Tag: Trey Benson

Oregon freshman RB Trey Benson enters name in the NCAA transfer portal

The Ducks have now lost two freshmen RBs in a matter of two days, with Trey Benson joining Sean Dollars in the transfer portal.

In a matter of two days, a pair of Oregon Ducks freshmen running backs decided to enter their names in the transfer portal, with Trey Benson joining Sean Dollars in looking for a new home.

Benson, who had six carries for 22 yards and a touchdown over 10 games this season, redshirted in 2020 after suffering a knee injury.

With the prospect of Byron Cardwell and Seven McGee returning in 2022 for sure, and the possibility of both Travis Dye and CJ Verdell coming back for one more year, it doesn’t come as a major shock that Benson would want to find a new running back room that isn’t quite as crowded,  but before long, it could look like Oregon’s depth at the RB spot is looking thin.

If neither Dye nor Verdell return for their final year, then the Ducks will be forced to rely on just McGee and Cardwell to shoulder much of the load.

We are still waiting a decision from both Dye and Verdell, and are getting more anxious as the transfers pile up.

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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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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.