Tag: Jurrion Dickey

Recruiting Superlatives: Highlighting Oregon’s most notable recruits over last 5 years

Who is the most influential Oregon recruit in the last 5 years? What about the biggest recruit to get away? We give some Duck recruiting superlatives.

On Monday morning, Bruce Feldman and The Athletic put out an article in their series of recruiting breakdowns looking at some of the top teams in the nation over the past couple of decades and offering superlatives for some of the most notable recruits to come through the program.

In the article (subscription required) they talked about Joey Harrington and De’Anthony Thomas as two of the most important recruits in program history, and identified Justin Herbert as the biggest developmental project, rising from an overlooked 3-star into the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

I’m not going to bite into Feldman’s writing; it’s very good and deserves your attention. However, it did get me thinking about some superlatives that could be handed out for a more current group of recruits. While Feldman looked as far back as 2000 to identify some top players, I wanted to dial in the microscope a little bit and come of with some superlatives of my own.

For this exercise, I go back five years ago to the 2018 recruiting class, and started from there up to the last class that was signed in 2023. I also threw in a few “future superlatives” for good measure, highlighting a few of the recruits in 2023 and 2024 who I think will have major impacts down the road.

Without further ado, here are my superlatives for the Oregon Ducks recruiting over the past five years:

Jurrion Dickey is wearing what number? Deleted tweet sparks Duck speculation

We would simply like some clarity…

It hardly qualifies as breaking news, but when a new crop of players comes to school and picks which jersey numbers they will wear, it is often notable for interested fans.

However, when one of the most high-profile incoming offensive players chooses a number usually reserved for a defensive lineman, rather than a WR, heads start to turn.

Things get even more interesting when the post about the new number instantly gets deleted.

That’s what took place on Monday afternoon for the Oregon Ducks. 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey announced his arrival in Eugene by tweeting a photo of himself standing next to his locker. Everything was normal about it, aside from the fact that it appears the No. 99 is on his locker, alluding to his jersey number this year.

The tweet was deleted not long after going up, but some screenshots from fans captured the image.

It is incredibly common to see wide receivers with numbers in the 80s, but in my lifetime, I can’t remember seeing anyone wear a number in the 90s, let alone No. 99.

We will wait for clarity and see if the 5-star WR indeed does suit up in the double-nines come this call.

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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:

Oregon Spring Ball Position Battles: WR room should be main attraction

There’s a ton of talent at the WR position in Eugene. Watching players jockey for position on the depth chart this spring will be fun.

For many reasons, the 2022 season felt like a breath of fresh air for Oregon Duck fans, offensively speaking at the very least.

After a few years of gritting through the vanilla offensive scheme that came with Mario Cristobal and his tenure in Eugene, Duck fans were treated to a new system, headed up by Kenny Dillingham. This hurry-up, no-huddle (HUNH) system threw a litany of new elements at the Ducks, including a few things that we hadn’t seen for quite some time in Eugene, like QB snaps from under center, and the reintroduction of the deep ball.

It’s that latter half of the equation that really got fans buzzing inside Autzen Stadium.

With deep passing back in the mix, the Ducks saw a resurgence at the wide receiver position. No longer were wideouts confined to catching short screens or 5-yard curls over the middle, but they could open up and run, trying to get behind the defense and take the top off. This gave us the emergence of Troy Franklin, who quickly became the team’s top receiver, and one of the best receivers in the Pac-12.

While we don’t expect that to change in 2023, what will be interesting to see is who steps up alongside Franklin. Chase Cota was a solid piece last year, but he graduated this off-season. Dont’e Thornton had his moments, but a transfer to Tennessee after the season left his spot on the depth chart vacant. Kris Hutson is still on the team, and he likely has a leg up when it comes to divvying up target shares. However, there is a lot of new competition that he will have to hold off.

The Ducks were active in the transfer portal at the WR position this offseason, adding proven players like Traeshon Holden and Tez Johnson to the mix. They also have a handful of incredibly talented, but unproven players who came to Eugene over the past 2 seasons as recruits. Guys like Kyler Kasper, Justius Lowe, and Ashton Cozart will all vie for targets this spring, while 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey will work to state his case for playing time when he arrives in Eugene this summer.

