Oregon Ducks Receiver Traeshon Holden Reveals Biggest Change Heading Into 2024

Oregon Ducks senior wide receiver Traeshon Holden reveals how he has improved from last season, the relationship he has with his teammates, and stepping into the right mentality as the Ducks enter the Big Ten conference.

Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden stretches during practice with the Oregon Ducks Friday, Aug. 9, 2024 at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oregon Football’s receiver corps has a chance to be the Ducks' best ever, highlighted by mentioning senior and returning Duck Tez Johnson and Texas A&M Aggies junior transfer Evan Stewart. However, senior receiver Traeshon Holden isn’t bothered by all the talk: He’s ready to do the walk.

“Not at all. They gonna see. Everybody can see. Watch,” Holden said after Oregon's practice on Tuesday.

Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden stretches during practice with the Oregon Ducks Friday, Aug. 9, 2024 at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Holden is one of three senior receivers rounding out a 15-strong position room. He played in all fourteen games last year for Oregon, amassing 452 yards off of 37 receptions and 6 touchdowns. Shaping up to be one of the leaders of the 2024 flock, Holden is stepping into a more mature role. 

“I feel like the biggest thing I've grown (from last year) was probably my mental. Dan Lanning was coming to me every day, because people on a scale of one to ten, he'll just say, like, how are you leading? And I feel like that helps me every day,” Holden said. “And I have sure matured, definitely a lot.”

Holden’s leadership includes giving praise to his Ducks teammates, especially those in the receiver room. Through the cluttered chatter of social media speculation posts and sports talk show banter, Holden stays supportive amidst stiff fall camp competition.

“I mean, for me I think about it, like, shoot, don't worry about me,” Holden said. “I never really pay attention to it and I don't really worry about it, but because it's like, I'm glad they gave them that attention, like, that's me. They work that hard to get it, and I ain’t a hater. So, like, every time somebody post about them, I posted it to like, they my boys.”

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning speaks during Oregon football’s media day Monday, July 29, 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Holden’s stance on leadership falls in line with the recent mantra of Oregon Football: Ubuntu. The word, originating from Africa, translates to “humanity towards others” as well as “I am because we are.” This is a philosophical viewpoint of seeing individuals as contributors to an overall community; something Oregon is trying to instill in their athletes.

“At first, you know, when I heard it, I'm like, what is that? Holden said. “But once he broke it down and showed us, like it's a family, I feel like it's definitely bringing the room closer, like he got the young guys who had to make him get up and explain their definition of it, like little stuff like that.”

Holden wants this receiver group to be scary to opposing defenses, and he believes that walking beside brothers, not just teammates, can mold a unit into a real terror on the field as the Ducks take on the Big Ten conference in 2024.

“I mean, like, our main goal is to win championships,” Holden said. “So like, we gonna have to do what we got to do. And I feel like as a family, you know, you got to do what you got to do, sometimes, you know you might not like that, your role, your position, but it's like, if you on this team, with what we're trying to do, you got to just buckle down your role.”

Every individual athlete got a plan on their role for the Ubuntu from the Oregon coaches. The better they rise to their expected contribution, the better “we” becomes.

“So everybody got their own little separate plan, and, like mine, was just all the routes, like, depths. So, mine was that everybody got the only individual for sure,” Holden said.

Fall camp means everything is a work in progress, for a veteran like Holden, you can see his perspective on the competition has become much less about fighting for his name to get out there, but more about doing the work.

“I feel like it's a building like, you know, building isn’t gonna be perfect. You know, first scrimmage ain't never perfect. But I feel like everybody came out there with the right energy, and like everybody had the right mindset, for sure,” Holden said.

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