Traeshon Holden, WR, Oregon
Size:
Height: 6021
Weight: 205
Arm: 31 ⅝”
Hand: 9 ⅞”
Accomplishments:
Four-star recruit
“Traeshon Holden is a physical receiver who uses underrated movement skills and space understanding to gash defenses over the middle of the field.”
Strengths:
Vertical route tree
Space location
Physical blocker
Top-of-the-route movement
Concerns:
Tight movements in the short area
Release package
Initial burst
Film Analysis:
Traeshon Holden ranked as a consensus four-star wide receiver in the 2020 recruiting class and a top-10 receiver in California. He started his high school career at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, but transferred to Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California for his senior season. He compiled 31 catches for 512 yards and seven touchdowns in seven games before committing to Alabama. He saw time as a freshman in 2020 due to Jaylen Waddle’s injury but didn’t record a catch before recording 46 catches for 570 yards and seven touchdowns in the next two seasons. From there, he transferred to Oregon, where he finished his collegiate career with 82 catches for 1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns across two seasons as a Duck.
At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, Holden boasts the prototypical “X-receiver” body type and lined up predominantly on the outside for most of his collegiate career. He’s a physical blocker at the point of attack and looks to punish whoever is in his path while showcasing a good understanding of body positioning to give ball-carriers lanes to free space. He can be over-aggressive, which leads to falling off blocks or defenders pulling him through. Cleaning up his technique will make him an even more impactful blocker.
Holden isn’t the most explosive out of his stance and has an exaggerated hitch, almost a coiling of his body, preventing him from quickly putting defensive backs on their heels. He needs to add more variation to his releases at the next level, but he angles his body out of the way well to avoid jams while getting into his route stem. His second, third, and fourth gears getting up to speed are much quicker, allowing Holden to sell vertical routes. Adding a layer of intentionality inside or outside to his route stem will be beneficial, but he attacks the top of his routes and defenders quickly to create space where he wants to go.
His route breaks are inconsistent and have occasional rigidity, but he can carve out space over the middle of the field when he accelerates through them. His deceleration on hitches, curls, and out-breaking routes was better than I expected for his size but comes with occasional tightness. He had a decent-sized route tree at Oregon, but his vertical and over routes were where he shined as a receiver. Holden was quick to react post-route to locate space, but against zone coverage, he’ll need to settle down more frequently to exploit the soft spots.
Holden played in offenses where contested catches and jump balls weren’t often exercised, but he showed strong hands through contact the few times they asked it of him. He adjusted well to footballs with placement issues with regularity and showcased a good catch radius. After the catch, he’s a limited stop-and-start player, but when he’s at speed, he can locate space and make a man miss occasionally to get into it. He won’t force a ton of missed tackles, but if he catches the football in a free lane, he can house it.
Holden is an intriguing size/movement receiver with impressive physicality as a blocker and build-up speed. His vertical route tree is impressive, but consistently creating against man coverage and finding the soft spots in zone underneath will take some developing. He projects as an X-receiver who will give an offense good blocking snaps and test defenses vertically and over the middle of the field.
Prospect Projection: Day 3 — Developmental Traits
Written By: Daniel Harms
Exposures: Boise State (2024), Ohio State (2025), UCLA (2024), Michigan (2024)
