Oregon WR Tez Johnson can have the best season EVER for Ducks wideout | Oregon Ducks Podcast

TZ Johnson's one of the reasons Oregon offense will be great again this year and he could be even better than you think you are locked on Ducks your daily podcast on the Oregon Ducks part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes it is that time once again for locked on Ducks I'm your host Spencer mcclin thank you so much for making this your first listen or your first view of the day part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day and your number one source to stay up to date with the Ducks if you have not already please like comment subscribe rate review wherever you listen to or watch this show which is brought to you today by our friends at FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3-we free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com lockon to get started so TZ Johnson's going to crush it along with the rest of the Oregon pass catchers this year Five Guys one of you asked for five under the radar are guys who could break out this season and I actually could have come up with even more than that and should Oregon pursue a four-star tight end in the 25 cycle who's committed elsewhere the answer to that question is yes all coming up on today's show but let's start with TZ Johnson so amongst all of the reasons that Oregon's going to have a great offense this year a veteran proven productive quarterback a good offensive line with one question in Matthew Bedford and when he gets back from injury but even if he doesn't it'll be good if he does come back and his fully healthy Oregon's offensive line should be great once again but amongst the reasons with a great running back room TZ Johnson is going to be Oregon's leading receiver this year I think Evan Stewart is going to have the best season of his career and I'll get to him in just a moment but the more I think about TZ Johnson the more I think he's going to have a monster year preseason all big 10 getting all sorts of you know award watch list recognitions you know he's on the watch list for the best receiver in the country uh the name of that award is uh escaping me right now but everywhere that you go TZ Johnson is is kind of there like you talk about Oregon on a national level on a local level TZ Johnson is going to be there so last season for the Ducks he had 86 catches for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns the Oregon record which was set by Troy Franklin last year in receiving yards for a season is 1,333 I think t Johnson can push for that this season and the record for touchdowns is 13 also set by Troy Franklin last year and I think that for for TZ Johnson he is just someone that started a lot slower than than you probably realize uh sorry tro Frankl had 14 touchdowns last year not not 13 14 touchdowns and could TZ Johnson get to that number that's tough because he's not a big bodied guy so he's not inherently a Red Zone Target he has however a dynamic yards after the catch gu so we'll see how he gets employed in this year's offense compared to last year I imagine it is very similar but think about this for TZ Johnson in the first five games of last year he averaged per game three receptions for just over 40 yards and he had four touchdowns in that span over the last nine games of the year he came into his own in a big way he really strengthened that connection with B Knicks did you know that they were brothers did you know did you know I hadn't heard but then I was watching highlights back the other day and I heard it on the broadcast I was like whoa never heard that before so over the last nine games last season he averaged almost eight receptions per game and 108 yards per contest including 100 plus yard efforts in four of his final six games is this a different quarterback yes is it a capable capable one also yes but it's the same offensive system and the receiving cor is ESS the same and I do believe his role should be the exact same as last year this is a rinse and repeat and you look at his numbers from last year and they were wildly impressive he had a game with zero catches Stanford he he played in the game I don't remember if he finished the whole game I mean Oregon starters were out by the end of it but still regardless he had zero catches in the game and yet he still set the Oregon single season record for receptions a marquee could push for once again this year and he had almost 12200 yards receiving so he could be in for just a monster campaign and I'm stoked to see how he and Dylan Gabriel developed their chemistry throughout the course of the year that's not the only pass catcher that Oregon fans of course should be excited to watch because you have three guys from last year's team in the pass catching group not counting running backs that you that you know exactly what they are and they're really good trean Holden Gary Bryant Jr Terence Ferguson they were all over 400 yards receiving last year I'm beyond curious I'm not in a hurry to get to the end of the regular season I am curious to see how the numbers shake out at that time because all three of those guys were over 400 yards receiving Bucky Irving was also over 400 yards receiving so when you talk about how many yards each guy's going to have what their numbers will look like at the end of the year you have to factor in that bonick used the running backs quite a bit in the passing game last year is Dylan Gabriel going to have that same propensity or is he going to lean on as a safety blanket TZ Johnson a little bit more or will he get Evan Stewart involved or will he will he go to Terence Ferguson more tfur hasn't had a 500 yard season in his career which is you know a pretty solidly high watermark for a tight end to get to I could see Terence Ferguson having the best receiving