by Rob Moseley

Editor, GoDucks.com

With apologies to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, it's Dwayne Stanford who's been “a rock” for Oregon's offense in preseason camp.

That was the term UO coach Mark Helfrich used Saturday to describe Stanford's performance through a week of camp. A junior who started 13 games in 2014, Stanford has been a dependable target for Oregon's quarterbacks entering the team's first major scrimmage of camp on Tuesday morning.

“He's running the right routes, blocking the right guys, helping out the quarterbacks,” said Jeff Lockie, who quarterbacked Stanford and the rest of the first-string offense through the first week. “Definitely a guy you can rely on every day.”

Last season, Stanford caught 43 passes for 639 yards and six touchdowns. He started all but two games on Oregon's march to a College Football Playoff National Championship appearance, following a year lost to a knee injury in 2013.

As a true freshman in 2012, Stanford was a reliable member of the kickoff return team, utilizing his 6-foot-5 frame. He continues to be an asset blocking in that special teams role, and on the perimeter in the run game.

Stanford's size also makes him a dangerous target in the red zone; his leaping, twisting catch in the back corner of the end zone against Washington was one of the Ducks' most dazzling individual efforts of 2014.

Despite all that, Stanford didn't feel secure in his role entering this offseason. To the contrary, in fact.

His receiving numbers were only fourth-best among returning players for the Ducks, behind Byron Marshall, Devon Allen and Darren Carrington. Stanford knew Bralon Addison would be back in the mix for 2015, and that Oregon's receiving corps would add talented freshmen like Jalen Brown, Alex Ofodile, Kirk Merritt and Malik Lovette as well.

“I just knew we had a lot of guys coming back, a lot of receivers,” Stanford said. “I wanted to be one of those guys the coaches felt like they had to get the ball to. I didn't want to be just another guy out there. I wanted to make sure I was getting opportunities.”

That motivation translated into what all involved say was an impressive offseason.

“All our guys worked hard in the summer,” UO receivers coach Matt Lubick said. “But I think he worked extra hard. The effort, what he's doing on the field, he wouldn't be able to do that without the work he put in this summer. And it's contagious, too.”

Stanford's spark to the receiving corps is evident every time he makes a catch. His nickname is “Too Tall” — sometimes just “Too” — and as he made catches with increasing frequency over the past week of practice, so too increased the number of times a teammate could be heard to shout from the sidelines, “Yeah, Too!”

Carrington, Marshall and Brown have all had days when they could claim the best highlight or two on the practice field. Stanford might not be as acrobatic as Carrington or Brown, nor as speedy as Marshall or Addison, but he's been most consistent among the wideouts so far.

“He's competing at a very, very high level, in all phases,” Lubick said. “He's finishing catches, he's playing really physical and he's being a leader by example, which is huge.”

For Stanford, that's all a result of not wanting to be lost in the shuffle. Instead, it made him one of Oregon's top standouts through the first week of preseason camp.

“He's just consistent,” Lockie said. “It started this summer with his work ethic and showing up every day. And he kept it going perfectly into fall camp.”