After a slightly down year in the class of 2016, the Oregon Ducks appear to be positioned for a huge season on the recruiting trail in 2017.

Oregon has already offered dozens of elite prospects around the country, highlighted by 20-plus scholarships in the past three weeks, and has an atypical talent-rich home state to work with this year.

Perhaps even more important, Oregon already has its quarterback for the class of 2017, and he's the highest-rated signal-caller in the program's history.

Initially ranked as a top-five pro-style passer, Basha High School (Chandler, Arizona) quarterback Ryan Kelley was recently re-evaluated by ESPN and is now listed as the top dual-threat quarterback in the country, five spots higher than Marcus Mariota disciple Tua Tagavailoa and four spots above MaxPreps Sophomore National Player of the Year Tate Martell.

Kelley was the first (and only) quarterback in the class of 2017 to receive an offer from the Oregon Ducks this fall, committing to the Pac-12 powerhouse in mid-November.

Despite a close relationship with former Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost, Kelley re-affirmed his pledge shortly after the coach's departure for the head coaching job at Central Florida.

Much of that, according to Kelley, had to do with coach Mark Helfrich's growing involvement in the quarterback's recruitment in the weeks before Frost's departure.

"(I'm) still fully committed to Oregon," he said. "I love everything about what they're doing up there, and I've created a great relationship with Coach Helfrich."

At the time, some Oregon fans believed Kelley's commitment represented a change in philosophy, as the 6-foot-3, 178-pound signal-caller was ranked by most recruiting services as a pocket passer.

However, his numbers spoke to a dual-threat talent.

As a junior, Kelley threw for 3,070 yards and 28 touchdowns (63.2 completion percentage) with another 469 yards and four scores on the ground.

Given those numbers, and a chance to further evaluate the Arizona product, ESPN sees it a little differently these days.

Kelley, Oregon's signal-caller of the future, is rated as the best dual-threat quarterback in the country.

-- Andrew Nemec

anemec@oregonian.com

@AndrewNemec