season of his career between Gary Bryant Jr trean Holden and tfur one of them is going to have a 500 plus yard season I I feel pretty confident in saying that depending on how the running backs get used in the passing game and Jordan James we know is a capable pass catcher no Wedington is a really good one we saw Jay Harris catch a couple of passes in the spring game as well so I think they they're all there but Evan Stewart's kind of the wild card here so if you if you give everyone just as a baseline assumption roughly the same numbers as a season ago there there's a big void and that's 1300 yards plus 1,3 83 to be exact and 14 touchdowns from Troy Franklin and over 80 receptions Evan Stewart has not yet had a thousand yard season in his career and he has spoken several times about how much better he likes things at Oregon how much better the quarterback play is at Oregon compared to Texas A&M and it's higher level you look at the guys that they had last year it was a revolving door there were injuries like Conor wigman pretty good player don't know if he's on Dylan Gabriel's level he's not quite as proven as a quarterback but he's going to be the starter this year for Texas A&M hoot side note play a very fun game against Notre Dame on Saturday that's where game day is this week and hopefully that same crew is in Eugene on October 12th for Ohio State but I digress Ean Stewart has legitimate second round Talent at the wide receiver position maybe even first I I don't know if he can get into that level he'd have to have a pretty Monster season but from a physical trait standpoint if he stays healthy and produces throughout the entire year here I can see him going over a th000 yards but does he get close to Troy Franklin's number maybe not so let's say he has you know 1,000 yards exactly on the dot or just a little bit over you've got about 350 receiving yards give or take to disperse throughout the rest of this Oregon roster if Dylan Gabriel gets to those sorts of numbers and if Oregon has the number of playoff games that they should if the season goes according to plan then all of that is entirely possible there on the Dylan Gabriel front I want to make a revision because I went back and looked at B Nick's numbers last year and I said recently on the show that eight was a number of 300 yards 300 yard passing games I expect Dylan Gabriel to have this year I'm going to revise that down and I'll explain why B Knicks had seven such games last year I've said for a while I like Dylan Gabriel he's the best quarterback in the Big 10 I do not think he's as good as bonick I do not think he's going to have the best statistical season arguably in the history of Oregon football at the quarterback position but is he going to have a great year yeah he is going to have a really good year probably the best of his career eight 300 yard games in the Big 10 where you're going up against better defenses on the whole I'm going to nudge that down to six and Bo Knicks last year had 7300 yard games and he had two games where he's in the 290 yard range so would it be crazy for Gabriel to get to eight no but frankly off the top of my head I thought Bo Nick's number was higher so I'll just revise that prediction ever so slightly and I think it's also a testament my confidence in moving that is that Oregon is going to be able to run the football behind this offensive line and they want to run the football behind this offensive line and you're going to have games potentially such as at Michigan and at Wisconsin in November where it's not particularly easy to throw the ball so I think Gabriel in the regular season is at or above 300 yards every other game I believe that starts this Saturday against Idaho four days four days away look at I don't even have a full hand worth of fingers here until Oregon football cannot wait one of you asked for Five Guys that'll break out this year five I thought that was daunting it wasn't that's coming up next coming up right now 5H Hour Energy tired after lunch you're not alone in fact research shows that more than 70% of us hit the wall after lunch let a 5-hour Energy Shot help you leap over that wall instead 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at 5our energy.com go check them out today what gives me more juice a 5our energy or a second segment sip the answer is a 5 Hour Energy but second segment sips are rejuvenating nevertheless so I got a very daunting at least at first question from Nathan the mailbag always open YouTube comments X formerly known as Twitter if you want priority access and all sorts of other perks you go join the flock in the description below to become a locked on Ducks Insider free 14-day trial to all those who sign up Nathan wants five breakout candidates not getting enough love five that are not getting enough love that are flying under the radar I start to think about this man can I really come up with five can I get five guys that are going to make an impact that didn't last year that Oregon fans are not talking enough about or that I'm not talking enough about it turns out indeed I could so one of them and the number one guy is Devin Jackson Devin Jackson is arguably the most important breakout player for Oregon defensively this year because well there are two reasons number one he's the number three guy on the depth chart Oregon played five linebackers last year Devin Jackson was one of them he's the number three on the depth chart this year I think he's ah head of Bryce beter and that that's that's someone who's going to see the field a lot in critical situations number two is Justin Jacobs who when he was on the field last year was a good player for the Ducks I like Justin Jacobs he has an injury history he was not healthy to begin last season Once he got on the field he was able to stay there but any guy that has