On June 30, Des Moines (Iowa) Southeast Polk offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor announced his commitment to the hometown Iowa Hawkeyes. Oregon was in the hunt at the time of Proctor’s announcement, and it never backed off its pursuit despite the verbal pledge.

Now, the Ducks appear to be close to flipping the nation’s No. 1 offensive lineman. On3’s Justin Hopkins logged a prediction on Wednesday for Oregon to receive a commitment from Proctor.

The 6-foot-7 offensive tackle is the seventh-ranked recruit in the 2023 class and the top-ranked prospect at his position, according to 247Sports. He has prototypical size to play tackle at the highest levels of football and good athleticism — Proctor also plays basketball and shot put for his high school.

He’d be the second 5-star lineman in as many classes for coach Dan Lanning if the Ducks can close things out. Oregon made up late ground to beat out USC for 5-star 2022 offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. last cycle. Pairing him with Proctor on the edges of the line would certainly fortify the Ducks for the foreseeable future.

And Hopkins isn’t the only one who thinks Oregon is making up ground.

“Well I think he’s extremely interested in Oregon,” said 247Sports’ recruiting director Steve Wiltfong on this week’s episode of The College Football Recruiting Show.

The Ducks hosted Proctor over the last weekend on an official visit.

“Oregon did not go away on this recruitment after he announced his commitment to Iowa and the two parties have stayed in contact. And when you look at Oregon, this is a football team that’s 8-2, it’s a very exciting time with them under a first-year staff, Coach Dan Lanning and company,” Wiltfong continued. “And they want to keep the momentum rolling, and to do so, offensive line’s a pivotal position of need for the Ducks. They’re losing four starting offensive linemen at the end of this season, and Kadyn Proctor’s one of the very few plug-and-play prospects at the position in this class. So he’s an important target for Oregon down the stretch. I think he understands the opportunity he would have to come in and step right in and play immediately at Oregon if he did ultimately choose to flip and I think it’s an intriguing option for him right now.”

After the visit, Proctor told Hawkeye Insider’s Sean Bock he went to Eugene hoping “to make sure that my mind is made up” and that he will “probably make that decision in a little bit.”