The Ducks have endured five full weeks of the college football season using duct tape and twine to hold together a wide receiver group that was essentially gutted due to multiple long-term injuries suffered during fall camp.

However, fingers crossed, it appears they won’t have to go a sixth week without some of their biggest prospective difference makers at the position.

In case you need reminding, Brenden Schooler (foot), Mycah Pittman (shoulder), and Juwan Johnson (calf) have all been missing in action since August after picking up lengthy injuries that have prevented them from competing thus far in 2019. That could all change this weekend, though, as Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal mentioned Monday during his weekly press conference that he is “optimistic” that both Schooler and Pittman will be full-go to participate in game week preparations for Cal before (hopefully) seeing the field in meaningful fashion on Saturday.

Cristobal admitted that Johnson was a little behind both Schooler and Pittman in terms of his rehabilitation, but did say that the grad transfer from Penn State has seen “significant progress” over the past several days and could be a player for fans to monitor (perhaps more so than past few weeks) in the lead up to game day.

So what might this all mean for the Oregon offense heading into their Pac-12 home opener vs. the Golden Bears?

For starters, it means Justin Herbert will finally have arguably his best collection of weapons in the passing game since taking over the starting quarterback job from Dakota Prukop as a true freshman in 2016. That year, Darren Carrington, Charles Nelson, Pharaoh Brown, Johnny Mundt, and Jalen Brown served as Herbert’s top targets. In 2019, with Schooler, Pittman, and perhaps even Johnson returning to a group that has seen reliable leading men emerge in Johnny Johnson, Jaylon Redd, Jacob Breeland, and Bryan Addison, it’s hard to deny the myriad options that reside within that unit.

More specifically, it strengthens a unit that has already overachieved despite the injury bug’s bite. Certainly Herbert deserves credit for aiding in the development of Johnny Johnson, Redd, Breeland, and Addison, but that foursome also deserves their fair share of recognition for stepping up and changing the skeptical narrative that had surrounded them stemming from their struggles last season. By adding Schooler, Pittman, and Juwan Johnson to that group, the best thing the Ducks currently have on offense (the passing game) gets that much better, which may see Oregon shift further to a team that leans more on Herbert’s arm than it does a running game which has all too often faltered this season.

And who’s to say that the prospective return of Schooler, Pittman, and Johnson won’t actually help the running game become more productive? Given the surprising level of success the Ducks have enjoyed through the air through four weeks of action, the return of what is arguably Oregon’s top three receivers may force more defenses to remove defenders from the box in order to combat an already potent aerial attack that has just received a major shot in the arm. That could mean more opportunities for maligned running backs like CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, who have yet to make the impact that was expected of them before the season began.

The true effect of the collective return of Schooler, Pittman, and Johnson may not be fully realized for a few more weeks, but it’s hard to envision a scenario in which the Oregon offense isn’t soon operating at its full functioning capacity – whatever that may be – once this jury-rigged unit receives some key personnel upgrades.