Oregon Ducks

Are Oregon's running backs the best position group in the Pac-12?

Published Jul. 22, 2015 3:53 p.m. ET

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Which position group is the Pac-12's best. Well, obviously the Oregon Ducks skill position players would qualify, considering the running backs and the wide receivers have been consistently named among the top groups in the country.

ESPN's Kevin Gemmell took on this topic and concluded that Oregon's group of running backs should be considered the best unit in the conference. Below is his explanation:

"What is the point of offense? To score points, obviously. All the yards-per-play and yards-per-game numbers don't amount to diddly if you aren't closing the deal. So which offensive position group is the most prolific? Obviously, the one that is going to score the most points for the team that has set the curve in the league for scoring over the last half decade.

Over the last five years, the Oregon Ducks have scored 216 touchdowns on the ground. Only Georgia Tech (217) has more. Granted, not all of those have come by way of running back either. Certainly Oregon's fleet-footed quarterbacks have played a role in that. But the vast majority have come by way of running backs. And the Ducks are once again loaded at the position.

Last year Oregon scored 42 touchdowns on the ground, with 27 of them coming from someone not named Marcus Mariota. The two big contributors, Royce Freeman and Thomas Tyner, are back after contributing 23 rushing touchdowns (25 if you count each had one receiving touchdown).

That in itself should be more than enough to qualify Oregon's backs as the top offensive position group, regardless of the fact that Freeman and Tyner are both on the Doak Walker watch list for the nation's top running back. Only two other schools -- Arkansas and USC -- have multiple players on that list."

"But even beyond those two, you have the ever-dangerous Byron Marshall-- who was formerly a 1,000-yard rusher but now on the Biletnikoff watch list -- who will likely see a few carries (he had 52 last year and still had time for 1,000 yards receiving and six touchdowns)."

To conclude, Gemmell thought that the Oregon's group of running backs has everything a college football team could ever desire:

"Oregon's running backs have everything you're looking for to qualify for this debate: talent, depth, production. It's one of the deepest stables in the country playing in an offense that is going to maximize its abilities. And there's never been a better time for it as the Ducks break in a new starting quarterback. Oregon's backs are going to be asked to deliver more than they have in the last couple of years. And this is exactly the group to do it."

(h/t ESPN)

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