an injury history in the past those sorts of ugly things unfortunately can rear their heads again so one little ding to to Justin Jacobs and Devin Jackson is suddenly one of your starting 11 players on defense and Dan Lanning had uh praiseworthy words to say about him in the speed episode of that team out west CU he's one of the fastest guys on the team which is pretty impressive for a linebacker and he said over the first couple years you know he was running really fast but not in the right direction and now he feels like he's running more in the right direction if he maximizes his physical traits and becomes the the sort of football player that Oregon knows he's capable of being he'll be Oregon's number one linebacker in 2025 I I feel really really confident in saying that and I think that'd be a pretty good spot for for Oregon to be so that's one guy another one Solomon Davis Solomon Davis I believe LED everyone in the spring game in tackles with seven all the way back in April has reportedly made the shift from corner to safety which makes a lot of sense because there are a lot of Corners in the room and there are not as many safeties and there are a lot more questions at that position more on that in a moment and Solomon Davis is not a brand new college football player and when you go back and watch the plays that he made in that spring game look pretty good he looked quite good and so I won't be surprised if he's someone that is on the two deep and by the way uh Jared Mack tweeted out the Oregon quote unquote to deep that uh that got released and it was just everyone in their position in numerical order that's the to deep that we've got going into the uh the first game against Idaho so as usual from Dan Lanning in communicado um and we'll just find out which one of the reasons of many that I'm excited to watch the game on Saturday so Solomon Davis is one option or Payton Woodyard I think one of those two guys I i' i' lean towards Davis because of the experience Factor Woodards especially true freshman I also however have Aaron flowers on this list I mean someone has to be the backup on the two deep to Kobe Savage Oregon starting free safety and taim Johnson who's probably going to start at strong safety or you know boundary safety if if you prefer boundary safety field safety call it whatever you like those guys are going to have some sort of role if a guy is to come out for a play if a guy goes down with an injury or if a guy is just tired needs to come out of the game whatever you know Oregon got dinged up in the secondary last year at one point in time you had triquest Bridges triquest bridges and Nico Reed as the two starting outside corners well that wasn't what You' projected going into the year that's the way it works out sometimes so I I think Davis or Woodyard probably Davis the more likely of the two and then the the more I watch Aaron flowers on three rated him as a preseason freshman All-American and he looks really impressive he he he's a really really impressive guy I'd love for him to have you know a role certainly he's someone I expect to see at the very least on Saturday against Idaho but um I'm interested to see what happens in that safety room because I think this year you know they've got a couple of solid starters in Kobe Savage and taim Johnson really interested to see what Savage brings to the table at that free safety spot but going forward this is a very talented room but the foundation for who starts going forward and who impresses the coaches that'll start this season Charlie Pickard that's another one it looks more and more like Charlie Pickard is is going to start at Center on Saturday and until Matthew Bedford is able to return and they can slide Poncho back over to the center spot and put Bedford the Indiana transfer at Right Guard that's a name that Oregon fans have to know if you walk at if you are going to Aon stadium and you see number 70 snapping the ball back to Dylan Gabriel in the first offensive snap of the season that's who it is former wacon Jesuit High School guy and he had division one offers but uh not a whole lot of of power four offers I think it was Oregon Oregon State and and maybe one other and he you know ended up being a walk- on at Oregon and he might be a guy that earns himself a scholarship by by the end of the year depending on how the first few games go frankly either way if he's being called upon to suddenly be Oregon starting center I mean think about it two years ago Alex fory was a starting center last year Remington Award winner Jackson P Johnson this year former walkon who became the starting center essentially in the final 10 days leading up to the season because of an injury not an easy spot to be in but such is life last guy Aiden Breeland Brian Smith is really high on him and his ability to make an impact as a true freshman someone's going to fill those rotation spots along the defensive line alen Aiden Breeden former five-star recruit coming to Oregon this year technically a highly rated fourstar but whatever he's really good I think he could have a great Oregon career we'll see if he uh is able to carve out a consistent role throughout the course of the Season Nathan also says it it hurts me to say but I've got the following guys on my list uh who are set to underwhelm Dicky and Casper that's jerion Dicky Kyler Casper rodri Pleasant dalen Austin Dave ulie Kamari Terrell Jalil Florence it's now or never for uh Kamari Terrell what do you think um yeah I mean Terrell was not a super highly touted recruit really fast talk about fastest guys on the team he could be up there I don't have big hopes for him maybe he's one of the guy that makes a move to SA or carves out a roll for himself at at nickel but I'm I'm not as down on the other guys you know euli if he comes back healthy I think is a really really solid player but I think that for the other guys jerion Dicky Kyler Casper you know jury on by all reports is the healthiest he's been so far in just his second season of course when he wasn't healthy last year Kyler Casper I feel like every time I see a clip of him in a spring game or a practice highlight or that team out well or whatever he's making a big play and he's flashing the big body that we know he has but the receiver room is just so so good and we'll see if he does get any sort of opportunity he'd certainly be a prime transfer candidate if he doesn't have a big role this year he's stuck around at Oregon this long though so he must really like Junior Adams Andor really believe that he's going to have his moment in the Sun and and look you're always w injury away from being thrust into a significantly larger role and I think for Kyler Casper going into his third football season I'm sure there is a part of him that's disappointed or or frustrated that he hasn't seen the field he hasn't contributed in a major way I mean he hasn't caught a touchdown I don't believe going into his third year for the the caliber of recruit that he was that's not what most of us would have expected I also would have expected him to maybe transfer out if he didn't play a lot last year which he didn't so maybe he's playing the long game and knows that he just needed a lot more development uh Jerry on dicki un unclear unclear uh just because of the injury Factor the cornerback room I think rodri Pleasant is more likely to play than dalen Austin this year because he could slide into into that nickel roll um I I suppose Austin could if he you know trains there but I think dalen Austin's more of an outside corner whereas Pleasant can play inside and out and with his body type I think fits really well at that nickels spot uh and then julo Florence I'm a big jul Florence fan not sure if he's ready injury-wise I I I don't know if jul Florence is ready so I could see a couple of those guys underwhelming compared to their potential but they're not going to underwhelm me compared to my expectations for them so that was a good question uh five breakout candidates was able to nail it there there are a couple others and and by the way drop below breakout candidates or Stat predictions forgot to mention that earlier in today's show how many yards do you think X receiver has or Y receiver has or this receiver that receiver or what not going back to the recruiting Trail fourstar tight end committed to Washington yeah makes a lot of sense for Oregon to pursue Vander plug that's a name to know that's coming up next hey lock on Ducks fans I want to take a moment to give you a heads up on a brand new mobile game I think you're going to love ultimate college football HC in this amazing game and simulation you get to step into the shoes of a head coach and lead your college football program to Glory presumably that'd be Oregon if you're listening to or watching this show can you imagine actually being the head coach to the Ducks and taking that with you in your pocket anywhere you go that's what you can do in Ultimate college football HC it's completely free has no ads 100% playable offline and you get to call the offensive play so your play calling your strategy determines the future and immediate Su success of your program and of course we have a special offer for locked on Ducks fans use the promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program make sure to take advantage of this perk because it will get your team off to a strong start to download the game visit ultimate-fx today all right Vander plug should be someone Oregon goes after so fourstar tight end top 247 player top 15 tight end in the class of 2025 currently committed to Washington so Oregon has kind of struck out so far on the tight end recruiting front they were after five-star Lincoln cure he went to Kansas State stayed home they got DeShaun brain though and he then flipped to Tennessee and they were going after Caleb Edwards and he ended up going to Alabama so Oregon currently doesn't have a tight end committed in the class of 2025 that's not a position you can easily find players available in the transfer portal if you look at the big portal moves you know Benjamin osic going from Stanford to Georgia in this off season is one of the more high-profile tight end moves that have happened in the portal I don't know why that's the case it's not that guys can't be available you know Oregon found Casey Kelly going into last year from Old Miss he was a third string guy so you just don't have high-profile T tight ends they're just they're home bodies I guess I I don't know I don't know I might have to ask Brian Smith about that one day but it's a position you have to be able to stack talent in the high school ranks Oregon's going to lose Terence Ferguson and Patrick Herbert after the season to graduation Kenyan sadik probably the number one tight end next year I think that's great they've got AJ pugliano and Roger s aaga in the class of 2024 one of those or both of those true freshmen could end up taking the field once Oregon gets the game in control on on Saturday against Idaho that game is a 430 Pacific Time kick on Big 10 Network for for those who don't know but Vander plug is a name that would make a lot of sense so Oregon uh has offered him tried to get in on his recruitment he hasn't visited Oregon yet but I am not aware of an immediate commitment date upcoming for the Blue Chip tight end Prospect so if Oregon could get a visit during the season that would certainly raise the chances like I If if you see everything right now surrounding him is you know they offered and there's a rumor a rumbling noise chitter chatter and all that sort of stuff nothing's incredibly serious right now but I expect this to be you know a