Over the past decade, there have been countless blue-chip recruits commit and play for the Oregon Ducks. Under head coach Dan Lanning, the Ducks are routinely in the top 10 of recruiting classes, adding uber talented players at all positions on the roster.
But arguably the most important defender for the Ducks during the 2025 season was not one that added to Oregon’s recruiting ranking, nor was he even listed at his current linebacker position.
Instead, Bryce Boettcher was listed on 247Sports as a dual-threat quarterback and the 24th-best prospect in the state of Oregon coming out of South Eugene High School. He was a standout baseball player for the Axemen as well, though he didn’t earn a scholarship offer to play baseball either.
Boettcher enrolled at the University of Oregon in 2020, with plans of walking onto the baseball team. Playing football was an afterthought — walking onto one Division-I sport is hard enough, but two? Forget about it.
Except, Boettcher didn’t led the odds hold him back. He played baseball for his first two years at Oregon before walking on to the football team in 2022 as a redshirt sophomore. He made just two tackles, but his collegiate football career was about to surge real quick.
Four years later, Boettcher compiled 269 total tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions at linebacker for the Ducks — and earned the nod as Oregon’s biggest recruiting find over the last decade, according to The Athletic.
“The former walk-on and standout baseball player from Eugene won the Burlsworth Trophy in 2024 and was a first-team All-American in 2025,” The Athletic’s Manny Navarro wrote. “He was drafted in the fourth round by the Colts last month.”
During his Ducks tenure, Boettcher has been in the linebacker room with over a dozen blue-chip recruits. Yet he has not only been Oregon’s most surprising and biggest recruiting win during that time, but arguably their best linebacker, leading to a pro career after walking on to the Ducks football team four years ago.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: LB Bryce Boettcher named Oregon’s biggest recruiting find