, 6’0”, 170 lbs, Westlake HS, Thousand Oaks, California
WR Dillon Mitchell, 6’0”, 191 lbs, White Station HS, Memphis, TN
QB Seth Green, 6’4”, 216 lbs, Allen HS, Allen, Texas
Photo credit: scout.com; Darrian Franklin participates at a camp.