Oregon Football Signee Spotlight: WR Ashton Cozart
Continuing on with our 2023 Oregon Ducks Football signee spotlight we're breaking down wide receiver Ashton Cozart from Flower Mound, Texas. Cozart is one of two signees in the receiver room from the high school ranks with the other one being five-star Jurrion Dickey.
SIGNEE SPOTLIGHT: 2023 Oregon WR Jurrion Dickey
Vitals
-Height/Weight: 6’3”/193 pounds
-Hometown: Flower Mound, TX
-High School: Marcus High School
-Distinction: Under Armour All-American
Evaluation
Cozart uses his size to his ability to make plays down the field. He was a taller wide receiver at the high school level and spent a majority of his time as the outside receiver on an island against defensive backs.
With his size also comes speed that allows him to shake defenders off when running his routes. A majority of his touchdowns came from simply being the faster man and getting that first initial step in his route break down.
When he's tested in press coverage is when you get to see his route development really come out. What's also impressive in the film is how many plays were 20 yards or more downfield rather than quick and go routes.
He's just as shifty when he gets the ball as he had a habit of making defenders whiff on attempted tackles. Safety help didn't affect his play as he used his frame to make those consistently took the top off defenses.
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The recruitment, how it happened
Cozart began to see offers hit the table during and after his sophomore season in 2020-2021. He was first offered by Arizona State, Kansas, Miami and Mississippi State.
He brought in a ton of offers all over the country within all conferences. A few notable schools that offered the wideout include Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Michigan.
The Ducks first offered the four-star in March 2021 when Bryan McClendon was the wide receivers coach. Cozart took a few unofficial visits in the Sunshine State with Florida and UCF in June of 2021. The Oklahoma Sooners offered him at the end of the same month.
After visiting Oklahoma in February 2022 Cozart committed to the Sooners. He stayed committed until the following May after taking an official visit to Eugene. Two days later he committed to the Ducks.
Cozart held onto his commitment going into early signing period and made things official. The wide receiver enrolled early at Oregon during the winter quarter.
Outlook at Oregon
The wide receiver room next season will be loaded with so much talent both returning and joining the mix. The Ducks are returning a pair of veterans in Troy Franklin and Kris Hutson.
Chase Cota was the third man in the starting rotation and will be pursuing his professional career in the NFL after exhausting his eligibility. The man behind him, Dont'e Thornton entered the portal and transferred to Tennessee.
Oregon will be looking to spice things up in this room with some new faces potentially making some noise. Redshirt freshman Kyle Kasper, who was a four-star recruit and a top player in Arizona, could see some great opportunities to earn more snaps. Oregon will also be adding Dickey from the 2023 cycle, who was ranked the No. 2 receiver in the nation by 247Sports.
The Ducks also added former Troy wide receiver Keyonteze Johnson and former Alabama wide receiver Traeshon Holden from the transfer. Holden was dismissed from team following an arrest in early February, but all the charges were dropped, bringing his future back into question.
Cozart has the talent to create some opportunities for early playing time. There will be a lot of things to get through for him and all the new faces in the receiver room as they battle it out in both spring and fall camp.
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Rankings rundown
247Sports Composite rating: 4-star (0.9169)
247Sports Composite ranking: No. 224 Natl., No. 32 WR, No. 39 in TX
Rivals rating: 4-star (5.7)
Rivals ranking: No. 70 WR, No. 87 in TX
On3 consensus rating: 4-star (91.86)
On3 consensus ranking: No. 214 Natl., No. 30 WR, No. 38 in TX
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