As we start to dive into Oregon spring football and look at some of the biggest questions to answer, and position battles to watch, we wanted to begin with the wide receiver position. It’s shaping up to be among the most entertaining battles in Eugene, and watching players jockey for position on that depth chart going into the spring game is going to draw a lot of attention.

Here’s our case for each player to earn a portion of the target share, and where I think they end up after spring ball concludes.

Which WR is the biggest breakout candidate for Oregon going into 2023?

In an incredibly talented and deep WR room, who steps up and proves to be a breakout player for the Ducks this season?

The Oregon Ducks need a No. 2 wide receiver.

After the events that took place on Wednesday left former Oregon WR Traeshon Holden no longer on the team, it is apparent that the Ducks have a spot to fill on the depth chart, likely in the starting lineup alongside proven playmaker Troy Franklin.

There are a number of ways that Dan Lanning and the Ducks might go about trying to find the player who will step up and fill the spot that Holden — a transfer from the Alabama Crimson Tide — was projected to occupy in 2023. One route is via the transfer portal, where there are a handful of names that could suit the Ducks, with many more expected to come later this spring in May.

Another route is to find a current player on an already very deep wide receiver depth chart that is ready to make the leap in 2023 and contribute in a starting role.

There are several candidates to have this breakout type of season. The hard part is figuring out which player is actually going to do it. Here is who I think could be in line to impress us this spring and contend for that starting position.

5-star WR Jurrion Dickey highlighted as instant-impact player for Oregon in 2023

Can 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey have a role in Oregon’s offense as a true freshman in 2023?

In the world of college football where the transfer portal is as relevant as it is, life for incoming recruits and true freshmen has arguably gotten a bit tougher. Not only are coaching staffs now spending more time and resources on recruiting current college players who can help make an impact right away, but when a high school recruit does land at his new school, it may be a longer runway ahead of them before they can get on the field and be a difference-maker because of the propensity of transfers ahead of them on the depth chart.

Despite that, there are still a select number of incoming freshmen that are talented enough to not only see the field, but potentially have an impact on the team right away.

For the Oregon Ducks, 5-star wide receiver Jurrion Dickey has been tabbed as one of those players who could potentially make waves as a true freshman in Eugene.

Here’s what On3’s Charles Power had to say about Dickey:

Jurrion Dickey looked like the most physically and technically advanced wide receiver in the cycle throughout the offseason and early in the fall. The Oregon signee ended up missing most of his senior season with an injury, but he showed enough to indicate he’s primed to make an early impact if healthy. The 6-foot-2.5, 215-pounder has a complete skill set as an outside receiver. He’s an outstanding route-runner with the ability to drop his weight and change directions with ease. Dickey is physical and coordinated at the catch point and presents a big challenge for defenders in the open field with his play speed and ability to run through arm tackles. If he’s good to go, we expect Dickey to be catching passes in Eugene early on next season. Fellow Oregon signee safety Tyler Turner is another we could see making an early impact.

It will be incredibly tough for Dickey to get a lot of playing time as a freshman, as the WR spot in Eugene is deep and talented at the moment. Not only do you have guys like Troy Franklin and Kris Hutson returning as major contributors from 2022, but there are also guys like Kyler Kasper and Justius Lowe who are entering their second year after coming to the Ducks as highly-rated recruits. On top of that, Oregon brought in WR Traeshon Holden from Alabama, and WR Keyonteze Johnson from Troy.

In order for Dickey to move up the depth chart enough to have an impact in his first season, he’s going to need to be incredibly impressive. Fortunately, it seems like that’s entirely possible, with the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder ranking as the No. 2 WR in the 2023 class, and No. 21 overall player in the nation.

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SIGNED: 5-star WR Jurrion Dickey is officially a Duck

5-star wide receiver Jurrion Dickey is officially a Duck. He is the second-highest rated WR to ever sign with the Ducks.

If you just heard a collective sigh of relieve throughout the city of Eugene, you probably weren’t imagining things. It came as a result of the Oregon Ducks watching 5-star wide receiver Jurrino Dickey putting pen to paper and making it official that he is coming to Oregon in 2023 to play college football.

