The Oregon Ducks’ spring football camp is in full swing and the competition at the wide receiver position is ramping up.
The Ducks’ wide receiver group is both deep and talented as seniors Johnny Johnson III and Jaylon Redd elected to return for their final season in Eugene. The receivers will be heavily featured in the second year under Joe Moorehead’s offense, but they will use spring came to compete for playing time.
“I love the competition,” Johnson III said. “It makes us all better and prepares me to deal with competition at the next level.”
Johnson III primarily lines up as the X-receiver on the outside but will be used in a multitude of ways this season. He returned with the goal of earning victories with his teammates and he also has his eyes set on statistical greatness at Oregon. The senior receiver needs 20 receptions, 431 yards, and four touchdowns to reach the top-10 in all three categories for Ducks receivers.
Moorehead tends to use Redd as a swiss army knife, lining him up all over the field. The senior from Carson has been featured as a slot receiver, a half-back, and on the outside. The Ducks draw up screen passes to get Redd in open space against defenders. He is also used as a safety valve for the quarterback. Redd only hauled in one touchdown last season after catching seven the year prior, so he’ll look to bolster that number this season before attempting to go pro.
Williams is an imposing wide-out, standing at 6-foot-5. He had a breakout season in 2020 after transferring from USC in 2019 and redshirting for that season. The sophomore had 15 catches for a team-leading 286 yards and added two touchdowns. He led the team with 19.1 yards per reception which ranked second in the Pac-12. Williams will start on the outside across from Johnson III and he will be a vital part of the Ducks passing game in his second season in Eugene.
Pittman got off to a slow start in 2020 because he missed multiple games for health protocols. His numbers suffered from the missed time as he only hauled in eight receptions on the season and wasn’t able to find the endzone. However, the sophomore is poised for a breakout season in 2021 as Oregon’s primary slot receiver. Pittman is heavily targeted in third-down scenarios on slants and digs out of the slot.
The ancillary pieces in Oregon’s wide receiver room are Kris Hutson and Josh Delgado. Hutson was a four-star recruit and the fourth-ranked receiver in California. He’s a speedy receiver that the Ducks intend to use all over the field this season.
Delgado appeared in all 13 games as a freshman in 2019, but only caught three passes in 2020. He will spell Pittman as the Ducks’ secondary slot receiver in 2021.
The Ducks have multiple early-enrolled freshman wide receivers that have already received reps with the upperclassmen. Troy Franklin has lined up as the X-receiver and Dont’e Thornton has lined up as the Z-receiver. But Moorehead said the two freshmen will get reps in various receiver packages. Johnson III has also been impressed with what the future of his position has to hold.
“They are hungry and have been going at it every day,” Johnson III said. “Troy’s hands are second-to-none and I think Dont’e’s gonna be a great player here.”
Oregon’s offense will run through its deep receiver group in 2021 as the Ducks prepare to defend the Pac-12 crown. They have the talent to improve as a unit and be one of the best wide receiver groups in the nation.
“The sky’s the limit for the wide receivers,” Johnson said. “We’re going to be one of those groups they talk about for a long time.”
