The Oregon Ducks landed the No. 1 player in the 2025 transfer portal, offensive tackle Isaiah World. World will be tasked to help fill the gap on the Ducks offensive line left by offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius.
Cornerly Jr. and Cornelius announced earlier this offseason that they would both be entering the 2025 NFL Draft.
Isaiah World was not only the most coveted offensive lineman in the transfer portal, he was also the highest rated transfer regardless of position. World and edge rusher Damon Wilson II were the only five-star rated transfers in the 2025 portal per 247Sports. World is listed at 6-8, 309 pounds.
World signed with the Nevada Wolfpack in 2021 and played 36 games with them from 2022-2024. When he signed with Nevada out of high school, World was just rated as just a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 167 offensive tackle in his class. Flash forward to now and he’s considered one of the elite players in the nation.
It may take some time to build chemistry on a revamped offensive line, as Coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks saw this first hand this past season. In Oregon's first two games in 2024, they allowed more sacks than they did the whole 2023 season. It looked like that would be an ongoing issue, but as the season progressed, they buttoned up and protected quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Unfortunately for the Ducks, a lasting memory will be in their last game in the Rose Bowl, where they allowed eight sacks vs. a vicious Ohio State defense.
In addition to Isaiah World, the Ducks had two other big additions to the offensive line in the transfer portal. The Ducks signed former USC Trojans and Wyoming Cowboys offensive tackle Emmanuel Pregnon and former Texas State Bobcats offensive tackle Alex Harkey. Pregnon and Harkey are both rated as four-star transfers and have experience under their belt.
The primary running back they will be paving the way for will be Tulane transfer running back Makhi Hughes. Hughes spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Tulane and totaled 2,779 yards on the ground and 22 rushing touchdowns.
Hughes will be taking over as the lead back for running back Jordan James. James announced last month that he would be entering the 2025 NFL Draft. James rushed for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024.
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