name Andor a position that Oregon looks to add in the 2025 class because Michael Terry III has got a prediction from Steve Wilfong at on three to go to Texas now he's someone who can play tight end receiver running back defensive end linebacker like he's truly the number one athlete in the class of 2025 yeah it'd be great for Oregon to get him if he ends up going to Texas though plug is the guy to look forward to tight end position he's also been recruited by Utah UCLA Arizona State he is a West Coast kid that's a name that I I think Oregon fans that will continue to follow recruiting throughout the season which everybody should because there will be a handful more commitments for the Ducks throughout the year remember Aiden breelan committed last year the day of the Washington game in Seattle but I expect Oregon whose 2025 class has 15 players in it right now to land a couple more to get back inside the top 10 it'd be great if they got back inside the top five I think that'd be pretty tough uh given the way the last month on the recruiting Trail has gone so uh I still think Oregon is in a good spot they're at the number 12 class nationally according to 247 sports but they will have to get more players they won't just magically get inside the top 10 you got to get excuse me you got to get guys you got to get some Blue Chip guys and Vander plug would would certainly uh would certainly qualify there and he has maybe the most unique name of anybody uh that organ has recruited this cycle couple of housekeeping items before uh I wrap up today's show the Big 10 does not have divisions anymore which I think is great I think it's a good thing for college football the Big 10 Oregon's conference as weird as that sounds it's strange but that's where we are they released their tiebreaker rules for the big 10 championship game thought some of you might be interested to know if you didn't see it tiebreaker number one head-to-head plain and obvious tiebreaker number two the tied teams will be compared based on record against all common conference opponents okay so if you have a common opponent that Oregon is beaten and say Michigan or Penn State or whoever lost to then you get the tiebreaker there these tiebreakers rules look very similar to the way the Pack 12 had had it structured tiebreaker number three is perhaps the most interesting one the tide teams and this is in order so you go head-to-head first Common or record against all common conference opponents and then to number three the tied teams will be compared based on record against common opponents with the best Conference record and proceeding through the common conference opponents based on their order of finish within the conference standings that I believe is just a look at who has beaten the most highly ranked teams in the Big 10 based on their conference record compared to the other that's tiebreaker number three number four the tie teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of All Conference opponents number five representative will be chosen by uh sport sorts analytics and number six uh random draw among the tied teams I have any doubt that any tiebreaker would get Beyond number three if Oregon goes 11 and one no problem here you go 11-1 12 and0 you're in the Big 10 championship game you don't have to worry about such things but I saw that break and realized oh yeah wait that's uh that's that applies to Oregon now so thought I'd keep you up to dat if you have questions uh feel free to let me know shoot me note on Twitter or uh on if you're a locked on Duck Insider drop me a note over via subtext so couple more things one of you sent me a question including from the flock over there what my favorite football movie is this is tough I love Remember the Titans but do you know which movie I find myself watching far more than Remember the Titans The Longest Yard I'm a big fan I I love Chris Rock I love Adam Sandler the whole movie is great I'm a big longest yard guy love Remember the Titans absolutely that'd be my number two but favorite football movie yeah hey I go with the longest yard last housekeeping item of the show for today for those of you that uh have reached out about meeting up with me in person at uh the Oregon game on Saturday there is a plan that is now in place so I will be at a combination of tailgate spots Lots Z as in zebra 70 and 71 which as you can imagine are right next to each other they are in the southeast portion away from the stadium right next to the highway and across the street from reer South it's like some DMX slot or uh or or something I heard from a friend that that who's organizing the tailgate of course that that is what it is called that is where I'll be I'll probably be there by 1:00 or so uh and I will be checking my phone often to communicate with any of you that want to come over and say hi talk football you know uh whatever and such um if you've reached out to me about that before that's where that's where I will be if you have any questions shoot me a note as always but that is the plan lots z70 and Z71 in the tailgate area southeast of uh Aon Stadium or away from the the southeast corner of auson stadium so if you don't know where that is there's a map available on Google make sure you have the updated one cuz they changed the the lot numbers but uh again any questions let me know look forward to seeing you this weekend look Ford Oregon football being back thanks for making this your first listen go make locked on college football your second I host over there bringing you the biggest stories in the greatest sport on planet Earth which is back in full swing I absolutely love it every day Monday through Friday on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast appreciate everyone listening I will see you next time have a wonderful rest of your day and go Ducks