Tag: Kyler Kasper

Dan Lanning offers injury update on Jordan Burch, Kyler Kasper

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning offered an injury update on both Jordan Burch and Kyler Kasper after Week 7.

The Oregon Ducks are still basking in the afterglow of the win over No. 2 Ohio State inside Autzen Stadium, but there’s nothing like injury news to bring everyone down to Earth.

Before the game, we learned defensive end Jordan Burch suffered a lower leg injury on Thursday. He was certainly missed against the Buckeyes. In his weekly Monday press conference, Lanning updated Burch’s availability moving forward.

“I don’t know that it’ll be this week,” Lanning said of Burch’s return. “I don’t know that it won’t. We’ll continue to evaluate that.”

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It sounds like Burch will return in the near future. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about receiver Kyler Kasper, who was seen on a scooter for the Ohio State contest.

“I don’t know the timeline. It might be hard for him to get back this year,” Lanning said of Kasper. “But I won’t put limitations on him and his ability to get back.”

While the loss of these two players hurt, Lanning has worked to build roster depth, so the injury bug shouldn’t hurt as badly as it once might have. That certainly showed up on Saturday.

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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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Second-year Ducks who have biggest chance to break out in 2023 for Oregon

Fall camp is the best time to identify potential breakout players. In Eugene, these second-year guys have caught our eye so far.

With over a week of fall camp behind us now for the Oregon Ducks, we’ve seen enough football and talked to enough coaches and players to start to get a sense of what is to be expected in the coming season.

One of the things that is always fun to try and identify during fall camp is a list of players who could be primed for a breakout. Whether that is experienced players who haven’t gotten an opportunity to prove their worth just yet, or young players who could be stepping into a vital role with a year of experience under their belts, there are always a handful of guys going into each season that look bigger, better, and ready to contribute.

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Whether it’s due to a massive weight gain or an increased knowledge of the scheme, the Ducks have a long list of second-year players who we have identified as candidates to break out in 2023.

Here’s who our eyes are on:

Oregon offers younger brother of current Duck’s WR

Oregon offers younger brother of current Duck’s WR

It’s starting to look like the Kasper family is going to be the next version of the Sewell family or the Williams family in Eugene. While both Penei Sewell and Noah Sewell dominated for the Ducks, and Bennett Williams paved the way for his brother Evan to succeed at Oregon as well, it could be redshirt freshman WR Kyler Kasper and his younger brother Braylon who do it next.

The Ducks extended an offer to Braylon, and 8th-grade WR this past week. Braylon won’t be eligible to sign until the class of 2027, but based on the high ceiling we’ve seen from current Oregon WR Kyler, and their father Kevin — a former NFL wide receiver — there seems to be a pretty good chance that Braylon will be a highly-coveted recruit.

Kyler is entering his second year with the Ducks and is expected to take a big jump in production after enrolling early last season.

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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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WR Kyler Kasper has shown intensity early, impressing OC Kenny Dillingham

In an alternate universe, WR Kyler Kasper would be getting ready for his senior year right now. Kenny Dillingham said he’s done well to adapt to the college game.

In an alternate universe, Oregon Ducks wide receiver Kyler Kasper would be getting ready for his senior season in high school.

In this reality, the young wide receiver is cracking pads and competing with players who are as much as four or five years older than him.

Kasper, a 4-star recruit that committed to the Ducks on Easter, earlier this spring, was originally a member of the 2023 recruiting class, but he reclassified to the 2022 class and decided to head to Eugene for this fall season.

With someone so young making a quick jump to the college ranks, I wanted to know how he was ingratiating himself early on in the process. On Monday afternoon, I asked offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham about that following the Ducks fourth practice.

“I think he’s done a really nice job just adapting,” Dillingham said. “To go from a high school kid to all of a sudden being a, you know, a college kid, you weren’t expecting that. You were supposed to go back to high school this year.”

One phrase that head coach Dan Lanning used often during spring practices was young players who enrolled early “drinking out of a fire hose” as they tried to get used to the tempo of the college game and immerse themselves in the playbook, learning schemes and verbiage of the new offense or defense. Kasper didn’t get the chance to enroll early, but he’s working hard to get up to speed this fall.

“I think a little bit of him is like ‘whoa,’ but he’s responded,” Dillingham said. “I mean, today was the first day I saw him really attack and be physical and really kind of get comfortable out there.”

