University of Oregon Secures The Services of Wide Receiver Tabari Hines

The college football season might not start for a few more months, but the University of Oregon Football team might have already picked up an early win for this upcoming season.

Heading into the season with a glaring need at wide receiver, Oregon was able to secure the services of Wake Forest graduate transfer wide receiver Tabari Hines, who chose to commit to Oregon over the University of Texas, and Pac-12 rival USC. Hines visited all three schools over the past three months, and in what shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, once he got a look at the campus in Eugene and the people he’ll be playing with, it was basically a done deal.

Standing 5’11 and weighing 175lbs, Hines caught 53 passes for 683 yards and seven touchdowns for the Demon Deacons last season. Intrigued by the idea of becoming a leader for a young cadre of wide receivers, and playing alongside a quarterback with an enormously bright future in Justin Herbert, Hines stated his decision to come to Eugene was just as much about the people involved — especially head coach Mario Cristobal — as it was about the on-the-field fit.

Those relationships were especially important, considering Hines left the east coast after his relationships with the coaches at Wake Forest began to decay over the course of the season. Even though he started each of the last four games on Wake Forest’s schedule last year – and piled up 35 catches for 433 yards and six touchdowns in those games, it was clear that he had no interest in returning to team next fall.

Hines grew up an admirer of the Oregon football program, stating he grew up watching players like Marcus Mariota and DeAnthony Thomas bring the program to national prominence. So when Herbert reached out to Hines, stating how it would be beneficial to the team to have more of a veteran pass catcher added to the group, he found it hard to pass up such an opportunity.

Operating out of the slot position on the majority of plays (and likely returning kicks as well), Hines will instantly become an electric playmaker on a team that’s admittedly thin on pass-catchers. With wide receiver Malik Lovette recovering from an injury, the team only has eight scholarship wide receivers, though they’ll add two true freshmen in JJ Tucker and Isaah Crocker. But other than that, the incumbent receivers include junior wide receiver Dillon Mitchell (517 yards and four touchdowns), sophomore Johnny Johnson III (299 receiving yards and a touchdown), and junior Brenden Schooler (274 yards and three touchdowns).

Many people consider Herbert to be one of the next great quarterbacks in college football, and potentially become a very high selection in the NFL Draft, whenever he leaves Eugene. So, surrounding Herbert with talented players to reel in his throws is obviously important. With guys like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Luke Falk all heading to the NFL, Herbert could very well position himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the Pac-12, if not the best outright.