Jonas William’s recruiting drama has reached an unprecedented height. He keeps on leaving crumbs for us to decipher before taking his final stand. Lincoln-Way East four-star quarterback in the class of 2026 has been committed to the Ducks since August last year, but he didn’t stop exploring the best out there. The No. 7 quarterback garnered a lot of eyeballs from fellow programs like USC, Ole Miss, LSU, BYU, North Carolina, and so on and so forth. Lincoln Riley and Co. already hosted him on their massive junior day Saturday.

Now, adding more woes to Lanning’s arrayed roster, another program sneaked through the window and successfully threw itself into the quality suitors’ list.

SEC program seems to bypass USC and Oregon in the major recruiting battle over Jonas Williams 

The Trojans possess the most important key in Jonas Williams’ current recruitment drama. They are undoubtedly giving Dan Lanning and the entire Oregon camp a lot of reasons to worry about their coveted four-star. Aside from boasting academic greatness, athletic dominance, and a host of privileges, the Trojans demonstrated their incredible hospitality to the targeted QB sensation and his family, and, quite expectedly, it worked.

“Obviously, they brought out the red carpet for me and my family; it was a great experience, a lot to take in,” said the Oregon commit following his visit to California. But guess what? The high-octane athletes’ recruitment mindset is far more unpredictable and volatile than fierce hurricane courses. Now, here comes another school in the picture.

”I really like (LSU offensive coordinator) Joe Sloan,” said Jonas Williams to On3. “I like the quarterback room right now. I like where they’re headed, too.”. LSU currently has five players committed to its 2026 recruiting class, which is ranked No. 12 in the nation. While it’s too early to give a school an edge over another, Brian Kelly is clearly gaining strong momentum alongside the other schools already in the picture.

Just a few months back, Will Stein, Oregon’s offensive coordinator, did a lofty job in convincing Williams to ignore a handful of programs and choose the Ducks for an early commitment. It came as a perfect alignment with Oregon’s usual upper hand over the talents in the portal. Now, you can call it a Nike or a Phil Knight’s byproduct, but Coach Lanning has also been instrumental in the high-flying recruitment mojo.

But with USC and LSU in the room, it seems Lanning and co. have already lost a hold on their projected top pick. If Oregon was really forced to take a backseat, then who is the Messiah right now? Well, it’s too obvious a question to be answered. The question would rather be why USC is still leading the list of William’s suitors schools.

USC and Lincoln Riley wooed Williams with one massive quality

Riley faced a nasty mass exodus as more than 19 players hit the portal on the trail of the season, triggering a lot of room to fill in the Trojans’ depth chart. But Riley isn’t giving up. He is on the cusp of swooping in on one of the highly sought-after QBs, toppling all the competitors on his way. He hosted Williams on this junior day, but that was not it. Even before he secured a visit, Riley went to see the targeted QB in Illinois last week and had some fruitful conversations.

Now, do you wonder what the tea is? What did they discuss at all? Well, it’s a verbal green light from Willam’s family to Riley. Thanks to the program’s equal attention to studies and sports.

From the snippets of his conversation with his dad, John Williams, ON3’s Steve Wiltfong spilled out the key reason behind Williams’ USV inclination—“Obviously academics is a big deal in this process for Jonas Williams and USC, what they offer off the field academically, the resources that you have in a place like LA.” USC’s top-tier academic record flabbergasted the QB’s family, who were looking for exactly similar prospects in a school they would decide to lock in for their son.

USC boasts 47,000 total students for the 2024-25 academic year, winning over 80,000 new applications. So, the buzz is not a fluke. It will be interesting to see if LSU can win over USC’s academic lure and take the four-star prospect in.