Oregon Ducks receiver Evan Stewart’s NFL Draft stock comes with one major question: Will he return better-than-ever after a torn patellar tendon injury ended his 2025 season?
Stewart is entering arguably the biggest season of his football career, and the Ducks are looking for a go-to weapon for quarterback Dante Moore, who lost his top-two receiving threats from 2025 in receiver Malik Benson and tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
The senior Stewart clearly still has a reputation among football analysts, as the former 5-star recruit landed on an important NFL Draft list.
Evan Stewart’s NFL Draft Stock After Season-Ending Injury
The Athletic ranked Stewart as the top senior wide receiver prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft. This is great news for Stewart, as his NFL stock remains high despite not playing since 2024. Stewart has yet to record a 1,000-yard college season, but his strong traits jump out for evaluators, who see a potentially electric NFL player when studying him.
In his first Oregon season after transferring from Texas A&M, Stewart finished second among Ducks with 48 receptions for 613 yards and five touchdowns. He had at least one catch in 12 of 13 games played and recorded a pair of 100-yard receiving games. He consistently generated chunk plays, finishing with 23 receptions of 10 plus yards, including seven gains over 20 yards and multiple catches of 60 plus yards.
Stewart came up big when the Ducks needed him most, vs. the Ohio State Buckeyes in a top-three matchup: he caught seven passes for a career-high 149 yards and a touchdown.
So while his production might not jump off the page yet, his explosive route running and flashy play has kept him in great position for the 2027 NFL Draft. Now, he gets a great opportunity to show that his injury has not slowed him down.
There is another side to this story. With NFL evaluators needing to see Stewart – plus Moore’s projected first round stock – the Ducks’ passing offense could be one of the most watched of this college football season. NFL scouts are surely booking a lot of flights to Eugene.
Stewart’s NFL projections vary quite a bit. Early 2026 mock drafts, before the injury, had Stewart drafted at 14th overall to the Dallas Cowboys. His current outlook appears to be mid-round range, with first round upside. The last Oregon wide receiver drafted in the first round was Ahmad Rashad in 1972, so Stewart has the chance to make history.
The top three receivers with the highest draft stock overall come at no surprise: Ohio State Buckeyes’ Jeremiah Smith, Texas Longhorns’ Cam Coleman and Indiana Hoosiers’ Charlie Becker.
Evan Stewart Reveals New Mindset
Stewart has been vocal about his offseason priorities, which are focused on eliminating specific weaknesses from his game before his final season of eligibility.
“My weaknesses. I never really worked on my weaknesses. My weakness was really dropping the ball early on in my career. I just had lackadaisical drops, and then I worked on it, and got really good at catching,” Stewart said of his goals this summer.
Stewart also spoke about how Oregon’s coaching staff challenged him in ways previous stops may not have. Once he arrived in Eugene, the Ducks identified several areas of improvement, circling the level of detail Oregon expects from receivers with NFL potential.
“That’s really just been the whole mindset – work on your weaknesses, and if I turn the weaknesses into strengths, I have no weaknesses,” Stewart said.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning also offered some insight into the hard work that Stewart has been putting in behind the scenes.
“This has been Evan’s best spring since I’ve been here. I’m really excited about the growth. I think when you have something that’s not there for a while, and you don’t get the opportunity to do it, you’re really hungry when you come back. And I’ve seen the maturity from him. I’ve seen him really level up in execution, be a guy that we can count on this spring,” Lanning said.
Stewart’s bounce back has a chance to be massive for the Oregon football team that is again pushing to contend in the Big Ten Conference and College Football Playoff. Plus, a healthy season alongside Moore could soar Stewart’s NFL stock.
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