Who's on the Oregon Mount Rushmore of running backs?

Rushmores are a handy sports shorthand for the four greatest ever in a given category: the Mount Rushmore of baseball pitchers, the Mount Rushmore of Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers, coaches, national champions, you name it.

If fans set out to choose a Mount Rushmore of Oregon running backs, do they simply google the stat sheet and list the four highest career rushing totals, or do they consider eras, impact, playing styles and offensive systems? It's a tricky conversation.

Like many offseason sports conversations it's for entertainment purposes only, No one is rushing out to buy a chisel or stake off a section of Spencer's Butte. It's 94 days until kickoff of Montana State at Oregon, and fans need a break from arguments over the structure of the playoffs and news of the latest Oregon decommit.

It's fun to relive the speed, explosiveness and courage of the best to ever do it at Oregon.

When this series began with the Mount Rushmore of Oregon football and the Rushmore of Duck quarterbacks, Autzen Zoo placed it in the context of the original, actual Mount Rushmore, four great American presidents, Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln, chosen to represent the birth, growth, development and preservation of The Republic.

It turned out most fans don't want that much context or nuance. Polling social media and message boards, most answered in terms of their four favorites or the four with the best stats without diving into eras, significance or contributions.

Hey, it's a beer-and-peanuts topic. No one can tell anyone else how to answer.

Statistically, the four career leaders in rushing yard are:

1 Royce Freeman 2014-17 5,621
2 LaMichael James 2009-11 5,082
3 Kenjon Barner 2009-12 3,623
4 Derek Loville 1986-89 3,296

The fifth is Travis Dye with 3,111, but few remember him as a career leader since he finished his career at USC. Loville, too, is a name most don't think of in a "greatest ever" context, because one, he played a long time ago and two, he played on teams that didn't win as much or make TV as often as the Ducks do now.

For a Mount Rushmore, a monument, the conversation has to go beyond the stat sheet. Who moved the needle as well as the line of scrimmage?

I'd choose these four, though a terrific case could be made for many different names, Ahmad Rashad, Mel Renfro, Saladin McCullough, Onterrio Smith, Rueben Droughns, Barner, Blount, Jeremiah Johnson, CJ Verdell. Thanks to Gary Campbell, the Ducks have had more than 20 years of great runnning backs.

Oregon Mount Rushmore of Running Backs

1. LaMichael

2. Royce Freeman

3. J-Stew

4. Bucky Irving

To arrive at these four it's important to consider creativity, determination, consistency, toughness and explosiveness as much as yards and carries.

It's very hard to leave Barner off the face of the mountain, but he was a complementary back in a hurry-up system, a player you'd include on a Rushmore of all-purpose backs along with Mel Renfro, Ahmad Rashad/Bobby Moore and De'Anthony Thomas.

One player I won't abide on any list of all-time great Oregon running backs is Thomas. The Black Momba never ran for more than 701 yards in any season as a Duck.

DAT was all about moments and highlight plays, turning a safety around, burning the Kansas State Wildcat kickoff team. He turned it on for bowl games and dazzled on two carries in the 2012 Rose Bowl.

Explosive? Exciting? Yes. But he didn't have the gravitas or staying power of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt or Lincoln.

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