Richard Young, nation’s No. 1 RB in 2023, has virtual visit with Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks hosted a significant virtual visit this week from one of the nation’s top running backs.

On Tuesday, 247Sports five-star prospect Richard Young, the nation’s No. 1 running back in the class of 2023, announced that he had a virtual visit with Oregon:

The 6-foot, 190-pound ball-carrier, out of Lehigh Senior High School (Lehigh Acres, Florida), may be young, but he is already one of the most heavily-recruited teenagers in America.

Young holds offers from more than 30 programs, including Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M, USC and Wisconsin.

And those offers aren’t based on projection, but actual results.

As a freshman, Young was a MaxPreps All-American, and followed up that performance with 900 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore.

Last week, he was one of 247Sports’ notable names from the Orlando Elite Camp.

“Richard Young did limited testing, but the drills he did do showed why 247Sports rates the Lehigh Acres running back as the No. 1 runner in the country for the class of 2023. Young would not look out of place physically in some decent college programs if he stepped on campus today.”

In other words, his combination of early production and elite projection make him as much of a “can’t miss” young running back as the nation has to offer.

Despite Oregon’s early “visit,” the battle for Young’s services is expected to be fierce.

Young is taking an unofficial visit to Ohio State from June 9-11 and is likely to be hosted by the nation’s top programs over the next couple of months (and years).

Still, the Ducks’ early work is noteworthy... and Young is a player to watch early in the class of 2023.

-- Andrew Nemec | anemec@oregonian.com | @AndrewNemec