Seven McGee – Page 3 – Syndication Server

What can we expect from Oregon Ducks running backs with CJ Verdell sidelined?

With CJ Verdell done for the year, who can we expect to step up for the Ducks in the backfield? It may depend on the situation…

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One of the biggest injury blows that the Oregon Ducks have received so far this year came last week when it was announced that star running back CJ Verdell would miss the rest of the season with a lower leg injury.

In a year where Oregon has battled a flurry of injuries, this one will be among the most impactful.

Not only was Verdell an important player for the Ducks, be he was arguably the biggest driving force of the offense, totaling 397 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground, with another 83 yards and two touchdowns receiving as well.

Without his production out of the backfield, it is reasonable to ask where the Ducks will go to get a large portion of their yards and points going forward. You can expect that fellow RB Travis Dye will have a big hand in shouldering the load, but it’s impossible to believe that he will assume the entirety of the load left behind by Verdell.

This is where the freshmen come in. Oregon is luckily pretty deep at the RB spot, with a trio of Seven McGee, Trey Benson, and Byron Cardwell all seeing the field at various times so far this season. We don’t have a large sample size of what they can do just yet, but we’ve seen enough to believe that they can step up when called upon.

“A lot of these young guys have to step up a lot more and they might not have expected to this early, but we’re going to be alright,” Travis Dye said earlier this week. “They’re hungry for it, they want it. It’s going to define itself, who it’s going to be and whoever it is I have full trust.”

While the goal is to replace the production from Verdell, it’s pretty clear that the Ducks’ won’t try to do so with the presence of just one RB, but rather deploy all three players at different times in order to find success. If it is a short down situation or a time where a conventional back is needed, we can expect Benson or Cardwell to get the action, while McGee will likely get the call when a passing situation arises, or should Dye need a breather.

“We feel they’re game ready,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “The way that we rotate, the way we configure the reps from camp all the way till now, they’re pretty evenly split up. Those guys have had a truckload of reps and they’ve performed well to where we feel they’re game ready. There’s no hesitation or reservation there. So we’ll let it eat.”

In a game against the Cal Golden Bears on Friday night where the Ducks are expected to be able to build a lead, we can expect to see what the young guys can do down the stretch. It won’t likely just be one of them that gets the major share of the workload, though. In Eugene, we can now expect a true running back by committee.

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Seven McGee hopes to carry on legacy set by DeAnthony Thomas, Marcus Mariota

Both DeAnthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota had an influence on Seven McGee’s decision to come to Oregon, where he now hopes to further the Ducks’ legacy.

It was over three years ago that running back Seven McGee officially committed to the Oregon Ducks. Now, finally with the team as a true freshman, McGee feels at home inside the program after having waited so long to come to the great northwest.

“It’s a blessing,” McGee said after Thursday’s practice. “It’s a blessing for me, it’s a blessing for my family to just be able to come to college and be around Coach Cristobal and this great team. It’s wild. I’ve been waiting 3-4 years, it’s definitely a blessing.”

With such a deep stable of talented running backs around him now at Oregon, there were initial thoughts that McGee might have to bide his time a bit until he finally saw the playing field. However, with second-year freshmen Trey Benson and Sean Dollars missing extended periods of fall camp due to injuries, a spot has opened up in the depth chart.

That’s a spot that McGee is hoping to fill.

While the majority of attention in the backfield is going to be focused on the two-headed monster of CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, don’t be surprised to see McGee turn some heads this coming season. He is a strong runner with a body type that many Oregon fans will have fond memories of. Standing at 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds, McGee looks similar to a DeAnthony Thomas coming out of the backfield.

In fact, it was the legacy left behind Thomas and the 2015 Ducks squad that helped encourage McGee to ultimately choose Oregon. Led by Marcus Mariota, that team defeated Florida State in the Rose Bowl and fell just short to Ohio State in the National Championship game. That had a major impact on McGee’s recruitment.

“If I’m being real, it was DeAnthony Thomas and Marcus Mariota,” McGee said. “At a young age, seeing them play in 2015 against Florida State and making it to the national championship, coming up short, it was big for me. I just wanted to bring the culture and just recreate what they came up short.”

Fans likely won’t remember that game against Ohio State very fondly, but the trip was much greater than the destination, and it had a great effect on players who Oregon was recruiting.

Now, with some of those players finally coming through the program, the Ducks will have a chance to go back and get a little bit of vengeance, starting in Week 2 of the upcoming season when the team travels to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes.

For McGee, a win in the Shoe would be a big step towards picking up where his predecessors left off.

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Cristobal and staff grade young players in first fall scrimmage

Oregon conducted its first scrimmage of fall camp inside Autzen Stadium where the defense had the advantage.

It was almost like the real thing.

For the first time this fall camp, Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks football team scrimmaged inside Autzen Stadium in front of the season ticket holders and other fans.

“It was great to have our fans out here because they’re a big part of what we do at Autzen Stadium. It was just great to see them,” Cristobal said after the practice under the lights. “We’re very grateful for them being here and we know they can’t wait to be a big part of Sept. 4.”

As expected, the defense out-performed the offense as this Oregon defense has a chance to become something special. Despite missing cornerback DJ James and safety Jamal Hill because of an earlier incident with law enforcement, the secondary came to play.

