Oregon’s Wednesday afternoon practice marked the first workout of the year in which players were allowed to wear shells. With shoulder pads and helmets, players were allowed to hit, but not tackle to the ground.
“First three days of camp have gone pretty well,” quarterback Travis Jonsen said. “Obviously there’s some mistakes out there but I think by next week, when we’re full go, it will be all good from there.”
Jonsen and quarterback Dakota Prukop each pointed out players from the receiver and tight end groups who have stood out early on.
“All of our tight ends can move, all of our receivers obviously can move and do what they gotta do,” Jonsen said.
Tristen Wallace, a 6-foot-3, 228 pound freshman athlete who was originally recruited as a quarterback, has made the transition to receiver and lined up all over the field in Matt Lubick’s offense thus far. In the first three days of fall camp, Wallace has spent extensive time in the slot receiver position, where Oregon has traditionally lined up players with much smaller frames.
“(Wallace) is big, but man, he can move,” Jonsen said.
Charles Nelson (5-9) and Taj Griffin (5-10) are also in the mix at the inside receiver position and fit the speedster mold that Oregon has traditionally filled the position with. That group of players will work to fill the void left by NFL-bound Bralon Addison, who finished last year with 63 catches and 804 yeards while playing primarily out of the slot.
Prukop noted Jalen Brown as a receiver who has stood out as well. Brown, a 6-1, 188 pound wideout, played in all 13 games last year and finished the season with seven catches for 89 yards. Teammates and coaches raved about his athleticism during the spring, and the former four star target is one of several Oregon receivers with the potential for a breakout season.
“It’s hard for me to really talk about other guys’ improvement from spring ball, because I was so worried about my own stuff during spring ball,” Prukop said. “But Jalen Brown has had a really outstanding fall camp in my opinion.
“I think one of the beautiful things about this offense is that the quarterback just goes through the offense and finds the open receiver, and coach Lubbick just does such a good job of making sure all the receivers are running all the routes really similarly.”
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney