At the conclusion of last Friday’s practice, most Oregon football players hustled off the Moshofsky Center field to the locker room or sauntered toward the gaggle of media personnel.
Three players stayed on the field, polishing their technique, still working.
Senior wide receiver Lavasier Tuinei and junior wide receiver Justin Hoffman practiced their techniques when cornerbacks — in this case, sophomore walk-on J.R. Maffie — jam them at the line of scrimmage.
“Just getting a little extra work in after practice,” Hoffman said. “Especially, you know, on Friday — we’ve got the weekend off.”
Tuinei and Hoffman were recently named squad leaders by head coach Chip Kelly and the Oregon staff. That title has been taken seriously.
“LT’s more vocal than me,” Hoffman said. “I feel like our two different types of leadership add diversity to the group.”
The Ducks’ top two targets at wide receiver — Jeff Maehl and D.J. Davis — have graduated. Maehl and Davis were respected veteran voices in the locker room and reliable pass-catchers and blockers on the field.
Tuinei, a native of Arcadia, Ind., will slide into Maehl’s spot, where his 6-foot-5 frame, long strides and occasionally nasty blocking hope to give cornerbacks fits.
“I’m trying to improve in everything,” said Tuinei, who had 36 catches for 396 yards and two touchdowns last season. “Route tops, snapping (to the ball or in another direction), trying to get away from defenders, snapping.”
Hoffman, considered by Tuinei to be “like a younger Davis,” earned a scholarship last spring after displaying willingness and prowess in blocking and reliability as a pass-catcher. The Eugene native and Churchill High School graduate stepped further into Davis’ role this spring with the hopes of earning a renewal.
“He’s consistent in everything he does,” Tuinei said. “He’ll do everything right, and I respect him for that.”
Davis prided himself on blocking, the skill Hoffman and the rest of the receivers continue to hone.
“(Former Florida head coach) Urban Meyer came to talk to Coach Kelly, and he told him that we were the best blocking group of wide receivers in the nation,” redshirt freshman Eric Dungy said. “We definitely take pride in that. We’ve got some great running backs, great quarterbacks — we want to help them out.”
True sophomore Josh Huff (19 catches, 303 yards, three receiving touchdowns last season) steps into Tuinei’s role as the slot receiver. Huff, a native of Houston, still has not practiced after going down with an apparent knee injury last week, leaving repetitions available for others.
Three in particular have taken advantage: Blake Cantu, Nick Cole and Dungy.
The 6-foot-1, 171-pound Dungy — the son of former Indianapolis Colts head coach and NFL safety Tony Dungy — turned heads during his redshirt year last fall with his hands and route running.
“Coach (Scott) Frost gave me a list of things I need to improve on, and I feel like I’m making progress on things every time I go out there,” he said.
Cantu, a sophomore from Southlake, Texas, has managed to stay healthy after suffering numerous shoulder injuries in his first two years with the program. The sophomore Cole has better applied his physical package (6-foot-3, 195 pounds with good speed) to wide receiving skills this spring, and he has been given additional repetitions as a result.
Walk-on junior Will Murphy, a native of Albany, Ore., caught two passes last year and was rewarded this year with a number change, from 90 to 89. Murphy has worked with the No. 2 offense in Tuinei’s position.
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Oregon receiving corps looks to replace production of Jeff Maehl, D.J. Davis
Daily Emerald
April 14, 2011
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