Cyrus Habibi-Likio's Breakout Stretch Has Made Him One of Oregon's Most Underrated Weapons

With six touchdowns in the past three weeks, Habibi-Likio has thrown his hat into the ring as one of Oregon's most productive offensive players.

Another career performance from Oregon running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio has seen the Ducks' stable of RB's flourish, and at the moment, there might not be enough carries to go around. 

With 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown in Oregon's comeback victory over the Washington Huskies last weekend, Habibi-Likio has now thrown his hat into the ring as one of the Ducks' premiere backs. Though he started the season as the third option in the backfield, behind CJ Verdell and Travis Dye, his performance as of late has vaunted him into the conversation as one of Oregon's most productive offensive playmakers. 

With six total touchdowns on the season, five of which came in the past three games, CHL now ranks as the top rusher for the Ducks in terms of touchdowns, with the next highest scorer being Verdell, with two scores on the ground this year. In Saturday's road game, the Ducks fell behind by 14 points at the start of the third quarter, and Habibi-Likio provided a much-needed spark for the offense, as he got the ball moving up the field and tallied a highlight play by hurdling a Husky defender near midfield on one breakaway run. 

With the emergence of the redshirt sophomore, Oregon now has to decide how they are going to divvy out carries to their backfield. If you were to take away some opportunities from Verdell, it could come back to bite you in the end, as he has long stood as the top back for the Ducks over the past two seasons. Still, there is a strong argument to be made that CHL should get the leading role going forward. His production over the past three games has been a nice surprise, and it will surely help down the road as the Ducks vie for the Pac-12 Championship. The embarrassment of riches may be a problem, but it's a great problem to have.