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Seven McGee Spending Most of His Time at Wide Receiver Amid Flurry of Injuries

The running back will help the receiving group that has lost three receivers over the past two weeks.
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The Oregon wide receiver group has taken an absolute beating over the past couple weeks with the loss of three strong receivers.

The first hit came from Mycah Pittman announcing his departure from the football program. The the second came when Mario Cristobal announced that seniors Jaylon Redd and Johnny Johnson III were injured and out for the rest of the year.

Down three players that all played significant snaps, the wideouts have seen drastic changes over the past couple weeks.

“Jaylon and Johnny––I think, in a lot of ways, are really difficult to replace, especially from a leadership standpoint,” Cristobal said following Wednesday's practice. “So not having them playing, certainly it’s a blow to them, it’s a blow to us, but they're providing great leadership in the meantime with the rest of their teammates and making sure that they understand how important every little detail of preparation is.”

Looking at the pass catchers listed on this week's organizational chart, tight end DJ Johnson, who is questionable for Saturday, is the only player upperclassmen following the injuries. Offensive Coordinator Joe Moorhead

“I think the young guys did a really nice job during the week,” Moorhead said on Monday. “Taking the information from the meeting room and applying it on the field in practice, and there weren’t a ton of assignment busts.”

One player in particular poised to step into a larger role with the receivers is freshman running back Seven McGee, who looks like he'll be working with the wideouts the rest of the season, listed as the No. 2 H wide receiver behind Kris Hutson

“He’s spending the majority of the day with the wide receivers,” Cristobal said. “For two reasons: Number one he's done really well at it and the second one is we had some guys go down there. He’s excelled. He's done really really well.”

This won’t be the first time that McGee has been called on to catch passes this year. Against Arizona he had a nice 27-yard reception. At the time, the offense had been struggling for much of the third quarter and McGee's burst helped kickstart the group as they headed into the always-pivotal fourth quarter.

McGee also had an 11-yard reception against UCLA, and a career-high three receptions for 21 yards against Colorado.

“Really athletic and natural. He’s explosive, fast guy,” Cristobal said when reflecting upon his previous games when utilized as a receiver. “Great hands.”

McGee has also been promoted to field punts for the Ducks in the absence of Pittman. Against Utah he fielded the only two punts, but didn’t return either of them.

With the loss of three receivers, it seems that McGee will have a great opportunity to make an impact in the remaining games.

McGee continues to draw parallels to De’Anthony Thomas, who is a very similar player and was also featured as a passing option in the Oregon offense. If McGee can establish himself as a strong receiving option for the rest of the season, it adds another weapon to the Ducks offense to use.

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