The Oregon Ducks finished the 2023 season with the second-best passing and scoring offense in college football. However, coming into spring camp, there were questions about the 2024 passing game due to the departure of Troy Franklin. Simply put, how does Oregon coach Dan Lanning replace a wide receiver who caught 81 passes for 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns?
Fortunately, coach Lanning only had to look at his roster to find the solution.
“We have some talented guys in that room, which is great,” Lanning said after the Oregon football spring game of Oregon’s receiving corps. “We’ve got to continue to eliminate some of the MAs (missed assignments) that are gonna occur when you’re learning stuff.
Lanning continued, “I see burst, I see explosion. I see guys that attack the ball when it’s in the air. It’s a deep group with a lot of guys who can help us.”
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Jan 1, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks wide receiver Gary Bryant Jr. (2) and Tez Johnson (15)
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Back to the roster. Enter Tez Johnson who, in his first year as a Duck, set an Oregon single-season record for receptions with 86 for 1,182 receiving yards – the third-most in UO single-season history—and 10 touchdowns. He was one of 11 players, including Franklin, that reached 1,000 receiving yards and double-digit TD catches. In addition, PFF rated Johnson as one of the best receivers in the country. His 89.9 grade this season trailed only Marvin Harrison Jr. among all FBS receivers.
The rich get richer when Oregon signed transfer receiver, Evan Stewart. The addition of the acrobatic Stewart adds more depth to Oregon’s already-impressive wide receiver room. Stewart joins returning players Traeshon Holden, Gary Bryant Jr. and Justius Lowe, all vying for playing time.
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“I want to show that I am a jack of all trades,” said Stewart in Oregon’s final week of spring practices. “…I can go up and get it like a big receiver, I can move like a little receiver. I’ve got great hands, I’m very quick, very fast.”
On paper, the Ducks’ passing game looks to be in great shape. That said there is work needed in order to improve and become the team coach Lanning believes they can be.
“The DNA traits for us aren’t going to change, right?” Lanning said of his 2024 team. “It still has to be about connection, growth, toughness and sacrifice. But every team is unique and every team is different. And it’s about growing up together. This spring, I think our team grew up a ton. Going into spring I knew we had a talented team, but we had to become a team. And I think I saw a lot of that throughout this spring.”
One of the biggest needs for the Oregon Ducks to fill this offseason is at the offensive tackle position, with one and potentially two starting spots to fill after the 2024 season is over.
Dan Lanning and Co. are working hard to fill that need with an elite prospect, too. According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, former Nevada Wolfpack offensive tackle Isaiah World placed the Ducks among his final three schools that he is considering, alongside the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Texas A&M Aggies.
World is the No. 1 ranked offensive tackle in the portal, and the No. 20 overall player. Standing at 6-foot-8, 320 pounds, World is a massive body that has played left tackle for the Wolfpack.
Should he end up committing to the Ducks, it would be interesting to see which side of the line he plays on. At the moment, we know that right tackle Ajani Cornelius is graduating after this year, and there is a chance that left tackle Josh Conerly Jr. will declare for the NFL Draft after a career season that saw him named an Associated Press third-team All-American.
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The Ducks are planning to get World to Eugene in the coming days for a visit and try to seal the deal on his recruitment.
Camping World, an RV dealer with multiple Oregon locations, will pay the state $3.5 million in a settlement deal, with $3 million of that going to customers who paid more than the advertised price for recreational vehicles in 2017 and 2018, according to a press release Monday from the Oregon Department of Justice.
“Our investigation found that Camping World would advertise a heavily discounted ‘Dare to Compare’ price,” said Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum in the press release. “During negotiations, Camping World would claw back its purported discount by double charging consumers for freight and prep charges that had already been included in the advertised price.”
The settlement is the end to a years-long consumer protection investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice Civil Recovery Section, the agency said in the release.
According to the DOJ, the $3 million will be used to give refunds to those who purchased an RV from Camping World between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018 and paid more than the advertised price for the vehicle.
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People who bought a vehicle after Dec. 31, 2018 may also be eligible for a refund but “must submit a written complaint to Oregon DOJ within 6 months of this announcement to potentially be eligible to receive a refund,” the DOJ said.
“Consumers that submit written complaints should include any information that they have to demonstrate they paid more than the advertised price,” the press release added.
Going forward, the DOJ said, Camping World cannot charge more than the advertised price of the vehicle. That price must be available to all consumers and cannot be contingent on how the customer plans to pay.
Anyone who wants to learn more can call the Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9392 or visit doj.state.or.us/consumer-protection.
– Lizzy Acker covers life and culture and writes the advice column Why Tho? Reach her at 503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com.
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On the U.S. West Coast, conservationists for the world’s largest dam-removal project are both celebrating initial successes and encountering short-term obstacles. VOA’s Matt Dibble has our story from the Klamath River on the border between California and Oregon.
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