Oregon spring football preview: Running back

Oregon is set to open spring practices on March 10. There is plenty of excitement surrounding Dan Lanning’s program, and there is no shortage of storylines related to the Ducks’ roster. In the coming days, ScoopDuck will have you covered with position-by-position previews that highlight a key returner, key newcomer, and a breakout candidate at each spot.

Next up: the running backs.

Previously:

• Quarterbacks

Scholarship players

• Byron Cardwell (Sophomore)
• Sean Dollars (R-Soph.)
• Jordan James (Signee)
• Seven McGee (Soph.)

Key returner

Byron Cardwell

What a freshman campaign it was for Byron Cardwell.

At the start of the 2021 season, it seemed as though game reps would be hard to come by for the former 4-star signee. But when CJ Verdell went down with a season-ending injury, Cardwell and did a tremendous job as Travis Dye’s primary backup.

He finished the year with 417 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries and delivered some big late-season performance when Oregon was still very much in the College Football Playoff picture. Now, he will take on a new role as Oregon’s No. 1 ballcarrier and aim to fill the void left by Dye and Cardwell, who have both left the program.

Cardwell showed flashes last season of a player who is capable of thriving at the Pac-12 level. It won’t hurt that he’s going to be running behind an offensive line that returns five starters in 2022, and it will be intriguing to see just how high his ceiling is.

Key newcomer

Jordan James

It’s not going to be easy for Oregon to replace the talent it lost at running back this offseason.

The Ducks will have to adapt to life without Dye and Verdell — the No. 5 and No. 6 all-time rushers in program history. They also lost Trey Benson in January after he transferred to Florida State. A room that appeared very, very crowded last year is now much less so.

There is an upside to all that attrition, though: it enabled the Ducks to add a running back to their signing class. That addition turned out to be Jordan James, an uber-talented back who was once committed to Georgia before flipping to Oregon.

James is not an early enrollee and will not be on campus in the spring, so Duck fans will have to temper expectations until August. For the time being, here is a glance at what kind of player Oregon is getting in James.

Breakout candidate

Sean Dollars

Earlier this year, it appeared Sean Dollars’ Oregon career had come to a premature end.

The redshirt sophomore entered the transfer portal in early January, only to eventually pull his name out and announce he was returning to Oregon. That turn of events could prove to be significant in 2022.

Dollars was once heralded as the next great Oregon running back when he first signed with the Ducks. A consensus 4-star in the class of 2019, he was tabbed as the No. 2 all-purpose back in the country. He utilized a redshirt in 2019, played a reserve role in 2020 in which he rushed for 81 yards on seven carries, and then saw his 2021 season get derailed by a knee injury.

He did not play a snap for the Ducks last year, but now theoretically will have every opportunity to get his career back on track in Eugene.

Oregon boasts a running back room that is stocked with talent, but short on Pac-12 experience. There’s no reason Dollars can’t hit the ground running and become a highly-productive, exciting player in 2022 if he remains healthy.

Of note:

Seven McGee could be in the mix at running back for the Ducks, too. But he’s also going to get some reps at slot receiver. Spring ball will be a pivotal point in the former 4-star signees’ career as Dan Lanning and his staff decide on where he fits best in Kenny Dillingham’s offense.