Oregon football position breakdown: Wideouts emphasize family, connection in loaded room
Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning has emphasized four program “DNA traits” throughout his three-year tenure in Eugene, crucial to what he sees as important for a successful program:
Connection, growth, toughness and sacrifice.
Connection, especially, has been a major point of emphasis for the Ducks in interviews leading up to the season. Though Lanning expects the entire team to be connected, Oregon’s wide receivers and position coach Junior Adams have devised their own way to stay connected as a group.
Inspired by the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which means “I am because we are,” the Ducks are aiming to have the best, and most connected, receiver room in the country.
“It’s a family thing that we say,” receiver Tez Johnson said. “We carry ourselves with that every day. It’s not just a word. It’s something that we live by in that room. We hold each guy in that room to that Ubuntu standard. We’re a family.
“It’s a loaded room, but together, we’re dangerous. We’re unstoppable, no one can stop us.”
Though the Ducks saw all-time great receiver Troy Franklin drafted into the NFL last season, they return Johnson, Traeshon Holden and Gary Bryant Jr. as key cogs from last season. They also bring into the fold former five-star recruit Evan Stewart from Texas A&M and will have a healthy Jurrion Dickey – the prize of Oregon’s 2023 recruiting class and another five-star receiver – to compete for catches.
With one of his deeper rooms since he’s coached in Eugene, Adams wants the receivers in his room to make his job hard.
“They understand the deal, too,” Adams said. “It’s not just you’re going to play wide receiver; you’re going to play special teams, too. Special teams are a big thing here. If it’s what we want, they’re going to. That’s their gift to the team and they’ve bought into that.”
The Ducks also welcomed in multiple talented freshmen receivers in Jeremiah McClellan, Ryan Pellum, Dillon Gresham and Jack Ressler to pair with emerging talents like Kyler Kasper and Justius Lowe.
Johnson and others have said that none of the receivers see themselves as a true No. 1 in their room and would do anything to help Oregon win.
“We’ve got a group room of guys that are unselfish,” Bryant said. “Everybody is on the same page. We’ve got one goal and that’s a national championship. Whether a guy has 100 yards one game or zero the next game, the next guy might have two. I think the guys do a pretty good job of cheering the next guy on.”
That ultimately starts at the top with Lanning and his four program traits, which the receiver room has emphasized in their own unique way in Ubuntu – or putting “we” over “me.”
“We want to be the most connected team in the country,” Johnson said. “With us being the most connected team in the country I feel like we’ll be unstoppable. I don’t think as many teams out there want to be connected, they just want to get theirs. They want to get to the playoffs or the national championship. But you have to be connected.”
Keep an eye on
A transfer receiver from a year ago, Bryant started 12 games for the Ducks last season but had limited production compared to Franklin and Johnson, catching 30 passes for 442 yards and four touchdowns.
Though the Ducks brought in plenty of talent over the offseason, Bryant already has a year in Oregon’s system under his belt after transferring from USC and could be in for a bigger season if he can hold off younger competition on the roster.
Newcomer to watch
The top ranked receiver on the market when he hit the transfer portal, Stewart is a former five-star recruit with untapped potential joining an offense that had two 1,000-yard receivers a year ago.
Stewart totaled 91 catches, 1,163 yards and six touchdowns in 18 games over two seasons with Texas A&M before transferring to Oregon this offseason.
Number to know
2,105 – Of Oregon’s 3,496 receiving yards from wideouts last season, 2,105 yards are returning this season. That’s roughly 60% of the Ducks' total receiving yards, along with the added talents of Stewart and a strong freshman class.
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @AlecDietz.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon football wideouts emphasize family, connection in loaded room
