DJ Uiagalelei is following Will Levis blueprint at Oregon State

Former five-star recruit DJ Uiagalelei is getting a change of scenery after a disappointing three-year run at Clemson. The Southern California native is planning to follow a blueprint that played out in Lexington over the last two seasons.

Uiagalelei is now enrolled at Oregon State and is the favorite to open the season at QB1 for head coach Jonathan Smith. The Beavers won 10 games last season ending the year with a thrashing of Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl. Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren utilize a pro-style offense that leans run-heavy and will require Uiagalelei to play from under center.

The former blue-chip recruit was looking for a different approach as opposed to Clemson’s RPO spread offense when he entered the transfer portal.

“I wanted to be able to do play-action, throw a lot of deep balls, deep posts, scheme-wise, a little bit more complex than I was doing at Clemson, a little more NFL-style,” Uiagalelei told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. “I looked at Will Levis. A lot of people have him going first round, because he’s a good player, but also because he played in a pro-style system.”

Levis spent two seasons at Kentucky after playing three seasons in an RPO-heavy offense at Penn State. The former three-star recruit got pro-style experience in Lexington playing for Liam Coen and Rich Scangarello who each came to the SEC directly from the NFC West. Uiagalelei is hoping that a similar scheme change will lead to a nice career reset and ultimately the NFL Draft.

Due to Scangarello’s connection to the QB Collective, there was a previous working relationship with Uiagalelei out in California. At one time, Kentucky was seen as a possible landing spot if the high-profile quarterback left Clemson. That changed when Mark Stoops decided to move on from the former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator after just one season.

DJ Uiagalelei is now following a path that Kentucky helped establish. A quarterback with a high-level traits is entering a pro-style offense that can show off some of those traits in an offense that easily translates to the NFL game. Levis might become the No. 2 overall pick in the draft next week. We’ll see f Uiagalelei can follow a similar track as he switches schemes at a new program.