How are Oregon football's transfer receivers adjusting to new setting?

Though the Oregon football team’s wide receiver room has the stabilizing force of quarterback Bo Nix’s favorite target in Troy Franklin, the Ducks aggressively combed through the transfer portal over the spring and summer, adding three high profile targets ahead of the 2023 season.

Those faces, including Tez Johnson (Troy), Traeshon Holden (Alabama), and Gary Bryant Jr. (USC), have been working to connect with Nix and the rest of the team before the season kicks off Sept. 2 against Portland State.

Nix was the new guy last year, and quickly acclimated himself to his new situation, recording career-high numbers in completions, pass attempts, completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and his quarterback rating.

This year, it’s not Nix that’s new, but most of the faces in his receiver room.

“It’s tough when you have new guys, you have to speed up the relationship process a little bit,” Nix said. “You only get, in our case, 365 days, within a year to get to know each other and win football games. It’s doable, a lot of teams and players have done it in the past, but it’s just figuring out those little things like trust and transparency. That’s really important, when they trust you, they’ll do anything for you. As the quarterback it’s my job to build that trust and transparency.”

Of course, it helps to have Franklin in the room for Nix, who had a breakout season in his sophomore year, catching 61 passes for 891 yards and nine touchdowns. Other than Franklin, Kris Hutson returns after catching 44 passes for 472 yards, and the next leading receiver back is Josh Delgado, who caught one pass for 12 yards.

With Johnson, Holden, and Bryant entering the fray, and joining youngsters like Kyler Kasper, Justius Lowe, and Darrian Anderson, the competition for playing time has been fierce during fall camp.

Chemistry with Bo Nix comes naturally for Tez Johnson

For Johnson, his chemistry with Nix comes naturally. Nix’s adoptive brother, Johnson remembers vividly the last pass he caught from Nix at Pinson Valley High School in Alabama, a short hitch in the 2018 state title game during Nix’s senior year. Now Johnson has found his way to Oregon after a standout past couple of seasons at Troy.

Johnson says that despite competing for playing time, it was important for the group to come together and compete for one purpose.

“We all want the same thing: to win,” he said. “And we want each other to win. The whole receiving group wants each other to be successful.”

Traeshon Holden brings competitive mindset to Oregon

Holden, another transfer, played significant snaps for Alabama, and had six receiving touchdowns in 2022. He's hoping to bring that championship mindset to the Ducks’ receiving room. Holden is also familiar with Nix, who he played against while the senior quarterback was at Auburn.

Holden echoed Johnson’s sentiments about why each receiver chose to come to Oregon, even if they don’t see the field as often as they would like.

“There’s going to be competition for sure, but at the end of the day it's always going to the best man on the field,” Holden said. “That’s what the coaches preach every day, the best man is going to play.

“We’re all competing, but it never gets personal. We all know why we’re here.”

Gary Bryant Jr. a high-profile transfer from USC

Bryant, a high-profile transfer from USC, has seen how several NFL receivers prepare while playing for the Trojans, including Drake London and Jordan Addison.

When asked about how he was working to build chemistry with his teammates and with Nix, Bryant said extra work over the offseason and some extra words after practice were enough to get ready for 2023.

“Just being consistent. Every day I need to run my routes the best I can so that he knows when I do look that way in a read, this guy is going to be open and he’s going to feel comfortable throwing me the ball,” Bryant said. “Always being on the same page as him is going to be helpful in the long run.”

Oregon receivers 'loaded' with talent

Then there’s the guys coming back from little playing time a year ago.

Kasper has earned praise early in fall camp from his progression a year ago, and Oregon’s top recruit in the 2023 class, five-star receiver Jurrion Dickey, could also factor in the receiver competition.

One thing is for sure, Oregon’s receivers know they aren’t lacking for talent.

“I think we’re one of the best in the country,” Franklin said. “We’ve got some guys that can play, for sure.”

Said Holden: “We loaded, that’s all I got to say. We’re loaded.”

Every transfer receiver arrives as early as 6:30 a.m. to break down film and go over the install and practice plan for the day. That, in part, has helped the transition for all the newcomers and shown the way for the younger players.

“That’s what the offseason is for,” receivers coach Junior Adams said. “These guys have had a great offseason, coach (Wilson) Love and his strength staff have done a great job of putting together a program so these guys can connect. They hang out all the time, they spend time after workouts throwing and they spend time after practice throwing. When it comes to Bo and those guys they spend a lot of time together and it’s a great connection right now.”

Oregon second-year receiver Kyler Kasper one to watch

Oregon second-year receiver Kasper isn’t one of the three transfers, or an incoming five-star wideout, but the former four-star receiver with a 6-foot-6 frame offers something that not many other Oregon receivers have with his size.

The redshirt freshman has added 12 pounds to that frame from his freshman season, now at 205 pounds, and could be a sneaky pick for a breakout season in a room loaded with talent.

Jurrion Dickey an Oregon newcomer to watch

Dickey could get on the field as one of the nation’s consensus top receivers in his class. The freshman finished his high school playing career with 140 receptions, 2,537 receiving yards and 42 total touchdowns, and was injured during his senior season.

Oregon receiver number to know

38 – junior receiver Franklin accounted for 38% of Oregon’s receiving yards among wideouts only, not including running backs or tight ends.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, women's basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: How are Oregon's transfer receivers adjusting to new setting?