Is CJ Verdell's Durability a Concern in 2021?
CJ Verdell looked to be the next great running back at Oregon, following up Royce Freeman's record-breaking career with two straight 1,000-yard seasons in 2018 and 2019. The Ducks' workhorse rolled out to a quick start in 2020 with back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances, but a thumb injury against Washington State derailed his junior season.
Verdell missed the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Fiesta Bowl — the first two games he missed since utilizing a redshirt in 2017. He returns for his fifth season in 2021, and he has been healthy through the spring and fall camp, and the Ducks coaches have taken notice.
"One thing we know, and I think CJ will tell you, is he plays his best football when he's practicing," Mario Cristobal said. "If you try to almost treat him like a sacred cow, it just doesn't work. He doesn't get in football shape, he can't hit his top speeds. It doesn't fit his mentality or the culture."
But the question is: will Verdell be healthy in 2021? What will the Ducks' offensive identity look like without him?
To answer the former question, he has looked great in the spring and fall camps. However, his workload was pretty significant in his first two seasons, as he totaled 399 carries in his first 27 career games, with 202 coming in 2018 and 197 in 2019. Only two other Pac-12 running backs had at least 197 carries in each of those two seasons (ASU's Eno Benjamin and UCLA's Joshua Kelley).
And to answer the latter: the Ducks offense won't have to rely on him as much as it did in years prior. Junior Travis Dye picked up the run game once Verdell was ailed by his thumb injury; he averaged 9.3 yards per touch and led the Ducks in rushing yards in 2020. For his career, he picks up an average of 6.6 yards per touch and is a threat to take the rock to the crib every time.
With the year that Dye had in 2020, the Ducks dynamic duo should have a pretty similar workload. Behind them are some exciting young running backs in Sean Dollars, Trey Benson, Seven McGee, Cross Patton, Byron Cardwell, and Aaron Smith. Cristobal said that it's possible that he will pull one of the starters to give one of the younger guys some more rep in practice.
Running Backs Coach Jim Mastro said that managing Verdell's load is an easier task due to the performance of the aforementioned players behind him.
"[CJ] plays a physical game of football," Mastro said. "He's not going to change. That's just his DNA. He goes until he can't go. The good news is we could kind of limit his reps because we have guys behind him that are productive as all hell."
Verdell said in the spring that he wants to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in his fifth and likely final season in Eugene. Given the talent in the running back room, that probably won't happen.
However, it wouldn't be out of the question to say that Verdell could reach 2,000 yards from scrimmage, as Joe Moorhead loves to use the running backs in the passing offense. After all, Verdell is the only player in program history to record 250 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving in a game.
"His knowledge of the game is off the charts," Mastro said of Verdell. "It's just refining his skills — maybe a little bit better route running since we're gonna ask our backs to run a lot of routes this year. He's what you want DNA-wise."
The Ducks don't necessarily need Verdell to be the player that won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship Game MVP and that ran for 200 yards on two occasions (vs. WSU and Utah) that same season. He doesn't need 200 carries in a season.
The Ducks have loads of talent at the running back position, and the passing offense should be much more effective in year two of Moorhead's system. But if Verdell can remain healthy, he makes the Ducks' offense that much better.
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