Two of the biggest differences between Oregon and the four teams that made the College Football Playoff were linebacker play and the impact of elite, game-breaking receivers.

Oregon's addressed the gap at LB by adding two 5-star prospects in Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell along with Adrian Jackson's return from injury. All three are big and physical with sideline-to-sideline skills, the ability to cover as well as stuff the run.

At receiver, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and LSU just have dudes with insane levels of athleticism in the open field. Working against press coverage in LSU's 42-25 victory over two-time national champion Clemson, Ja'Marr Chase burned the Tiger secondary for 9 catches, 225 yards and three touchdowns.

Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama was a great college quarterback, but throwing to talents like Jerry Jeudy and Devonta Smith made his job rocking-chair easy at times. Throw it up and let them get it. Toss them a 10-yard pass and watch them elude four guys on the way to a 70-yard TD.

Separation? Guys like that are always open, and when they're covered, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and Jaylen Hurts had the option of tossing the ball toward the boundary and just letting them beat the defender.

It was a little harder than that for Justin Herbert. He's shined this weekend at Senior Bowl practice, named Player of the Week at the conclusion of drills, partly because his powerful arm gets fully displayed throwing to elite athletes with the talent to get open and make eye-popping adjustments to the football, even plucking it out of midair with one hand when necessary. At times the UO group had trouble coming down with a perfectly-placed pass between the numbers, while displaying only a limited and occasional ability to help their QB by making a difficult catch, the kind Chase, Jeudy and Smith fill a highlight reel with.

Receiver was a question mark coming in to the 2019 season for the Ducks after the departure of top target Dillon Mitchell to the NFL. Mitchell was 40% of Oregon's passing offense in 2018, racking up 75 catches for 1184 yards, more yards than the next three pass receivers combined, a security blanket Herbert would pull over his head at times.

Who was going to get open against the Auburn secondary, or beat very good cornerbacks when the Ducks faced division rivals Stanford, Washington and Cal, fans wondered.

Part of the answer became immediately apparent when Johnny Johnson III opened the year with a career-high 7 catches for 98 yards in the Advocare Classic. The game was a heart-breaking last-second loss that wound up keeping the Ducks out of the playoffs (along with a late-season stumble at Arizona State) but JJIII showed he was ready to make a huge leap forward after a disappointing sophomore campaign.

As the year went on Johnson emerged as Oregon's most reliable deep threat and a tough, clutch guy who could pull down balls in traffic. He tripled his 2018 catch numbers and nearly quadrupled his yards, turning in 57 grabs for a team-leading 836 yards with 7 TDs.

Those impressive numbers included 5 receptions for 90 yards against Washington, a scintillating 10 grabs for 207 and two scores at ASU.

Playing before his home folks against old high school buddies and rivals, Johnson played his best game ever as a Duck, a performance that suggested he wasn't done discovering how good he could be.

He followed that up with 6 catches for 87 yards and another touchdown in the win over Utah at the PAC-12 Championship.

Working with new wide receiver coach Jovon Bouknight, JJIII established himself as perhaps Oregon's most improved player on offense. He displayed better route-running skills and improved hands as well as the ability to hang on to the ball through contact.

New offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead excels at creating mismatches and "you're wrong either way" binds for the defense. Johnson's likely to benefit. His work habits and willingness to block could make him a threat to eclipse the thousand-yard mark in a more potent attack as opponents gear up to stop the running game, made more lethal with the addition of the quarterback keep and other RPO wrinkles.

Johnson's not a burner, but he's disciplined and experienced. His study habits should give him a thorough grasp of the nuances of the new playbook. He'll be a guy who can adjust to the new demands of reading the defense and knowing where he's supposed to be.

Beyond him, it's exciting to think about the Tyler Shough to Mycah Pittman connection in this attack. The two seem to have a natural rapport.

Even though he lost 7 games to injury in 2019, hurting his shoulder in fall camp and then breaking his arm against Arizona, Pittman served notice as a true freshman. He made tough catches over the middle. He dove low to save poor throws. He took a slant pass over the middle against SC and turned it into a 35-yard touchdown, shown above.

In the comeback win over Washignton, the young wideout from Calabasas also made one of Oregon's biggest plays of the year, a 36-yard touchdown catch on 4th and 2. Pittman motioned right as if to take the handoff on a Jet Sweep, but instead wheeled quickly left to take a bubble screen, following blocks by Bryan Addison and Hunter Kampmoyer to spark a three-touchdown surge in the second half.

In all Oregon's new number 4 caught 18 balls for 227 yards in his abbreviated first year. He showed even more resilience and toughness by coming back from his second injury, to haul in four passes for 30 yards in the Rose Bowl.

Another player who should profit greatly from the Moorhead scheme is senior slot receiver Jaylon Redd. Redd's dangerous after the catch and very effective off quick throws in the RPO game, adept at picking his way through defenders in space. He follows blocks well on short throws that are an extension of the running game.

Despite missing the Rose Bowl due to a personal issue the versatile speedster from Rancho Cucamonga racked up 50 receptions for 405 yards with 7 scores, also reaching paydirt twice on running plays.

Moorhead won't yet have a Jeudy or Dontae Smith in his offense, so he'll have to get guys open with scheme, complementary plays and misdirection. Fortunately he excels at that. These proven targets should be even more productive in a more creative offense, and newcomers like Kris Hutson and Devon Williams could emerge as the deep threats the Ducks have sorely missed having in three years of pedestrian football.

A run-first attack needs balance to keep teams from loading the box, ways to exploit safeties who creep up unafraid of getting burned over the top. If the receiving group can build on the significant improvements of 2019, the 2020 offense could be formidable indeed.

Going further down the depth chart, Josh Delgado, Lance Wihoite, Addison, Isaah Crocker and Devon Williams all have talent. Daewood Davis was the fastest guy on the team in testing a year ago. Moorhead's a innovator, just the guy to elevate one or two of these guys and make them superbly productive.