Oregon Ducks wide receiver Evan Stewart was a major piece of the team’s passing attack a season ago, finishing the year with the second-most receptions (48), tied for second in receiving touchdowns (five) and was third in receiving yards (613) despite missing the final two games.
He was especially impressive in Oregon’s regular season upset victory over the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, in which he reeled in seven catches for a career-high 149 yards and a touchdown in the 32-31 win.
Entering his senior season, he was expected to step in as the Ducks’ go-to pass-catcher on the outside. A dangerous vertical threat who uses his speed well in excelling after the catch, he was shaping up to have a breakout season after entering college football as the No. 1 receiver in the 2022 class, per 247 Sports.
That expectation came to a screeching halt in early June when Stewart suffered a torn patellar tendon, starting the clock on a months-long recovery that may cause him to miss the entire 2025-26 season.
While the injury was surely tough on Stewart, his teammates and head coach Dan Lanning also felt for the injured receiver.
“It hurts my soul understanding how E-Stew went down and him not being here,” expressed quarterback Dante Moore, speaking at Oregon’s 2025 Media Day.
“He’s going to be down for a while,” Lanning told SI during Big Ten Media Days. “I don’t want to put a timeline on Evan. I don’t know how long that’ll be, but he’s on the road recovery and he’s done a lot for the Ducks. We love having him be a part of our team and hopefully at some point he can make an impact for us. But I don’t know exactly what that looks like.”
But, as what happens in the world of team sports, the collective group has to step up and fill the void left behind.
Tight end Kenyon Sadiq, who’s expected to receive plenty of targets this season, was asked…
Source link : https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/07/29/oregon-ducks-football-evan-stewart-injury-sympathy/85428281007/
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Publish date : 2025-07-29 22:18:00
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