With five wideouts returning, as well as a promising freshman and a handful of running backs who can step in and play slot receiver, Oregon has one of the deepest receiving units in all of college football.
Redshirt junior and 2015 second team All-Pac 12 selection Darren Carrington will be lead a talented group of wide receivers  that includes Charles Nelson, Devon Allen, Dwayne Stanford, and Jalen Brown. Fox Sports recently touted the Ducks’ receivers as the fourth best corps in the country.
Though Carrington missed half of last season after failing an NCAA drug test for marijuana prior to the 2015 National Championship against Ohio State, he still finished last season with 609 receiving yards and six touchdowns — averaging nearly a touchdown per-game. Carrington’s receiving yards and touchdowns both ranked second for the Ducks last season. In his his first appearance after the suspension, a game against Washington in which the Ducks won 26-20, he had 125 yards and two touchdowns.
After spending much of last year playing in Oregon’s defensive secondary, junior Charles Nelson may have untapped potential on the offensive end for the Ducks. Though he started his first three games at receiver in 2015, Nelson shifted to saftey for the final eight games and proved himself to be a versatile athlete. He ranked ninth for Oregon last season in receptions with 17 and ninth in tackles at 47. This year, however, Nelson will only be playing wide receiver, the position he played as a freshman. That year, he ended up with 327 receiving yards, 101 rushing yards and five total touchdowns.
“The unique thing about Charles is we can do a ton of things with him,” Oregon offensive coordinator Matt Lubick told reporters in April when asked how Oregon plans to fill the hole left by former Duck Bralon Addison. “Bralon was primarily a slot receiver, but we could move (Nelson) around. We could put him in the backfield or we could put him out wide.”
Junior Devon Allen is an elite dual-athlete for the Ducks. The two-time NCAA track and field champion just qualified for the U.S. Olympic track and field team in the 110-meter hurdles following a victory at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials in July. He missed most of last season after suffering a right knee injury while running back the opening kickoff of the 2015 Rose Bowl against Florida State. As a redshirt freshman during the 2014 season, he had 684 receiving yards and seven touchdowns and was one of Marcus Maritoa’s most consistent targets.
Last season, redshirt junior Dwayne Stanford finished as the Ducks’ third-leading receiver with 463 yards and five touchdowns on 30 receptions. Though he missed all of the spring workouts after a mid-April knee surgery, he will be back in action for fall.
Rounding out the group of returners is sophomore Jalen Brown, who finished last season with 89 yards and one touchdown. Brown could see an increase in playing time this year after the departures of Addison and Byron Marshall.
True-freshman Dillon Mitchell could also play a large role for Oregon. Mitchell was Oregon’s top receiver in the Ducks’ spring game, and will fight for playing time right away despite being the youngest of Oregon’s wideouts.
Mitchell and a promising group of veteran receivers hope to lead a Ducks’ offense, which will feature its second new-comer at quarterback in as many years.
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03