Dickey, the No. 2 WR in the 2023 class and No. 14 overall player in the nation, officially signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday. Dickey is the 9th highest-rated player to ever sign with the Ducks, and the second-highest-rated WR, only behind Cameron Colvin.

At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Dickey will come to Eugene next season with chances to be an instant-impact player, bringing a dynamic skill set that will complement the other receivers on Oregon’s roster well — particularly Troy Franklin.

There are a lot of big names in Oregon’s 2023 recruiting class, but none may be more enthralling than Jurrion Dickey. He is now officially a Duck.

Jurrion Dickey’s Signing Day Profile

Recruiting Party: Expected visitors for Oregon Ducks before dead period and signing day

There are some big names on Oregon’s visitor list this weekend, and some buzz about massive late additions as well.

As we continue to speed towards the end of the early recruiting cycle and watch while college football teams make their final push for prospects that they hope to land on or before early signing day, one last weekend of visits is upon us.

With the recruiting dead period starting on Sunday, December 18, this weekend gives coaching staffs one last opportunity to get players on campus for visits, potentially landing a commitment before the early signing period starts on December 21.

For the Oregon Ducks, it’s shaping up to be an incredibly star-studded weekend.

With multiple reports out there that Nike co-founder and Oregon mega-booster Phil Knight will be on campus this weekend, we can expect the Ducks to pull out all of the stops as they try to make a splash in the recruiting world and sign a standout class on Wednesday.

We already know of several players who will be on campus, and we are looking to confirm a few more as the weekend approaches. Here is an updated list of players who will be in Eugene.

Position Outlook: How future of Oregon’s WR room looks after recent transfers, recruiting news

A look at how Oregon’s WR room stacks up in the coming years after recent transfers, recruiting news.

At this point in the college football season, nearly everyone in the nation is seeing their roster go through a makeover of sorts. For some teams, that means a complete overhaul, and droves of players decide to enter the transfer portal and find a new home. Other teams will see numerous players leave for the NFL draft, leaving a spot to fill behind them. A lot of schools will also have the prospect of highly-rated recruits coming to town to fill a need.

For the Oregon Ducks, we’ve got a little bit of all three of those scenarios. We’ve already seen a few players enter the transfer portal, and as the offseason grows longer, you can expect more to declare for the NFL draft. That allows us to take a look at some position groups as a whole and assess how the future looks.

Today, we want to look closely at the wide receiver room. With news that Dont’e Thornton intends to transfer, plus the loss of Seven McGee from weeks ago, it’s clear that this position will look different next year than it did this last season.

Let’s take a closer look.

11 things that Oregon Duck fans should be most thankful for in 2022

What are you most thankful for as an Oregon Duck fan as we get into this holiday season?

Last year when we checked in on the Oregon Ducks’ world of sports during Thanksgiving time, things weren’t looking so great. The football team had just suffered the first of two blowout losses to the Utah Utes, falling from their No. 3 spot in the nation; the No. 9 men’s basketball team was quickly exposed as fraudulent; the women’s basketball team was tanking in the standings after back-to-back losses as the No. 12 team in the nation.

Of course, things didn’t get much better from there, either. Oregon’s football team went on to get blown out in the Pac-12 title game by Utah again and watched as their head coach Mario Cristobal jetted to warmer weather. Dana Altman failed to align the Rubik’s Cube and missed the NCAA Tournament. Kelly Graves had his squad competitive, but nowhere near as good as we expected going into the year.

By comparison, the Ducks sure do have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

Not only did the football program bounce back in a magnificent fashion with an up-and-coming head coach that looks to be among the best young signal-callers in the nation, but Altman and Graves also have things rolling in the right direction on the hardwood.

On top of the tangible success, Oregon is still Oregon, and Phil Knight is still the greatest Uncle in the world. The Ducks have some of the best facilities, best uniforms, best coaches, and best players in the nation, and routinely are in the conversation among the best teams across all sports.

So on this Thanksgiving Day, as we gather with friends and family, we thought it would be nice to reflect on what Oregon fans should be the most thankful for this year. Here’s what we came up with: