Scott Frost.JPG

Who will Scott Frost recruit as the potential successor to Marcus Mariota?

(Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian)

EUGENE -- After being the runner-up to Texas A&M in the Kyler Murray sweepstakes, Oregon continues to search for its first quarterback commitment of the 2015 signing class.



Murray, rated by the major recruiting services as one of the nation's top dual-threat quarterbacks out of Allen, Texas, verbally committed Wednesday to the Aggies, which is the school where his father, Kevin, starred as a Southwest Conference title-winning quarterback in the 1980s. His decision comes nearly four weeks after four-star 2015 QB Brady White verbally committed to Arizona State. Oregon and Cal were other finalists to land White's commitment.



On March 8 Oregon offered a third quarterback, Blake Barnett, a scholarship, but he reportedly is considered a longshot to budge from his November commitment to Notre Dame.



Second-year offensive coordinator Scott Frost, who has led Oregon's respective quarterback recruitments, said in April that quarterback, receiver and offensive line are the Ducks' top priorities in its 2015 class. The importance of gaining a quarterback comes from the looming possibility that this fall could be junior QB Marcus Mariota's final season at Oregon should he choose to forgo his senior year and enter the 2015 NFL draft. He is already projected as a likely top-five pick.



Who will Oregon turn to next? A.J. Jacobson, publisher of Duck Sports Authority of the Rivals network, makes Travis Waller, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound, four-star dual-threat QB, the odds-on favorite.



Waller plays for Anaheim, Calif., power Servite High and carries scholarship offers from Alabama, among others, but Oregon has waited to extend a scholarship as it waited to know Murray's choice. As a junior, Waller threw for 1,669 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for 1,293 yards with 13 touchdowns.



"I think (UO coaches) know if they offer him they have a very high probability of getting a commitment," Jacobson said. "I know they love Deondre Francois from Florida and they have another offer out to other guys like Kai Locksley of Baltimore. Given they just have to have one my take is they need to go to Waller right away. They were just down there last week seeing him play.



"Waller really merits a Duck offer, he plays for Servite so he knows top-level competition and in our rankings we have Murray as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and Waller isn't far removed, he's No. 5."

Adam Gorney of Rivals also predicted Waller as a potential fit for Oregon, as well, on Wednesday.

Both the 6-1, 190-pound Francois and the 6-4, 185-pound Locksley are assigned four stars by Rivals, ESPN, 247Sports and Scout.



The NCAA's spring evaluation period ends May 31 and a "quiet period" lasts from June 1 to July 31 in which coaches cannot watch an athlete compete but can speak with them in person if that player happens to be on the university's campus taking an "unofficial" visit. Coaches may also call recruits.

Here are highlight tapes for Waller, Locksley and Francois.





-- Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif