Oregon’s receiver room is already loaded for 2026, but Jeremiah McClellan made it clear after practice on Aug. 21 that the Ducks are still sorting out how the newcomers fit into that mix.
McClellan, one of the returning names headlining the group alongside Evan Stewart and Dakorien Moore, said the day-to-day focus in fall camp has stayed simple: handle your work and play at full speed.
“I would say the focal point is just doing our job, doing our assignment, and playing fast. I would want to say, and I feel like we're doing a great job with that right now as a offense.”
That approach matters in a room where every rep is crowded with talent. McClellan said the competition has sharpened everyone around him, and he likes the pressure that comes with it.
“I would say the most exciting part about being in a in a talented room like this is just being able - you have to bring your A game every single day. You have to come out here and compete every single day. Every game every day is going to be a game, so you just got to come out here and compete every day.”
He also said the group is feeding off one another, with different receivers picking up details from different teammates and coaches.
“You could pick up things from everybody in the receiving room. Like (Evan Stewart), I pick up a lot of things from Stew, Dakorien.
Like we just help each other out in so many different ways. And you have so many different coaches in the room that see and help critique you in different ways to help you get to where you want to be at.
So, I would say it's a great thing right now, though.”
McClellan specifically pointed to Stewart’s return as a major boost.
“I will say having Evan back out there is amazing. Evan's a game changer. So just having him back out there and having him back out there with me and (Dante Moore), and (Dakorien Moore) is amazing.”
The room’s younger players are making noise, too. McClellan said Hudson Lewis has turned in a strong camp, Jalen Lott has settled in quickly since arriving in the summer, and Messiah Hampton has handled the transition from spring to now extremely well.
“I would say they're growing a lot. Hudson Lewis is doing a great job.
He's had an amazing fall camp this fall camp, and he's been doing good. Jalen Lott, he got here in the summertime.
He's picked up the offense really well.”
“Messiah Hampton is doing an excellent job, too. He had an amazing transition from spring till now.
So, it's just everybody in the rooms having a great fall camp. So, I'm just excited to see how it plays out this year.”
McClellan also had plenty to say about freshman Gaitlin Bair, who spent two years on an LDS mission and is still working his way back into the game. Early on, McClellan said, Bair looked like a player shaking off rust. Now, the speed is showing up in a big way.
“I would say early on, you could tell he was still like getting back into it and things like that. He hasn't like really been playing football.
Now he's playing football. Like now he's more like he's being more of a football player.”
“He's starting to, like, offense is starting to slow down for him. He's starting to know what he's doing on different like all of his all of his assignments and things like that now. So, he's really growing right now, and he has to just keep growing.”
And then there’s the number that grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Yes. Yes. 24 miles an hour. He's a speed demon for sure.”
McClellan said he hit 23.3 miles an hour that day, but Bair got to 24.
“I hit 23.3 that day, and Gait hit 24 miles an hour. I was like, "Whoa!”
You feel me? So I was just, Gait was sliding.
He was definitely sliding that day. His knees was picking up really fast.”
McClellan also said the physical edge in Oregon’s receiver room shows up even when the ball isn’t in their hands.
“I would say we embrace that a lot. Just blocking without the ball, like turning our body up when we don't have the ball, things like that, I would say it's in our nature just to be physical in that room.
So, just always making sure we're blocking to create those explosive plays, far backs, tights, things like that. It's amazing.”
As for the big picture, McClellan kept coming back to the same idea: if the Ducks do their jobs and play fast, things should take care of themselves.
“I would say we just go out there and do our job and do our assignment and play fast. I would say we go out there and do that. We should just be fine.”
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