Jurrion Dickey hits offseason milestones, sets sights on breakout Sophomore year

Coming into college, the spotlight was already on Oregon Ducks wide receiver Jurrion Dickey.

He was a 5-star prospect, and one of the highest-rated recruits to sign with the Ducks in school history. As the No. 2-ranked WR in his recruiting class, his talents were unquestioned, and his ceiling was sky-high.

To say that eyeballs were on him is an understatement. Then he announced his jersey number.

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No. 99 was an unconventional choice for a wide receiver, but Dickey seems to be an unconventional type of person. Rather than fitting into the mold of a braggadocious playmaker who enjoyed playfully trash-talking his teammates during practice, Dickey more resembled a loquacious State Senator at Oregon’s Media Day on Monday, giving buttoned-up answers when provided the platform to boast.

Who is the best EA Sports College Football 25 player on the team?

“My opinion is I feel like we’re all great.”

Which defensive back on the roster gives you the biggest challenge?

“I’ll say they all challenge me in different ways. We’ve got a really good DB group.”

Does Oregon have the best WR group in the nation?

“I believe that we have a great group, and I believe that other colleges in the world have a good receiver group as well.”

Getting a passionate quote out of Dickey at media day didn’t come easy, but when asked to talk about his most recent change — switching from No. 99 to No. 13 going into 2024 — the former Bay Area-baller opened up a bit.

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“I set a standard to wear No. 13. I set a goal for myself,” Dickey said. “I had to lose weight to a certain weight. I had to push weight to a certain weight. I had to get my grades up to a certain GPA for me to obtain No. 13.”

Dickey came to Oregon weighing 225 pounds. Oregon’s offensive coordinator Will Stein challenged him to get down to 205 to be more agile and get to jump-balls easier.

Dickey is now down to the 200-205 range. He also says that he nearly doubled his bench-press numbers since coming to Eugene, and is much stronger and leaner going into his sophomore campaign.

“To me No. 13 was a challenge, and only for me to get it if I beat my challenge.”

The next challenge? Carving out a role in this offense that is loaded with what he says is among the best group of wide receivers in the nation. Guys like Tez Johnson, Evan Stewart, Traeshon Holden, and Gary Bryant are all ahead of Dickey on the depth chart, while others like Kyler Kasper and Justius Lowe are in the mix to grab a share of the targets as well.

It’s not going to be an easy task, but becoming a major piece of this offense is a goal that Dickey has set out for himself, and something that he will be striving for over the next several weeks and months.

So far he’s been checking off goals left and right. Just add this one to the list.

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