Tag: Junior Adams

Traeshon Holden relishing opportunity to step up as Oregon Ducks’ WR1

Oregon needs a new WR1 after Troy Franklin’s departure. Traeshon Holden is throwing his hat in the ring.

A year ago, the Oregon Ducks saw one of the best years in school history when it came to production from the wide receiver position. Numerous records fell throughout the year, and it now leaves the two most responsible parties — Bo Nix and Troy Franklin — with positive outlooks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

With those departures comes a production void, where Dan Lanning and the Ducks now have to find which players are going to step up and provide the success that has become the standard in Eugene.

Traeshon Holden would like to throw his name in the ring as a top candidate.

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“With Troy being gone, it’s just the next person. I feel like I’m the next person,” Holden said on Saturday after practice. “So I just got to show everybody what I can do.”

During his first season at Oregon after transferring from Alabama, Holden was a solid option in the passing game, hauling in 37 catches for 452 yards and six touchdowns. Holden really came on late in the season, combining for six catches, 132 yards and two touchdowns in the Pac-12 title game and the Fiesta Bowl.

Going into his second year with the Ducks, Holden feels much more comfortable and confident in the system, and it’s allowed him to take a step forward in his development on the field.

“It’s just route details,” wide receiver coach Junior Adams said of Holden. “He’s worked on that a lot this offseason, even over spring break. He’s worked on it. He’s playing good ball. He’s catching a lot of balls with his hands now and not body-catching it. He’s coming out with a good attitude every day.”

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After watching Franklin have a career year in Oregon’s offense, and now be projected as a first or second-round pick in the NFL draft, there is an added sense of motivation for pass-catchers on Oregon’s roster. Holden said on Saturday that he obviously aspires to be in a similar spot that Franklin is in a year from now, but in the meantime, he’s just focusing on controlling what he can and improving each day.

“My personal goal is just to continue to be the best I can be and obviously show the whole world what I know I can do,” Holden said. “Each week, each day, just coming out going to work like this. My goal is just to show the world who I am.”

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Kyler Kasper making ‘big strides,’ per Oregon WR coach Junior Adams

Kyler Kasper is ready for a breakout season after developing in the Ducks’ system for two years.

In Dan Lanning’s time at Oregon, the Oregon Ducks have quickly become a hot spot for wide receiver talent. Troy Franklin has been the most notable of those wideouts, but other WRs — like Tez Johnson, Traeshon Holden, and Evan Stewart — have brought a lot of skill to the position group.

Another talented WR on the Ducks roster is Kyler Kasper. Headed into his third season as a Duck, Kasper hasn’t seen the field much in his first two years, but his stock could be on the rise. After the Ducks’ fifth spring practice on Saturday, Holden and WRs coach Junior Adams had praise for the junior WR’s growth.

“I’m glad you asked about that because Kyler’s made big strides this offseason,” Adams said. “Where you see that he’s grown is in two areas for me. One has been just the playbook, right? And understanding what we’re doing and where we’re going.”

“And two, you can see the weight room is paying off. You can see his strength; he’s run a little bit better, he’s run a little bit stronger, a little bit more grounded on the catch, stronger at the point of contact in the run game. And he’s taken the next step as far as what he’s doing in the classroom or what he’s doing when we’re not on the field and outside of this building.”

Kasper redshirted after his first year at Oregon, and in 2023, he played in 12 games, registering 117 offensive snaps but only recording two receptions — although he nearly had a spectacular TD against Portland State. As a recruit, Kasper was a 4-star player and the 29th-best WR in his class according to 247 Sports.

What jumps out first with Kasper is his size at 6 feet, 6 inches, which allows to him bring down almost any jump ball. He also brings decent speed for his size. If the mental aspects of his game have taken strides as Adams suggested, Kasper could be a scary player.

Like Adams, Holden highlighted the mental side of Kasper’s game as one of his biggest improvements.

“Kyler’s growing mentally for sure,” Holden said. “That was probably just the biggest thing for him last year. But like now, you just see in the meeting rooms. like before, Kyler would shut down if somebody would say something to him, but now it’s like he’s more eager to listen. So you can definitely see him growing.”

Oregon’s 2024 receiver room already feels infinitely deep, and there won’t be enough room on the field to showcase the abundance of talent at the position. But, if Kasper keeps taking steps forward, his name might start getting thrown into the mix, and we could see him take on an elevated role in the offense.

