Ducks Grab Another Home Run Threat at RB
Earlier this week it was announced that sophomore running back Tre Carson was leaving the Oregon Ducks. Coach Chip Kelly told the media that Carson was transferring to be closer to home in Texas. His loss along with the departure of LaMichael James to the NFL leaves Oregon very young at the running back position. The only senior on the roster is Kenjon Barner and the other four backs are all sophomores and one red shirt freshmen. The three sophomores are De’Anthony Thomas, Kenny Bassett and Ayele Forde with Antwan Baker being the freshman.
The spot could be filled by highly recruited incoming freshman Byron Marshall. Marshall is a 5’10”, 195 lb. running back from Valley Christian High School in San Jose, CA. Rivals.com listed him as a four star recruit and the eighth best running back, the 17th best prospect in all of California and the 114th top prospect nationally. The scouting service even compares him to current Cincinnati Bengal running back Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis.
Other recruiting services also had the future Oregon Duck rated highly. Scout.com had him as a four star recruit and the 18th best running back in the country. 247sports.com also had him as the eighth best back, 15th best prospect in California and the 102nd best talent nationally.
Marshall played in the 2012 US Army All-American game. He committed to Oregon over schools like California, Arizona State, Washington, USC and Notre Dame. Marshall has an older brother, Cameron, who plays running back at Arizona State. The future Oregon Duck was recruited by running back coach Gary Campbell and visited the school according to Rivals.com on January 20th.
Marshall is known for having great speed and is a physical runner. According to maxpreps.com, he had 136 carries for 914 yards his senior season at Valley Christian with 9 touchdowns. He showed his breakaway speed with his longest touchdown run being 80 yards against Sacred Heart Cathedral on October 28th. He added seven receptions out of the backfield for 86 yards and one touchdown.
His numbers were lower in his senior season because he missed two full games a majority of a third with a shoulder injury. As a junior, he had 1,632 yards and 23 touchdowns. He should be fully healthy when he arrives to school and it is going to be difficult to keep a talent like Marshall on the sidelines. Any coach will tell you it is a great problem to have so much young talent in one position and it is even better for Marshall to enroll as two other Ducks leave the program. You will be hearing Byron Marshall’s name a lot in the near future.
Check out my blog at www.sportissue.com
Follow me on twitter @RaymondMenckeJr, https://twitter.com/#!/RaymondMenckeJr
Follow the site on twitter @Autzen_Zoo, https://twitter.com/#!/Autzen_Zoo
Also check us out on Facebook on the Autzen Zoo page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Autzen-Zoo/218278984920632