Oregon has a deep wide receiver room, with veteran transfers and a whole host of young and unproven players ready to step into the limelight. If we’re being honest, there’s a steep hill to climb before Kasper can make his mark and get a ton of action on the field, but as long as he’s moving along in practice and getting up to speed, the future looks bright for this highly touted recruit out of Arizona.

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‘He’s a really special talent;’ Dan Lanning comments on addition of 4-star WR Kyler Kasper

“It’s not just because of his talent, it’s because he works hard.” Dan Lanning is excited about the addition of 4-star WR Kyler Kasper.

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Late on Sunday morning, the Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning tweeted out a duck emoji on Twitter.

Loyal fans of the program knew what it meant, and a lot of them were already busy celebrating the news that 4-star wide receiver Kyler Kasper had announced his commitment to join the Oregon Ducks. The exciting news that Kasper would reclassify to the 2022 class and join the Ducks this summer came soon after, which was a cherry on top of the Easter Sunday.

Related: Updated recruiting rankings after Kyler Kasper’s reclassification 

Later that day it was announced that Kasper officially signed with the Ducks, giving the coaching staff clearance to discuss what his addition means for the program. On Tuesday afternoon during the media availability, Lanning talked about what Kasper can bring to the program.

“I’m really excited about Kyler,” Lanning said. “You know, big catch radius, you know, obviously phenomenal family, really special talent build that works really hard and has a pedigree. But it’s not just because of his talent. It’s because of how hard he works.”

Going into his commitment announcement, there was a feeling that Kasper, the son of 8-year NFL veteran Kevin Kasper, was going to pick the Ducks. He had grown fond of them over the duration of multiple visits earlier this spring, and though the Tennessee Volunteers made a late run at him, the declaration that he would be joining the Ducks wasn’t a massive shock.

The news that he would be graduating early and moving to Eugene later this year, however, was a pleasant surprise.

“I think it’s more and more that you’re going to see guys graduating earlier,” Lanning said. “Obviously, in the last few years it’s been more mid-year, but if the guy puts himself in the position and they’re ready to go play college football, I think it makes sense for certain guys. Each person is a case-by-case basis.”

Oregon’s wide receiver room will benefit from the 6-foot-5 frame that Kasper brings, and though he will have a lot of work to do in order to get accustomed to the college game as a would-be high school senior, it will be exciting to see him do that with the Ducks.

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Kyler Kasper announces college destination

Vols’ target Kyler Kasper announces college destination.

2023 wide receiver prospect Kyler Kasper announced his college destination Sunday.

Kasper has committed to Oregon.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Kasper is from Williams Field High School in Gilbert, Arizona.

The Vols offered Kasper Aug. 18, 2021. He visited Tennessee April 8.

Kasper is son of Kevin Kasper who played wide receiver at Iowa from 1997-2000. He was selected by Denver in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL draft.

Tennessee has seven commitments for its 2023 recruiting class: Quarterback Nico Iamaleava Jr, tight end Ethan Davis, offensive lineman Ayden Bussell, defensive lineman Trevor Duncan, safety Jack Luttrell, edge rusher Nathan Robinson and wide receiver Nate Spillman.

Tennessee’s 2023 football commitment tracker

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Updated recruiting rankings after 4-star Oregon WR Kyler Kasper’s reclassification to 2022

With the addition of Kyler Kasper to the Ducks’ 2022 recruiting class, Oregon jumped up a few spots in the national rankings.

The Oregon Ducks got a big recruiting win on Sunday morning when 4-star wide receiver Kyler Kasper announced his commitment to the Oregon Ducks, choosing to come to Eugene instead of going across the country to the Tennessee Volunteers or Iowa Hawkeyes.

After the initial commitment news came out, an even bigger shoe dropped, with the word being reported that Kasper was reclassifying to the class of 2022 and choosing to join the Ducks this summer.

This news doesn’t change the magnitude of the win for Oregon, but alters which recruiting class we are celebrating. No longer do fans have to temper that excitement to see the 6-foot-5 Kasper in Autzen Stadium for another year, but they can anticipate seeing him in the green and yellow this fall.

It also changes Oregon’s standing when it comes to the 2022 recruiting rankings a bit as well. The Ducks already held the No. 1 spot in the Pac-12 after the addition of Josh Conerly, but with Kasper reclassifying to 2022, this bumps Oregon up in the national rankings a bit as well, notably putting them ahead of Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes.

Here are the projected rankings after Kasper’s reclassification: