Feed the Studs: But Which Studs Should Oregon Feed?

The Oregon Ducks have all the makings of an elite offense in 2026. They have a returning stud quarterback, they have arguably the most talented receiver room in program history, and a pair of elite running backs coming into their own. Their skill positions are loaded.

Dan Lanning promoted from within for their offensive coordinator and they are banking on continuity for success in 2026. Will there be much change with the offense or more of the same under Drew Mehringer?

A popular phrase from the Will Stein era was “feed the studs.” What if you have so many studs that you can’t feed them all?  Oregon is potentially facing that situation in 2026.

The Dilemma Next Season

There is a problem facing Drew Mehringer and this offense next season. It’s not a bad problem to have, but it’s still a problem, nonetheless.

Who gets the rock?

The Ducks will be rolling out arguably the most talented offense in the history of the program. Returning is Dante Moore, an early Heisman favorite at QB. He will be throwing to four former-five star wide receivers in Evan Stewart, Dakorien Moore, Gatlin Bair, and Jalen Lott.  There is also Jeremiah McClellan, who had a breakout season in 2026, and Iverson Hooks, the transfer slot receiver Oregon just picked up.  

At tight end they have Jamari Johnson, who could be the early favorite as TE1 in the 2027 NFL draft. Joining him in the tight end room is five-star Kendre Harrison from the 2026 class and Andrew Olesh, a four-star from the 2025 class, who was ranked as the third or fourth best TE in his class (depending on which site you use). Oregon also signed Markus Dixon in the portal.

On top of all that receiving talent at wide-out and tight end, the Ducks have possibly the most talented running back room in the country. Jordon Davison will be back and healthy for 2026 to build on his stellar true freshman campaign, as well as Dierre Hill Jr and incoming four-star recruits Tradarian Ball and Brandon Smith. Oregon also has Da’Jaun Riggs, who will hopefully be healthy for 2026.

This team is loaded with firepower, and now it’s up to Merhringer and Moore to decide who gets the ball.

Oregon’s Offense is Built Around Balance

This last season, the Ducks ran the most plays of the Dan Lanning era. They had 988 plays on offense, which ranked 12^th in the nation. They have increased the number of plays every season under Lanning, from 940 in 2022, to 951 in 2023, and 959 in 2024. This is directly tied to the improvement of the defense and the increase in opportunities generated by takeaways and three-and-outs.

Oregon has slightly leaned towards the running game every season except 2023, when Bo Nix was an efficient throwing machine. But for the most part, the offense under Kenny Dillingham and Will Stein has been fairly balanced. 2023 was the only time this offense has even come close to being top 10 in either throws or runs.

Year	Pass Att/G	Rank	Run Att/G	Rank
2022	32.6	54	38.3	48
2023	36.6	18	31.0	106
2024	31.5	55	35.5	76
2025	29.4	87	36.6	51

2025 was the lowest pass attempts per game of the Lanning era. I think a lot of that can either be attributed to the weather in games against Iowa (21) and Wisconsin (15), or blowouts against Oklahoma State (21) and Montana State (23).

Overall, Moore attempted 412 throws in 15 games and completed 296 passes for a 71.8% completion rate. For comparison, Nix attempted 470 passes in 2023 and completed 364 for a 77.4% rate. That was a massive step up from the 409 attempts and 294 completions in 2022.

Will we see a similar increase for Moore in 2026?

Oregon Shares the Rock

The Ducks didn’t have a thousand-yard receiver in 2025. The closest was Malik Benson with 719 yards on 43 receptions. They spread the ball around, with five players at close to 500 yards receiving this season.

Player	Targets	Receptions	Yards
Kenyon Sadiq	67	51	560
Malik Benson	59	43	719
Dakorien Moore	54	34	497
Jeremiah McClellan	51	37	544
Jamari Johnson	40	32	510

Compare that to Ohio State, who had arguably the best receiver combo in the country with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. Their offense was hyper focused on getting the ball to those two players, and why wouldn’t you? Smith is a stud.

Player	Targets	Receptions	Yards
Jeremiah Smith	106	87	1,243
Carnell Tate	66	51	875
Max Klare	55	43	448
Brandon Inniss	46	36	271
Bo Jackson	20	19	200

Similar to Ohio State, you have the Indiana Hoosiers, who had three talented pass catchers to throw to.

Player	Targets	Receptions	Yards
Omar Cooper Jr	91	69	937
Elijah Sarratt	87	64	824
E.J. Williams Jr	48	36	438
Charlie Becker	45	34	679
Riley Nowakowski	36	32	387

Looking at these three tables, the Ducks did a good job of spreading the rock around, sometimes to the detriment of the offense. A lot of that had to do with the injuries to Moore and Gary Bryant Jr in week 9. With that said, these other teams know who their star players are and they get them the ball. Kenyon Sadiq only having 67 targets seems criminally low.

The Impact of the Running Game

In addition to the many talented players that Oregon had at receiver this season, they also had several very productive running backs who deserved touches as well. The Ducks had 532 attempts for 3,155 yards and an average of 5.9 yards per carry. They also finished the season with 35 touchdowns.

They did not have a thousand-yard rusher this season, though Noah Whittington came the closest. He had 129 attempts for 829 yards, while Jordon Davison had 113 attempts for 665 and Dierre Hill Jr had 74 attempts for 655. The three-headed monster was a big success for Will Stein this year.

Compare that to Indiana and Ohio State though.

Team	Attempts	Yards	YPA	TDs
Indiana	634	3,559	5.6	35
Oregon	532	3,155	5.9	35
Ohio State	457	2,269	5.0	25

This is very interesting, because once again Indiana and Ohio State fed one or two players for their production. The Hoosiers had two 1,000 yard backs this season, with Roman Hemby (1,118) and Kaelon Black (1,034) both finishing above the line. Ohio State had one back who hit that mark, with Bo Jackson finishing with 1,085.

While the Ducks didn’t have a thousand-yard back, they managed to finish within a few hundred yards of Indiana in total yardage and the exact same number of touchdowns in a hundred fewer carries. The power of explosive plays.

Feed the Studs or Spread the Rock?

Many fans were pushing for Will Stein to feed the studs more this season. Every time we saw a box score with a small number of targets for Sadiq or Dakorien Moore, the fans would openly question Stein’s offense and call for a higher number of touches for the star tight end or the highly touted true freshman receiver.

There was a question though, whether it was Stein or actually Moore who was struggling to get the ball to Oregon’s best playmakers. Will that change in 2026? Is it schematic or is it up to the QB to make sure the ball gets to the right place?

Oregon is capable of funneling the ball to their best players. In 2023, the Ducks had two 1,000 yard receivers in Tez Johnson and Troy Franklin. Bo Nix was able to target Johnson 106 times for 86 receptions and 1,182 yards. He threw at Franklin 114 times for 81 receptions and 1,383 yards.

Will Dante Moore pick favorites this season? Will he find his own Tez Johnson and Troy Franklin? He certainly has guys who are capable of that kind of production.

I do wonder though, if it isn’t in the best interest of the team to spread it around. There are so many weapons, and so many guys that will expect the ball. We saw the defensive line drained of depth this offseason because guys wanted to go somewhere to get an opportunity to play. How long will Oregon be able to keep this much talent together?

Or is it more important to pick the very best players and make sure they get theirs? Should Moore funnel the ball to Johnson, Dak Moore, and Evan Stewart?

As I said, it’s a good problem to have, but it is a problem…