In the last decade, Oregon has produced a long list of speedy playmakers at the receiver position.
De’Anthony Thomas, Josh Huff and Bralon Addison are all former Ducks who thrived as undersized pass catchers.
Kirk Merritt could be the next Oregon player of that mold, and he may be the most athletic of the bunch.
“A lot of people call him like a Josh Huff type of guy because he’s so strong and fast,” Oregon running back Tony Brooks-James said. “He’s one of those guys who can make an explosive play and turn a game around.”
Merritt’s speed translates to the track. He, along with Brooks-James and Devon Allen, has been splitting his time between football workouts and track practice this spring.
Merritt, Brooks-James and Allen form three-fourths of Oregon’s 4×100-meter relay team and ran a winning time of 40.06 seconds at the Pepsi Invitational on April 9. The difference is that Merritt is racing at 205 pounds while Allen and Brooks-James each weigh around 185.
“When you factor in his size, the explosiveness and his lifting numbers … He’s our strongest wide out and is off the charts,” Oregon offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said. “I don’t know many guys in college football that are his size and can run a 10.60 100-meter dash.”
A true sophomore from Destrehan, Louisiana, Merritt made waves during the summer of 2014 when he won the SPARQ National Championship at the The Opening, an elite football combine held annually at the Nike headquarters in Beaverton.
Merritt registered a score of 147.60 at the event. His feats included a 4.43 second 40-yard dash time and a 45.5 inch vertical jump. For reference, 2015 Heisman winner Derrick Henry registered a score of 144.60 in 2012.
“[Merritt] is right up there … He’s probably one of the better athletes in the country,” Lubick said.
He was recruited as an all-purpose back, but spent most of last season at the inside receiver position where he caught five passes for 61 yards. During the spring, Lubick has brainstormed ways to get Merritt more involved and add his talents to one of the deepest skill-position groups in the nation. One way of doing so has been by lining him up at the outside receiver spot during the spring. It’s a position that the 5-foot-11″ Merritt played scarcely in high school, and one where he has the chance to thrive, just as Huff did, in Oregon’s quick-read offense.
In total, Oregon has at least nine players who will be fighting for playing time at receiver this fall.
“It’s Oregon; it’s very, very competitive,” Merritt said. “We always encourage each other and try to make each other better each and every day before practice and just get after it every day.”
Oregon already has an embarrassment of riches at the skill-positions, and Merritt could prove to be the most intriguing piece of Lubick’s offense this season.
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