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Troy Franklin’s success acts as motivating factor for Ducks’ WR room

Oregon’s current generation of young receivers have a good legacy to look up to in Troy Franklin.

Troy Franklin was arguably the best wide receiver to ever play for the Oregon Ducks. For the current receivers on the roster, those who watched Franklin work up close and personal, the next step is trying to follow in his footsteps and continue his legacy.

The Ducks don’t have a long history of receivers getting selected early in the NFL draft, but that is something that Franklin will likey change this year, with some mocks projecting that he will be selected in the first or second rounds later this month. Being able to see that ultimate success bear out for someone who put in the work in Eugene is what wide receiver coach Junior Adams says is one of the biggest motivating factors for his current WR group.

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“A lot of those guys have been in the room with him and they saw him, they see now that the process works,” Adams said on Saturday. “They’ve seen someone in the same seat that they sit in that lived it on a day-to-day basis here in this organization and now have the opportunity that he has. Obviously, that’s going to be a really good example for those guys in the room.”

Besides Traeshon Holden, Tez Johnson, and Gary Bryant, the Oregon receiving corps is a fairly young group, but the talent is oozing out everywhere. The young Ducks saw what talent coupled with work ethic can do to opponents and set up a nice professional career, something Franklin is preparing for currently.

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Just a year into his college career, Oregon teammates say WR Jurrion Dickey’s ‘got it’

“He’s got it, for sure,” Holden said. “Jurrion’s gonna keep getting better.”

If we’re going to look at things from an objective standpoint, it’s fair to say that fans of the Oregon Ducks have been a bit impatient.

When former 5-star receiver Jurrion Dickey landed in Eugene ahead of the 2023 season, fans expected him to have an instant impact, and find a role in the offense right away. Dickey was the highest-rated WR to sign with the Ducks since Cameron Colvin and was rated as the 18th-best player in his recruiting class. It’s understandable why crazed Oregon fanatics were hoping to see him pop.

On Saturday, though, wide receiver coach Junior Adams provided some much-needed realism.

“He still hasn’t been here a year yet. Sometimes we forget about that.”

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It’s often easy to look past the fact that Dickey has been on campus and with the Ducks for a matter of eight months. It’s easier to ignore that fact when you talk to some of Jurrion’s teammates who are able to watch what he does each and every day at practice.

More than the physical growth and his production on the field, what has allowed the redshirt freshman to take a leap this offseason has been his mental growth. No longer is he focused solely on learning the ins and outs of the playbook, and taking an extra beat to get lined up. Now he’s in a position where he’s helping teach the young guys on the roster.

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“Even though he’s a young guy, he’s teaching the freshmen that just came in, which is really big on his part,” Tez Johnson said. “When we first got here, we tried to get Jurrion to know the playbook fast. We tried to force it on him. And it was kind of hectic for him at first, but he knew we was trying to help him. So now that he’s teaching the little guys, us older guys see that and really, really admire what he’s doing.”

Adams says that it’s his maturity that’s been the biggest factor in Dickey’s growth off of the field, and his commitment to his craft.

“He’s gotten this far because he’s putting in the work,” Adams said. “He’s understanding the day-to-day, what time he comes into the building every day. When practice is over he’s getting straight to the film. He’s taking good notes in meetings.”

All of that has resulted in a supremely talented player who is starting to come into his own. While a knee injury held him out for the majority of his freshman season, Dickey now enters his second year in Eugene with hopes of finding a role in what Traeshon Holden calls the best receiver room in the nation. It’s not hard to see a world where he’s eventually leading that room.

“He’s got it, for sure,” Holden said. “Jurrion’s gonna keep getting better.”

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Carlos Locklyn, Junior Adams headline list of Ducks ‘Coach of the Year’ finalists

Several Oregon Duck coaches have been nominated as finalists for coach of the year awards at their respective positions.

Award season hasn’t ended just yet, and the awards left on the board are some of the most valuable, decided on by the coaches in the sport.

For the 16th season, FootballScoop announced its coach of the year finalists, which fellow coaches vote on. The candidates must be nominated by a fellow coach to be eligible for the award, and each category’s winner is selected by prior winners of that category.

It should come as no surprise that the Oregon Ducks are well-represented on this list. After a year where the offense was as good as any in the nation, the Ducks’ made a deep run with a Heisman candidate leading the way at QB.