Redshirt freshmen Trikweze Bridges made a case to become a starter with some of his play. He’s 6-foot-3 with a wingspan of 7-foot-2, which should be considered a huge cornerback and is a big advantage.

As for the offense, it was a mixed bag, according to Cristobal.

“I thought Anthony (Brown) early had some pressure,” he said of the Ducks starting quarterback. “(He) delivered some good balls. Some were more accurate. Some were not. There were some bright moments and some you’d like to have back.”

To be fair, it’s going to be difficult to judge the offense’s ability to move down the field on a consistent basis early on this fall. At least offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has three weeks to iron everything out before Fresno State comes calling.

Cristobal also gave praise to freshman quarterback Ty Thompson, who looks leaps and bounds better than he did in the spring thanks to a summer workout program and just being around his teammates and the facility.

“He was decisive tonight. When there was pressure, he found a way out most of the time,” Cristobal said. “Towards the end of the two-minute drill, he didn’t eat the ball. Sometimes a freshman with think, ‘I don’t want to throw an interception.’ He was very precise for most of the evening. I thought he made good decisions in the running game as well.”

Some of the other young players hoping to practice well enough to see playing time are linebacker Treven Ma’ae and running back Seven McGee, who might have the upper hand at being the starting punt returner.

The Ducks will take Sunday off from the field, but they’ll continue to weight train and have a speaker come talk to the team. Cristobal said he’s planning to have one or two speakers a week come in and share their insight on the topics they happen to specialize in.

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Ducks Depth Chart Preview: Running backs are ready to run wild

Oregon has a deep and talented running back group in 2021, led by the dynamic duo of CJ Verdell and Travis Dye.

It’s been a long time, if ever, when the running back position has been this deep and this talented on the Oregon Ducks football roster.

Thanks to several years of top-notch recruiting, that statement can be said of nearly every position group. But when it comes to the running backs, it’s nice to know that Oregon has two backs that could start on most Pac-12 teams with CJ Verdell and Travis Dye.

Beyond that pair, the Ducks could insert a number of redshirt or true freshmen and feel comfortable that there wouldn’t be a severe drop-off in production.

This might be the season where Oregon gets to see what Sean Dollars is fully capable of. Still considered a redshirt freshman because of the pandemic, 2021 will be Dollars’ third season in the Duck program. Coming out of Mater Dei High School, Dollars was the No. 2 tailback in the nation. Oregon is hoping his injuries are finally in his past and that Dollars can hit paydirt in the end zone many times this season.

Who are the other players that might see the field, though? Here’s our prediction, with a breakdown of each player.

Spring Position Preview: CJ Verdell, Travis Dye lead Oregon’s experienced backfield

Led by CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, the Ducks running backs might be the best duo the country has to offer.

The Oregon Ducks have enjoyed the services of a lot of quality running backs in its history, but the dynamic duo of CJ Verdell and Travis Dye has the chance to eventually go down as one of the best.

Both are juniors that already have plenty of accolades attached to their names. Verdell has already gone on record as to saying he wants to rush for 2,000 yards this season. Oregon has never had a tailback go for 2,000 yards in a single season, but if someone has a chance to do it, Verdell could be the guy.

Oregon will most likely rely on its running game this season with an inexperienced Pac-12 quarterback calling the signals, so offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will likely be calling Verdell’s number a lot throughout the year.

Having his number called in virtually every situation is something Verdell is used to. In his freshman season, he rushed the ball 202 times in 13 games for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns. Verdell equaled his initial success his sophomore season with 198 rushing attempts for 1,220 yards and eight scores. In 2020, the junior was slowed by a couple of injuries that allowed him to just gain 285 yards (57 ypg) in five contests and three touchdowns.

Now fully healthy, Verdell believes he and his team is due for a monster season.

“The main goal here ever since Coach Cristobal took over the program and going in the direction we’ve been going is to definitely get into that playoff and win a national championship,” he said in a press conference last week.

If those goals are to be accomplished, Verdell is going to need Dye to shoulder some of the load. Dye is the speed back with Verdell’s power.

No longer considered Troy Dye’s younger brother, Travis has turned into a quality tailback himself and is a weapon receiving the ball as well. At 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, Dye has 37 career receptions for 467 yards and six touchdowns through the air.

When Verdell was sidelined much of the latter half of 2020 with a thumb injury, Dye became the starting tailback where he flourished. In those seven games, he gained 443 yards and averaged nearly seven yards per carry.

In goal-line situations, the Ducks relied on Cyrus Habibi-Likio, but the power back decided to move on to Boise State, leaving those situations to Verdell and Dye.

Behind those two main tailbacks, redshirt freshman Sean Dollars was looking to see more playing time, but he suffered a considerable leg injury, so he won’t see action until the middle of the season, according to Cristobal.

True freshman Seven McGee, a four-star recruit from Rochester, NY, won’t be on campus until June. So Aaron Smith, a 5-11, 205-pounder from San Jose, Calif. has received the other snaps in Spring practice. Whether he sees the field come September remains to be seen, but just being able to get those early reps in is going to be invaluable to him.

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