The Oregon Ducks football team has more quarterbacks in the system than experienced wide receivers at this moment of spring practice. After losing players like Chase Cota and Dont’e Thornton, Oregon only returns Troy Franklin and Kris Hutson as proven difference makers.
They also brought in Traeshon Holden and Tez Johnson through the transfer portal, and have a couple of young and talented players like Kyler Kasper and Ashton Cozart, but when it comes to established players, the Ducks are a bit thin at WR.
Those kinds of numbers would be worrisome for most coaches. Apparently, Ducks coach Dan Lanning isn’t among those concerned.
“I don’t think that’s as big of a piece for us. There were times we were operating with less last year,” he said. “So it’s more about quality than it is necessarily quantity. We have good ones there and we have more coming in as well this summer, so it’ll be different once we get to the (regular) season.”
If it’s quality in receivers you’re looking for, Eugene is definitely the place to be. With Franklin, Hutson, and incoming transfers Johnson and Holden, most teams would be happy to have that those three at the top of the depth chart.
Franklin burst onto the scene last year as a sophomore with career highs in receptions (61), yards (891), and touchdowns (9). He was also a second-team All-Conference performer and was a go-to guy for quarterback Bo Nix. That shouldn’t change in 2023.
Hutson also had a nice sophomore season with 44 catches for 472 yards. Although he didn’t find the end zone in 2022, he came up with for than a few catches that resulted in important first downs that kept scoring drives alive.
Although Johnson is new to the program, he has a lot of experience coming from Troy. The junior already has 36 games under his belt and has caught 141 passes for 8 touchdowns.
Holden had quite the adventurous off-season with a dustup with the law, was dismissed from the team, had the charges dropped and he’s a Duck once again. Hopefully, with that behind him, Holden should be a nice piece to the offensive puzzle for the Ducks. In his 26-game career at Alabama, Holden has 46 catches, 570 yards, and seven touchdowns with six of those scores coming last season.
Those reinforcements Lanning was referring to would be those incoming freshmen that will arrive over the summer, such as 6-foot-3 Jurrion Dickey who many consider one of the top recruits in the country. Dickey finished his prep career with 140 receptions, 2,537 receiving yards and 42 total touchdowns and has the talent to make an immediate impact in 2023.
Other than receivers, Oregon has plenty of tight ends and running backs capable of catching passes out of the backfield.
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