Oregon Ducks Running Back Competition Heating Up

Breaking down the deep roster of running backs competing for a starting job during Oregon Football’s 2024 season.

Oregon running back Jordan James makes a catch during the Ducks’ fall camp Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

With a much deeper roster compared to the 2023 season and plenty of veterans vying for starting spots, Oregon Ducks football has a good problem on their hands. Even in the first episode of the Oregon Football fall camp documentary, “That Team Out West,” Fox Sports Analyst Joel Klatt acknowledged that several positions will have heated battles.

“Position battles in fall camp are intense,” Klatt said. “Every single day, every single drill, it’s being evaluated. It makes your team better.”

Perhaps the room with the most unpredictability for position battles is the running back corps. Right now, the position is fully maxed-out, with eight athletes vying for field time. Running back coach Ra’Shaad Samples has some big choices on his hands.

Linebacker Devon Jackson emphasized the talent in the running back room during an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Bri Amaranthus earlier this month.

"And it's not just (Jordan James and Noah Whittington) - it's everybody like Jay Harris, Jayden Limar - all them guys,” Jackson said. “They really push us to be better. We push them to be better."

Also interesting, there are no seniors in this group. Go-to veteran running back Bucky Irving departed the Ducks last year for a shot in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so that leaves five juniors, two sophomores, and a single freshman to battle it out.

Current front-runners for the number one and number two running back slots are redshirt junior Noah Whittington and junior Jordan James. Both athletes made the Doak Walker Award preseason watch list, an award given to the best running back in the nation. The last Duck to win such an award was Oregon legend LaMichael James.

Jordan James had the biggest impact on the field last season for the Ducks out of the remaining running backs. Though Irving dominated in carries for the green and yellow, James sat on top of the Pac-12 for yards per carry and was 10th nationally with a 7.09 average. He also scored a touchdown in nine of the fourteen overall games he played in.

Though James is the favorite to take the number one position based on seniority and skill, he’s got quite a few talented backs to take down during these four weeks in August. Plus, Oregon coach Dan Lanning has made it clear that prior pedigree will not matter compared to fall camp performance for the Ducks.

Jan 1, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Jordan James (20) celebrates against the Liberty Flames during the 2024 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Assumed to be the second-most likely back to rise to the top of the depth is Whittington. Whittington is now healthy, after he made a 10-month recovery from an ACL injury he sustained during Oregon’s game versus Colorado last year. He did secure a redshirt for 2023, so technically he does have two more years left of play with the Ducks, but chances are if he has a good season, he’ll likely forgo his final year of eligibility.

The NCAA named Whittington to their Comeback Player of the Year watchlist due to the hype around him for this season. He had 146 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 78 yards receiving during the four games he played last year.

Venturing into less obvious territory, we find junior Jay Harris. Harris recently joined the Ducks from Division II school Northwest Missouri State. Though Harris has a bit of adjusting to do when it comes to learning a Division I playbook and adapting to a heightened level of competition, a former interview with Lanning after Aug. 2's practice shows the new transfers’ mindset.

"Just the energy that he brings every single day, the smile that he has on his face, you know, in the way that he comes to work, right. He's serious about his work, but he's always smiling when he's around here,” Lanning said about Harris.

During the last two years with Northwest Missouri State, Harris racked up 1,381 rushing yards along with 23 touchdowns on 333 carries which earned him a spot on the Division II All-American first team. He was the only running back out of all divisions to run for over 100 yards per game over 11 contests.

The last Duck we’re going to focus on for the running back room is sophomore Jayden Limar, another returning Duck like Whittington and James with a lot of potential to show during fall camp. Limar has a familiarity with the way the Ducks run their plays, as he appeared in 11 of the 14 contests last year. Against Cal, Limar hit his season-high run of 21 yards and collected 30 yards against Liberty in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

It should also be noted that Limar scored one of the five rushing touchdowns for the Ducks during the Oregon spring game. James and Brison Cobbins were the only other running backs to punch in touchdowns during that showcase.

Besides the four athletes highlighted, there’s evern more talent in the running back room. Over the next few weeks, these athletes will compete for a five month job, leading one of the most elite offenses in the nation. Many of these talents would shine at other schools, but that’s what makes the competition so fierce at Oregon, especially with the running back corps.