In his introductory news conference with Oregon media members, head football coach Willie Taggart made it abundantly clear he planned on keeping the top Oregon prep talents home for college.

"... Before we go out around the country, we are going to take care of the state of Oregon first," he said. "We're going to put a fence around here and keep our best football players in the state. We cannot let them leave. We can't. Or we will not, whatever ... we got to shackle them up and hold them all hostage here, but we're not going to let them out of here. It's 'The O.'"

Making early strides toward that aim in the 2018 recruiting class, Oregon extended a scholarship offer to Lake Oswego offensive tackle Dawson Jaramillo, a 247Sports four-star prospect who visited Eugene over the weekend.

"Saturday was great - getting to know Coach Cristobal," he said "It opened my eyes to what they are all about and their new offense. I got to go with my parents and my sister." 

For the 6-foot-5, 280-pound lineman the weekend visit was a chance for Jaramillo to get to know Cristobal, a key relationship for the Ducks going forward.

The Lake Oswego product was close to former Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, but Jaramillo said his first meeting was definitely a step in the right direction.

"Coach Cristobal talked about what he looks for in players, how he likes to coach them, what Oregon is going to run and how he implements technique into his players," Jaramillo said. "He grew on me a lot on Saturday, and I could see myself playing for him." 

Still, Jaramillo's world view has changed dramatically since he first emerged on the recruiting scene as a freshman with sky-high potential (and expectations).

Early in his prep career, the Oregon talent was strongly leaning toward staying in the Pacific Northwest to remain close to home, but his world view has expanded as his options have increased.

The in-state schools no longer have a "home-court advantage" for a player who has grown to consider his options from coast-to-coast. 

"It's definitely changed a lot from one or two offers to texts from coaches all over the country to try to figure out if it's a potential school I'd like to go to," he said. "I've been talking to people about that and I've opened my horizons. Mainly after the Virginia offer. The campus and academic offers are amazing. With the unique feel to Portland, I'm thinking about getting out of here and experiencing new things and meeting new people." 

One of those new places turned out to be USC on Monday, where Jaramillo took an unofficial visit alongside 30-or-so other elite prospects.

"It was cool," he said. "I didn't know much about what they were. It was actually rainy today, so that was funny. I got to see the campus. It was amazing - huge campus, big dorms. I got to see the facilities and meet the head coach. There were like 30 kids here, so they want me to come back for a one-on-one-type visit."

Jaramillo holds offers from Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Virginia and Washington, but is hearing from programs from all five Power 5 conferences.

Given his long-awaited opportunity, Jaramillo is all ears.

-- Andrew Nemec
anemec@oregonian.com
@AndrewNemec  

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