Ahead of what figures to be a semi-rebuilding year in the 2025 college football season, Oregon might have suffered another major loss. The Ducks' top returning receiver, Evan Stewart, sustained an injury in early June that is believed to threaten his availability in the upcoming season.

Stewart, a rising senior, suffered a “significant” lower-body injury in practice, per CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz. The undisclosed injury is believed to be severe enough to potentially cause him to sit out the entire 2025 season.

With Tez Johnson, Terrance Ferguson and Traeshon Holden departing for the NFL, Stewart was Oregon's top returning receiver from the 2024 season. The former five-star recruit recorded 48 catches for 613 receiving yards and five touchdowns in his first year in Eugene.

Before joining Oregon, Stewart spent his first two college football seasons with Texas A&M. He committed to Dan Lanning and the Ducks from the college football transfer portal in the 2024 offseason.

With Stewart on the mend, tight end Kenyon Sadiq, who posted 308 receiving yards in 2024, becomes the team's top returning receiver. Oregon will need Florida State transfer Malik Benson, Julius Lowe and five-star true freshman Dakorien Moore to step up in his absence.

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Evan Stewart's injury gives Oregon another setback

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning looks on during the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium.
Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Despite winning the 2024 Big 10 Championship Game in its first season with the conference, Oregon appears destined for a regressive season. The Ducks had a program record 10 players taken in the 2025 NFL Draft, including two — Derrick Harmon and Josh Conerly Jr. — taken in the first round.

Of its drafted players, Oregon also lost quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Lanning did not seek Gabriel's replacement in the transfer portal, instead choosing to host an in-house battle between former UCLA transfer Dante Moore, four-star freshman Akili Smith Jr. and former four-star recruit Austin Novosad. Moore, who appeared in nine games for UCLA in 2023, seems to have the early lead.

Despite the losses, Lanning insists that the 2025 season will not be a rebuilding year. In any case, Oregon faces an uphill battle to defend its 2024 Big 10 title in arguably the toughest conference in college football.