Oregon Football clearly has strength at Running Back for the upcoming season.
On Monday, Athlon Sports announced their top tandems in the backfield for 2017. Alabama, Georgia, and Penn State behind the strength of Saquon Barkley topped the list. Oregon was the second Pac-12 team mentioned behind the Washington Huskies.
Lavon Coleman and Miles Gaskin will be a handful for teams that face Washington. The team ranked 7th. One behind is Oregon Football. The Ducks return one of the elder statesman in the Pac-12 in Running Back Royce Freeman. The Senior is also one of few to have been at Oregon for three coaching staffs starting with Chip Kelly, continuing to Mark Helfrich and now being a key to Willie Taggart’s first season as Head Coach.
With Taj Griffin moving to Slot Receiver, there are still plenty of options for the Ducks behind Freeman. The likely number two is Tony Brooks-James, but Taggart could also use Kani Benoit for a change of pace.
Royce Freeman is coming off an injury plagued season, but could pay big dividends this season. He is within reach of several milestones, including the 5000 yard mark for his career at Oregon. A solid season will certainly raise his NFL Draft Stock which should put back into Late First/Early Second Round conversations late in the season.
Next: Marcus Mariota Back To Scoring Touchdowns
Oregon Football is entering their second week of Fall Camp. The team seems a lot more together than they were last season. The Ducks kickoff 2017 hosting Southern Utah on Saturday, September 2nd. (5:15pm PT, Pac-12 Network)