Heading into the spring game and looking to next season, Oregon football is adapting to change. Head coach Mark Helfrich has replaced Chip Kelly, Scott Frost is taking over as offensive coordinator and Oregon has lost standouts on both offense and defense.
Perhaps the biggest mystery lies in Oregon’s running game after the departure of leading rusher Kenjon Barner. Oregon has built its reputation on this type of game with backs like Jeremiah Johnson, Jonathan Stewart, LaMichael James, LeGarrette Blount and Barner. For the first time in years, the Ducks will open their season with some questions surrounding their ground attack.
De’Anthony Thomas has surely earned his way to the top of the depth chart, but with his small stature, there is uncertainty about how many carries he should get. The spring game — and more specifically the production of second-year running back Byron Marshall — will give a lot of insight as to how carries will be split next season.
The 5-foot-9, 173-pound Thomas is smaller than most traditional backs, but he claims to have hit the weight room in anticipation for a larger role in the Oregon offense.
“I’m not really trying to gain weight,” he said. “I’m just trying to get stronger in the weight room. I got a lot stronger, and I feel like I got a lot faster too; so, it feels great.”
He averaged 7.6 yards per carry last season, third in the nation just behind former Oregon running back Lache Seastrunk, but he only had 92 rushing attempts. The fear with using Thomas as an every-down back is not only that he would get beat up, which is a legitimate concern, but that with more carries, he would be less prolific.
“In this league, you take a beating, and we’ve had bigger guys who’ve had more reps, but they’ve really ended up getting beat up,” said Oregon running backs coach Gary Campbell to The Register-Guard. “Because of his ability to make big plays, hopefully he won’t have to touch it any more than that.”
In the past two seasons, Oregon used him as a hybrid back with him playing running back, slot receiver and wide out. At times, he seemed to excel most in the slot. However, making him work as a traditional running back could hinder his full potential. He said he wants the same role this season.
“I feel like I should have the same role,” he said. “Just being momentum builder and a game changer.”
The biggest thing to watch for in the spring game will be Byron Marshall’s carries and yardage. With the transfers of Seastrunk, Dontae Williams and Tra Carson, he is second on the depth chart by default and is unproven. Last season as a true freshman, he played in 11 games, rushing for 447 yards on 87 carries with four touchdowns. With Thomas being as small as he is, Campbell is depending on Marshall to be productive.
“He’s going to have to step up and really try and become that second guy,” Campbell said to The Register-Guard. “I don’t want to beat De’Anthony up a lot. I want to give him 15, 20, maybe more reps per game. And then I expect Byron to come in and pick up some of the slack.”
Frost will likely give Marshall the majority of the reps in the spring game to help figure out how much of the workload should be placed on him headed into fall. If he has a strong game and fall camp, it would make sense for Oregon to start the season splitting reps between him and Thomas.
Of course, in typical Oregon fashion, they will likely get rushing yards from other positions as well. Quarterback Macus Mariota will likely take to the air more often as he matures as a passer, but he will still take what the defense gives him. Expect him to break off down field from time to time.
Another possible outlet for rushing yards is tight end Colt Lyerla. He played sparingly at tailback last season, usually in short goal line situations with former back up quarterback Bryan Bennett (amassing 77 yards). While he will mostly be used at tight end, the emergence of sophomore Pharaoh Brown could allow Frost the freedom to move Lyerla around. The spring game would be an ideal situation for this type of experimentation.
Unfortunately, it won’t shed light on the abilities of the Ducks’ recently recruited backs Thomas Tyner and Kani Benoit. Tyner, Oregon’s lone five-star recruit, has the physical abilities to be the future of the Oregon rushing attack. His 6-foot, 200-pound frame fits the college running back mold, and his 4.38 time in the 40-yard dash fits the mold of Oregon’s speed in the backfield.
“Tyner is a combination of top-end speed and size the Ducks probably haven’t had since Jonathan Stewart,” Oregonlive.com producer Sean Meagher said in September. “What we’ve seen from him at the prep level is not only the top-end speed, but the ability to slip through tackles and shake any defenders who attempt to tackle at the pad level. That, of course, won’t translate directly to the next level when everyone else is more comparable size-wise, but he can hit the gap as well as run on the outside.”
Benoit is another six-foot, 200 pound back who will likely be used as injury insurance his freshman season. He rushed for 2,260 yards and 36 touchdowns while averaging 7.93 yards per carry while in high school. His 40 time of 4.48 is a little bit slower than average for Oregon, but they hope in time he can prove to be a solid backup.
While the spring game won’t showcase the two new recruits, it will give the coaching staff — and fans — a better understanding of what will be asked of them next season. If Marshall can continue to grow as a rusher, Tyner will probably have less of a role his freshman year with Thomas and Marshall getting most of the carries. However, if Marshall struggles in the spring game and into fall camp, it might prompt the coaching staff to give Tyner a bigger role next season.