David Shaw announces that running back EJ Smith is out for the season

Stanford running back EJ Smith is out for the season due to injury, Cardinal coach David Shaw revealed in his Tuesday press conference. Shaw did not specify the nature of the injury, though Smith appeared to suffer it in a Week 2 loss to USC.

“E.J. Smith will be out for the rest of the year,” Shaw said. “It’s injury-related, not going to go into any detail. I know it’s really disappointing for him, disappointing for the whole team. I think he’s a special young man, a special football player and was just really coming into his own. The future’s bright. This is something that needs to be taken care of now and I still expect him to be the special football player that we envision, that he envisions, sooner or later. It’s just not going to happen this year.”

In the two games he played this season, Smith totaled 206 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 30 carries. Those were all already career highs for him after he had 133 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries in 2021.

Because he played in only two contests, Smith is eligible to receive a medical redshirt.

EJ Smith is the son of NFL Hall of Famer and Dallas Cowboys all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith. He ranked as the No. 15 running back in the 2020 class according to On3 Consensus and was highly recruited out of high school. He ultimately chose to attend Stanford over offers from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and many others.

This past week against Washington, Casey Filkins stepped in with Smith out to record 100 yards rushing on 20 carries. So far this season, he has 197 yards and two touchdowns on 42 carries.

Filkins can be expected to remain the lead back with EJ Smith is out for the season injury, and will lead the Cardinal again Saturday when Stanford faces No. 13 Oregon at 8 p.m. PT on Saturday in Eugene.