Oregon’s passing game is drawing major national buzz before the 2026 season even kicks off, and the Ducks landed at the very top of CBS Sports analyst Blake Brockermeyer’s ranking of the 10 best pass-catching units in college football.
That No. 1 spot comes with a pretty obvious reason: Oregon has a deep, dangerous group of targets ready to work with returning starting quarterback Dante Moore. The headliners are wide receiver Dakorien Moore, wide receiver Evan Stewart, wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan and tight end Jamari Johnson.
Dakorien Moore enters his sophomore season in Eugene after a strong true freshman year in 2025. The 5-11, 195-pound receiver arrived as a five-star recruit in Oregon’s 2025 class and wasted little time making an impact, finishing with 34 catches for 497 yards and three touchdowns.
He also added 49 rushing yards and a rushing score. Moore missed several games last season, and 2026 gives him a chance to take another step.
He looks like a strong candidate to emerge as Dante Moore’s top option, though that role is far from locked up.
That’s because Evan Stewart is back in the mix. Stewart is heading into his third year at Oregon after earlier seasons with Texas A&M, and his 2024 production showed exactly why he was such a big-name addition.
As a junior for the Ducks, he caught 48 passes for 613 yards and five touchdowns. A big 2025 was supposed to follow, but it never got off the ground after Stewart suffered a torn patellar tendon over the summer before the season.
After a full year of recovery, he is set up for what is most likely his final college season in 2026.
Jeremiah McClellan also carved out a real role while Stewart was sidelined. The redshirt freshman posted 38 receptions for 557 yards and three touchdowns in 2025, giving Oregon another reliable piece on the outside. With Stewart back, the way Moore and McClellan share opportunities will be one of the more interesting parts of this offense.
Then there’s Jamari Johnson, who gave Oregon major production at tight end in 2025. Johnson spent his first two college seasons at Louisville before transferring to the Ducks after 2024, and he formed one half of a productive tight end pairing with Kenyon Sadiq.
Johnson finished last season with 32 catches for 510 yards and three touchdowns, while Sadiq went on to be selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. Johnson could have followed him into the draft, but instead chose to return to Eugene for another year.
Brockermeyer’s full top 10 pass-catching units for 2026 were Oregon, Miami, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Florida, Indiana, Alabama and Clemson.
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The Big Tens annual media days bring a familiar kind of preseason stagecraft, but for Oregon this week in Chicago it also marks the first real conference spotlight of 2026. Dan Lanning will meet the press at the Hilton Chicago alongside players Dante Moore, Jamari Johnson and Teitum Tuioti, with the Ducks represented across the event as the leagues coaches and players spend three days talking through the issues that tend to shape a season before it starts.
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Charlie Bird Had One Surprising Realization About The Oregon Duck
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Oregons Biggest Camp Battle Will Decide How Safe Dante Moore Is
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Spring gave the Ducks a first look at a mix of tackles and interior candidates, with younger players also getting a chance to make their case. Fox Crader, Zac Stacausky, Ziyare Addison and Michael Bennett were among the names getting evaluated on the edge, while Douglas Utu, Trent Ferguson, Kawika Rogers and Demetri Manning are in the mix inside, and freshmen Tommy Tofi and Immanuel Iheanacho could still change the conversation if they keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]
