Oregon Football: Herbert to Jacob Breeland Will Beat Bears
By James Vos
Mycah Pittman and Brenden Schooler are (most likely) returning to the organizational chart against Cal, but Justin Herbert already found his number one receiver in Jacob Breeland.
Just a few weeks before the Ducks went down to Dallas for Week One, the Ducks receiver room looked pretty rugged.
Brenden Schooler, Mycah Pittman, and Juwan Johnson all went down with injuries of varying degrees, and it left a ton of question marks for a unit that struggled last season, and desperately needed to improve.
I don’t have to tell Oregon fans (or Cal fans, this week) that injuries can be season-killers.
There are a lot of teams around the country that wouldn’t be able to survive an injury to just one of those three valuable players, let alone all of them. But judging by the productivity and increased efficiency of this year’s receiving corps, it’s clear that “next man up” isn’t just a buzzword at Oregon.
Despite the absence of Pittman, Juwan, and Schooler, Herbie has still managed to find out exactly how deep this pass catching crew is.
Jaylon Redd loves finding the end zone. Bryan Addison’s size and speed has already set him apart. And JJ3 has somehow been the most reliable pass catcher of the bunch—as opposed to last year.
Everyone has taken a huge step forward, and they’re definitely going to continue improving as the unit gets deeper. But I don’t think I’d upset anyone by declaring that tight end, Jacob Breeland, is the top target on this football team.
Watching Justin Herbert and Jacob Breeland connect on a play action seam route is *almost* as pure as watching Ruthy and Sabrina run the pick and roll. It’s been said before, but it is Shakespeare, the way it was meant to be played.
In just four games, easy breezy Breeland has already matched his career season mark for touchdowns (5), and he also set a career-high for yards (112) and longest reception (66) vs Nevada. The guy is on a collision course with the tight end record books at Oregon, and I firmly believe he’ll be a Mackey Award finalist at the end of the year as the best TE in the country.
It’s not *typically* a great sign when offensive passing attacks run through the tight end position. But in the Ducks’ injury-riddled moment of need, and with a pro-level duo, the rise of Herbreeland was a much-welcomed surprise.
Herbie loves having his own personal Justin Peelle in the passing game. Especially when the two keep connecting on back shoulder throws that out-Stanford, Stanford. Those three straight summers spent running routes over at Sheldon High School are obviously paying off in the senior campaigns for the QB-TE super friends.
As for Saturday predictions:
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According to Cristobal, Juwan is still “day-to-day,” and seeing as how he’s been “day-to-day” since before the Auburn opener, I don’t expect to see much of him on Saturday. Pittman and Schooler will probably be back, but depending on how long it takes to shake off the rust, I’m not sure when to expect them to be key contributors.
Even though Cal has a stout defense, I think this Saturday is truly going to be the offense’s second coming out party.
Herbie is going to keep slinging the ball to Redd, Addison, and JJ3—and Pittman, Schooler soon enough.
Verdell, Felix, and the run game is going to open up as the passing attack gets even bigger.
Avalos’ Nightmare defense will make the Garbers-less Cal offense ask, “Gang Green who?”
But more, much more than all of that, Herbie to Breeland is going to break through Evan Weaver and that “vaunted” Golden Bears’ secondary to the tune of 8+ receptions, 80+ yards, along with a score, or two, or three.
Breeland buries the Bears, 42-3.
Go Ducks.