After a season that saw Bucky Irving rush for 1,180 yards as a junior before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former running backs coach Carlos Locklyn leave for Ohio State, Oregon has a new man and a new stable in the running backs room.
Ra'Shaad Samples was the man hired to fill Locklyn's shoes, joining the staff in April as both running backs coach and assistant head coach. Now, with five months on the job, Samples is excited about the toy box he was left.
"How these guys have taken to me I've really appreciated," Samples said. "How coachable they've been (as well). I won't say it's a surprise, but it feels good when you walk into a room of guys who had a coach (that) they had a really good connection with and we're able to build a connection also."
According to Samples, there won't just be one toy to use either as several backs are expected to see time in 2024.
"The thing you want in a running back room is a stable of guys," Samples said. "The bell cow days are over in this game. You need a room full of really good backs. That's what we're trying to establish, that's what we're trying to push, that's what we're trying to accomplish."
Roles and depth chart statuses have yet to be determined, but Samples knows how the pecking order and utility of his sable should be sorted out. He stated that he wants to, "have three or four guys."
The Four
The crew of four to see work in the 2024 season looks to be clear cut, with last year's No. 2 back Jordan James the odds-on favorite to lead the team in rushing yards. Noah Whittington follows next, with Jay Harris and Jayden Limar rounding out the final two spots.
James was special as the second back for the 2023 Oregon Ducks, rushing for 759 yards and 11 scores on just 107 carries. His 7.1 yards per carry not only led the Pac-12, but college football as a whole. It wasn't the only category he led the country in either, as Pro Football Focus graded out the junior's season as the best of any running back in the country with a 94.8 grade out of 100.
As the expected feature back — regardless of bell cow status — a big 2024 could be in store for James as he enters his first year of NFL draft eligibility.
Before James truly broke onto the scene in 2023, Noah Whittington was also in the backfield mix for the Ducks. Unfortunately, his season came to an end when he suffered a season-ending injury in week four against Colorado. In April, Lanning was on record as saying that Whittington was, "Ahead of schedule," in his rehab process. While he didn't play in the spring game, he seems on track to return at some point in 2024.
While Whittington is a known quantity in both the ground game and receiving game — rushing for 779 yards with 146 receiving yards in 2022 — the biggest hurdle he'll have to overcome in his rehab process is his mental one according to Samples.
"He's been fine out there so far," Samples said about Whittington. "I don't know if I can speak on if he's going to be contact or no-contact, but for (Whittington) we talk about all the time that it's the mental process. Coming back from an injury, the most important part is the mental, right? I think he's back, I think he feels good. He has some spurts where you can see some of that dynamic ability."
Harris is the most interesting case of a player not just in the running back room, but perhaps on the field as a whole. It isn't often a player transfers from the Division II level to the Division I FBS level, let alone to a Power Five (Four?) school let alone one with national championship-level talent.
But Harris, all the way from Northwest Missouri State, is here. And at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, he already looks the part of a Division I running back. As a sophomore at Northwest Missouri State, he was named an All-American and finished his career there with 1,381 yards and 23 touchdowns on 333 carries.
The now-junior also excelled in the spring game, having a handful of nice runs while also showcasing himself as a talented blocker — the later part of which is often an unsung importance of running back play and the selflessness of which Samples has loved.
"(Harris) as of lately and this whole fall camp has become really selfless," Samples said. "He's let his shell down, let his guard down with me. (He) spends a lot more time with me, he's starting to ask questions. He's really trying to take the process by the horns and it's been showing up on the field... He's got to attack the process and understand the game's a little bit different, but at the end of the day it's football. As long as you understand your assignment, know what you're doing and can compete at the highest level, eventually you'll get to where you're supposed to be if you've got the talent."
Limar rounds out the core group, as well as being the youngest on the list. The former-four-star was considered the No. 16 running back in the country by 247Sports coming out of high school and certainly lived up to the pedigree early, appearing in 11 of Oregon's 14 games in 2023 with 109 rushing yards as well as 61 receiving yards.
"Jayden is Mr. Consistent," Samples said. "He's a grown man. I know he's young, we were just talking about it yesterday, he's young but he has a process about everything he does. He's very well thought out, very articulate in the film room. So I think you know what you get from that guy and it's hard to count out a guy who's consistent, who shows up every day and works."
He still has plenty of talent ahead of him but with Samples seemingly wanting to mix and match the backfield heavily, an expanded role for Limar in his sophomore season may be in the cards before he could potentially be the featured back for the 2025 Ducks squad.
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