Oregon football recruiting: scouting take on defensive tackle Gary Baker

After another great season (yes, it was still great despite losing to Ohio State), Oregon tried to swing for the fences with their front seven recruiting this year. They hit a homerun with Canton Kaumatule and got a few singles and doubles with some other recruits, but ultimately it looks like they are probably going to strike out with players like Rasheem Green and John Houston.

Thankfully, the Ducks aren't going to whiff completely and aren't going to be left high dry without Green or Houston. They just added Gary Baker to their defensive line class yesterday.

What kind of player are the Ducks getting in Baker?

Gary Baker - 3 star defensive tackle

Baker has good size and is big enough to compete at the college level right now. He doesn't really have the kind of length Oregon likes in their defensive ends so he's likely going to be a nose tackle for them.

He flashes the ability to be stout at the point of attack and does a great job of using leverage to shed blockers and pursue the football. He shows some violent hands at times with his punch and they way he disengages. One issue for Baker though is that he gets caught up in peaking for the football and will sometimes stop his feet on contact. That leads to him getting pushed back even though he has shown he is more than capable of holding his ground. It's a bad habit and one that he needs to break in order to effectively take on double teams at the next level.

He shows good quickness and moves well for his size. He also displays great effort in pursuit. He doesn't have the most explosive first step so he's not going to blow by offensive lineman as an interior rusher. He does show some potential there and, like most players his age, will need to work on his hands and get better with his pass rush moves.

Baker has the tools to develop into a run-stuffing interior player and is a nice addition to the class to go along with defensive tackle Rex Manu.