As a result, numerous coaches and coordinators have been named as finalists at their respective posts. Here’s the full list of Oregon nominees:

  • Will Stein — Offensive Coordinator
  • Carlos Locklyn — Running Backs Coach
  • Junior Adams — Wide Receivers Coach
  • A’lique Terry — Offensive Lines Coach

The winners of the awards will be announced in the coming days.

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‘It’s what he does when no one is around;’ Bo Nix continues to impress as a leader of Ducks

The young and talented Ducks receivers are benefitting from a great leader on and off the field in quarterback Bo Nix.

Some coaches have compared the games on Saturdays during the fall to a test, and the week of practice leading up to it is study time. Most wins or losses can be attributed to what kind of practice occurred the week before.

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix has taken that concept to heart, and so far, he’s been passing with flying colors. A large part of his preparation for Saturday success is building chemistry with his receivers Monday through Friday.

According to the Ducks co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Junior Adams, Nix’s leadership has made the receivers, both veterans and underclassmen, even better than they already were.

“I think Bo is doing a really good job of taking the leadership role and putting an arm around the wideouts when things don’t go the way we want them to go,” Adams said on Tuesday. “He’s doing a good job of getting us into the right play call.”

One thing that makes Nix stand apart from a majority of college quarterbacks is his ability to be flexible at the line of scrimmage. Former offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham allowed Nix the autonomy to check in and out of play calls last season, and that’s expected to continue under Will Stein this season.

However, the biggest form of leadership that Nix has shown during his time at Oregon is his ability to lift other players up, and make sure that everyone is bought in on the common goal.

“It’s what he does when no one else is around, and how he corrals the guys who sit with him and watch film,” Adams said.

And when there are no receivers around, Nix will peek into coaches’ meetings and take mental notes that he can use later.

“He’ll be in the offensive staff meeting and hear what the coaches are talking about,” Adams said.

Oregon is building quite the WR room with the likes of returners Troy Franklin and Kris Hutson, along with incoming transfers Traeshon Holden and Tez Johnson. But the talent doesn’t stop there as redshirt freshmen Kyler Kasper and Justius Lowe look to gain experience and absorb all they can for the future of Oregon football, while true freshman Ashton Cozart and, eventually, Jurrion Dickey work to get acclimated as well.

Luckily they all have a great quarterback throwing them the football on the field and a teacher who has bought into their growth off of the field.

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Kyler Kasper is seeing early breakout with Ducks after valuable learning opportunity

Kyler Kasper enrolled a year early and jumped into the deep end with the Ducks. He’s starting to see that bold move pay off.

Kyler Kasper might have felt like a fish out of water during the 2022 season.

Originally a member of the 2023 recruiting class, Kasper verbally committed to the Oregon Ducks as a high school junior on Easter Sunday in 2022 and made the bold decision to enroll at the U of O a year early, passing on his senior year of high school football.

He didn’t mind skipping his final opportunity to play a big role under the Friday night lights. He wanted to get a jump-start on his career at the next level.

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As a freshman in the 2022 season, Kasper was by far one of the youngest players on the Ducks. While he possessed incredible talent, he was still raw and needed a lot of molding. Playing time was sparse, but there were lessons learned every day.

Now, as a redshirt freshman who has been joined by others from his original high school class, Kasper has a leg up and is ready to contribute.

“He’s technically supposed to be part of the class that’s here right now. So I think obviously, he got a head start,” said wide receiver coach Junior Adams. “It’s paying off.”

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There is a lot of talent in Oregon’s WR room this spring, from Troy Franklin to Traeshon Holden, Tez Johnson, and Kris Hutson. Kasper has repeatedly had his name mentioned as a player who could start to have an impact on offense, though. His size — 6-foot-5, 195 pounds — gives the Ducks’ WR corp a new element, and his past production — Kasper was a 4-star recruit rated as the No. 150 player in the 2022 class — makes it easy to project a high upside.

Based on what Adams has seen so far from Kasper this spring, we aren’t far away from the redshirt freshman proving what he’s capable of on the field.

“Kyler made some plays today in practice,” Adams said. “Last few days he’s been playing with a little more urgency. He’s been playing big. He made a big play in the endzone today, which I thought was good to see. He made a play in the middle of the field. He’s getting better.”

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More than the on-field production, an extra year of being in the Oregon system has allowed Kasper a leg up when it comes to understanding the system. The college game moves faster than it does in high school, and the schemes are more complicated. There’s a reason you rarely see true freshmen having a massive impact in their first year at the collegiate level; it takes a bit of time to get acclimated. Kasper took that challenge head-on and jumped into the deep end with both feet.

“He’s also getting better in the meeting room, and I think that’s where it all starts at,” Adams said.

There’s nothing guaranteeing that Kasper is going to be one of the Ducks’ best WRs this season. As I said before, there is a lot of talent at the position, and a lot of mouths to feed when it comes to targets. However, Kasper has proved early on that he is serious about his craft, and he’s willing to work hard to get to where he wants to go. As the son of Kevin Kasper, a former NFL wide receiver, you can guarantee that Kyler has aspirations of playing on Sundays.

The first step to getting there is having an impact on Saturdays. Based on what we’re hearing so far, it doesn’t seem like we’ll have to wait too long in Eugene to see that happen.

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Junior Adams discusses Oregon’s WR room, Jurrion Dickey, and Bo Nix’s growth

From Troy Franklin attacking the offseason to Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden coming in at 6:30 every morning, Junior Adams has his WRs working hard.

As we get further into spring practice, media members have fortunately gotten the opportunity to talk to more coaches and players after practice, rather than just head coach Dan Lanning.

Last week we got to meet with both OC Will Stein and DC Tosh Lupoi, and Tuesday’s media availability brought forth the opportunity to talk to wide receiver coach Junior Adams.

This is the first time we’ve gotten the opportunity to talk to Adams since fall camp last August, so there was a lot of ground to cover, including the breakout of Troy Franklin, the additions of Traeshon Holden and Tez Johnson, and the incoming hype that Jurrion Dickey will bring.

Here are some of the most notable quotes from Adams’ interview:

Top-5 2024 WR Ryan Pellum lists Ducks among target schools

4-star WR Ryan Pellum is rated as the No. 48 overall player in 2024, and No. 5 WR in the class.

The recruiting train is rolling into the new year with a full head of steam for the Oregon Ducks, this time with the news that 4-star WR Ryan Pellum, one of the best receivers in the 2024 class, is high on the Ducks as his recruitment narrows down.

On Saturday, Pellum released his top 10 schools, with Oregon in the mix alongside schools like Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Michigan. Pellum is rated by 247Sports as the No. 5 WR in the 2024 class, and No. 50 overall player in the nation.

According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Ducks currently lead in Pellum’s recruitment, holding a 20% chance to land him. After the success that Junior Adams has had in bringing elite WRs to Oregon — the Ducks got 5-star Jurrion Dickey, 4-star Ashton Cozart, 4-star Kyler Kasper, and 4-star Justius Lowe along with a handful of transfers at the WR position — it doesn’t come as a major surprise to see Oregon in the mix to land one of the top pass-catchers in next year’s recruiting class as well.

Over the coming months, we’ll see how the recruitment plays out for Pellum.

Ryan Pellum’s Recruiting Profile

Michigan State WR with close ties to Oregon coach Junior Adams enters transfer portal

From Junior Adams to former high school teammates, there are endless connections between MSU transfer Germie Bernard and the Ducks.

When it comes to players entering the transfer portal in college football, a common thing that fans often do is try to figure out what connections there are between said player and their own team, hoping to find a link that might bring the prospect to their town.

For the Oregon Ducks, there are some easy connections to see when it comes to former Michigan State Spartans’ wide receiver Germie Bernard, who entered the portal this week after one season in East Lansing.

Bernard, who was a 4-star recruit in 2022 and was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 37 WR in the class, has a close connection with Oregon WR coach Junior Adams. Bernard was committed to play for the Washington Huskies last year, but just a few days after Adams accepted the job with the Ducks, Bernard announced that he would be decommitting from Washington.

Not enough? Consider that the Ducks also have a couple of recruiters on the roster that know Bernard well; DE Anthony Jones and DL Sir Mells were teammates with Bernard at Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada.

Maybe all of that means very little, and the highly-talented WR with 3 years of eligibility remaining will choose his next team purely based on opportunity and scheme. Or maybe Germie Bernard will look for teams in the college landscape with a need at the WR position — the Ducks — who have a coach that he knows well — Adams — and a couple of teammates in the locker room that he is familiar  with — Jones and Mells.

It’s just a thought.

Germie Bernard’s Transfer Portal