Oregon defensive lineman Sir Mells has entered the transfer portal.

The redshirt freshman announced his departure from the program on Thursday. It was a move that was widely speculated after Mells was reportedly absent from practice in recent days and not on the rosters announced for Saturday’s spring game. A 2022 signee, Mells appeared in one game for the Ducks last season.

He’ll have all four years of eligibility remaining at his next stop.

“There is a saying, ‘When one door closes another one opens,’ and I’m a firm believer in that. My time in Eugene has been great memories and love,” Mells wrote in a post on Twitter.

Mells is the fifth 2022 signee to leave the Ducks so far, joining Anthony Jones, Jalil Tucker, Harrison Taggart, and Trejon Williams. That group, like the 2021 crop before it, is becoming a situation to keep an eye on. The Ducks have lost 17 members of the 23-man 2021 signing class and now five members of the 17-man 2022 signing class.

Even in a period of coaching transition, that kind of attrition can cause problems. Of course, those issues are somewhat mitigated by the explosion of the transfer portal, but there’s no doubt coach Dan Lanning hopes to get more out of his high school recruiting classes going forward.