Traeshon Holden Talks Receivers in Fall Camp
With a group headlined by players like Tez Johnson, Evan Stewart, Traeshon Holden and Gary Bryant Jr., some believe that the best wide receiver room in college football is located in Eugene. Junior Adams has assembled another elite group of pass catchers heading into the 2024 season and there’s plenty of weapons that are a threat to score every time they touch the ball.
On Tuesday, senior wide receiver Traeshon Holden met with reporters after practice to discuss his growth since the 2023 season and give his thoughts on the wideouts, with the season opener against Idaho just over two weeks away.
Below you’ll find a transcription of part of that press conference and some of my thoughts on Holden and the wideouts.
Question: How do you feel like you’ve grown the most from your time last year and then transitioning this offseason, kind of growing that leadership role?
Holden: “I feel like the biggest thing I’ve grown is probably my mental. That was probably me and Lanning’s—he’d call me on every day like, he’d be like on a scale of 1 to 10, and he would just say like how are you leading? And I feel like that helps me every day. I’ve for sure matured, definitely a lot.”
Question: How excited was your room for that first scrimmage on Saturday?
Holden: “We were really excited. We treat it all like games, so everybody was in there locked in, ready to go. We got some things to build on, but I feel like it was cool.”
Question: How would you describe the scrimmage?
Holden: “I feel like it’s a building block. It isn’t gonna be perfect. The first scrimmage is never perfect but I feel like everybody came out came out there with the right energy. Everybody had the right mindset for sure.”
Question: As a wide receiver room, what were some of your guys’ goals coming into practice this week?
Holden: “They had the coaches make our own plans that we think we need to work on. So everybody has their own separate plan. Mine was just all the routes, like depths, mine was that. But everybody has their own individual (plan).
Question: What have you seen from Evan (Stewart) this fall?
Holden: “I’ve been seeing he’s been making plays. Today, I feel like once he gets the playbook, it’s hard to learn—once he really gets that locked in, it’s going to be scary for everybody. But he’s making plays for sure.”
Question: The wide receiver room is getting a lot of national attention. It feels like the first two people usually mentioned are Tez and Evan, what does that do to you? Does that motivate you? How does that make you feel?
Holden: “For me, I think about it like shoot—don’t worry about me then. I never really pay attention to it and I don’t really worry about it. I’m glad they’re getting that attention. They worked that hard to get it and I’m not a hater. So every time somebody post about them I post it too, they’re my boys.”
Question: Do you feel overlooked?
Holden: “No. Not at all. They’re gonna see. Everybody gonna see, watch. I’m telling y’all.”
Torres’ Take
I’ve been a fan of Holden for a while now. I’ve felt like he has plenty of talent to contribute at a high level, but the targets just haven’t been there for him. With Troy Franklin now in the NFL, maybe that will free him up for some more looks from quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
His play against Washington late in the Pac-12 title game was a glimpse of what he’s capable of and why he played at Alabama coming out of high school.
He’s saying all the right things as a veteran in the room and he certainly feels like a “glue guy” that will help instill the culture Lanning has built. With Stewart and Johnson being on the smaller side at 5’11” and 5’10” respectively, Holden’s role could start growing by becoming Gabriel’s safety blanket. But make no mistake he’s got tons of big play ability and yards after the catch potential.
