EUGENE -- With nine days to go before Oregon's Aug. 30 season opener there remain more questions than answers for a Ducks receiving unit that brings back 24 receptions but none of its top four receivers from a year ago.



How quickly will junior Bralon Addison, injured in April, return to games, if he chooses to at all? Who replaces Josh Huff as Oregon's best downfield target? Will someone emerge from the field of a half-dozen candidates to take over Oregon's hybrid run-catch "Tazer" position? Can they add to their reputation as some of country's best perimeter blockers?



Senior Keanon Lowe, the unit's leader who had 18 of those catches and dozens of blocks a season ago, has a message for those who can't watch Oregon's closed practices: Check back in a few weeks and see if you still have questions.



"I'm excited for everyone to stop questioning the receivers in 10 days or whenever we play because I'm more excited than I've ever been about this core of receivers we have," Lowe said. "I have no worries and I'm completely confident with the group we're going into this season with.

"I think we can be one of the best, if not the best, receiving corps in the country."



To be in that conversation the receivers must prove they're as deep as they've contended throughout fall camp. Lowe, fellow senior Johnathan Loyd, junior B.J. Kelley, sophomores Chance Allen and Dwayne Stanford and freshmen Jalen Brown, Darren Carrington and Devon Allen are all mentioned as potential cogs in the rotation.



And yet the hesitance is understandable. Loyd is not-quite six months removed from playing point guard for Oregon's basketball team and hasn't played football since his senior year of high school. Kelley's rare speed has been held back by inconsistent hands. Stanford injured a knee 16 months ago. Brown is a true freshman. Collectively, this unit owns 63 career catches.



To those concerns, Oregon has maintained there is power in its numbers.



"I've only been here two years but this is the most depth we've had, it's exciting," receivers coach Matt Lubick said on Aug. 8. "Last year we played four guys and this year I'm hoping we can play six or seven because it's going to make everyone else better, to keep them fresh."





Devon Allen caught two passes in the spring game but each went for a touchdown of at least 45 yards.

UO will give its pass-catchers plenty of opportunities to show why they deserve to be in the rotation. Quarterback Marcus Mariota's 3,665 passing yards in 2013 were the second-most in single-season school history, and that followed his 2,677 yards as a redshirt freshman -- No. 10 all-time at Oregon.



Without an obvious marquee receiver such as Huff -- whose various school records set in 2013 included single-season marks for 100-yard games (six) and yards (1,140) -- on this roster, those receptions might be spread around evenly. Few spread the wealth like Mariota, who can extend plays with his running ability and 65.8 percent career completion percentage, the best in school history.



"If you go back to the spring game the touchdown he threw to me was all Marcus," said Devon Allen, who caught touchdowns of 45 and 49 yards in the spring game. "He rolled out of the pocket, juked a couple guys and kept the play alive and found me in the end zone. That's easy for him. That makes my job easier and all I have to do is catch it."



Now the receivers hope everyone else will catch on to the unit's depth and talent they say they witnessed even before Addison was injured and the questions began.



"We have a lot of guys who can play and guys who are ready to compete," Lowe said, a smile across his face Wednesday afternoon. "It'll be fun and exciting for the fans because they don't know a lot of us. I have no worries, and I'm completely confident with the group we're going into this season with."



-- Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif