Dan Lanning, Oregon wins biggest recruiting battle yet signing five-star DB Peyton Bowen

Dan Lanning is gaining some serious real estate in the Lone Star State.

Five-star Denton (Texas) Guyer DB Peyton Bowen inked his paperwork with Oregon on Wednesday despite being among Marcus Freeman’s first commitments nearly one year ago on New Year’s Day in 2022. Even after pledging to the Irish, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and eventually Oregon jumped into the mix with the Consensus‘ No. 13 player.

That bond with Freeman was tested over the course of the last eight or so months and certainly in the days leading into Wednesday’s Signing Day. At this time a week ago, sources familiar with the elite safety’s recruitment believed Notre Dame was in a strong spot to sign Bowen. By Thursday morning, there was serious buzz about Oregon as well as Oklahoma, which began trending on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine soon after.

This morning, this was down to two — Oregon and the Irish.

The nation’s No. 2 safety now figures prominently into the Ducks’ future defensive blueprint.

“They’re really on me,” Bowen previously told On3 on Oregon.

“Since the new staff got there, they never stopped. They’re constantly texting me. Coach (Matt) Powledge came down last week and it means a lot. Since (Tosh) Lupoi and Lanning got there, Oregon has been recruiting me since then.”

The Ducks had to overcome not only Notre Dame, but a very motivated Oklahoma program. Both teams with roots with Bowen had the five-star safety on the top of their board. As Lanning and his Oregon staff has shown their capable of — they dipped right back into Texas and pulled one of the nation’s best.

Bowen is the headliner of a group that also features On300 blue-chippers like Tyler Turner, Johnny Bowens, Ashton Cozart and Terrance Green. This represents Lanning’s most significant victory on the recruiting trail yet — against two other coaches hired in the same cycle.

Over the past three years, Bowen has been a difference-maker patrolling the back end of Guyer’s secondary with fantastic instants and closing speed. He’s a Swiss Army Knife that’s thrived playing back deep back and multiple positions in the secondary. During Guyer’s title run as a junior, Bowen provided a massive big-play spark out of the backfield.

The five-star is also squarely in the conversation as the nation’s most dangerous return specialist after returning eight kickoff and punt returns over the past two years. He should have an opportunity to thrive under the tutelage of an experienced defensive mind like Lanning, who gets a game-breaker ready to be plugged in on the back end of his defense.