Three Oregon Ducks ranked in ESPN’s list of the 100 greatest college football running backs

The College of Oregon has developed some remarkable jogging backs through the decades. And they’re receiving some recognition for it.

A lot of of them have sophisticated to the NFL. Some have not. But there’s still a slate of backs that experienced adorned professions in Eugene for the Ducks.

But exactly where do the Ducks stand with jogging backs when it arrives to faculty football as a whole? ESPN carried out anything that can give a superior glimpse at where Ducks legends review to other universities. The network set alongside one another a list of the 100 very best higher education football functioning backs in the game (an ESPN+ subscription is required to browse the comprehensive story).

The excellent news is that Oregon experienced 3 gamers provided on that listing: Royce Freeman, LaMichael James, and Mel Renfro.

Freeman came in at No. 63 general on the record. James was ranked a lot higher, finishing at No. 30 on the checklist and getting some praise in the approach. Renfro was slotted at No. 94.

Freeman is Oregon’s all-time foremost rusher for the university. For the duration of his Ducks tenure from 2014 to 2017, he concluded with 5,621 yards and 60 touchdowns.

James, in the meantime, completed with 5,082 dashing yards and 53 touchdowns all through his Ducks tenure from 2009 to 2011 and is second on the speeding listing driving Freeman.

From ESPN:

Chip Kelly’s Ducks went 34-6 from 2009-11, ending in the top rated 5 two times and just about profitable the 2010 nationwide title. James was the deal with of people teams, hurrying for at minimum 1,500 yards each yr and scoring 24 times in the course of that blessed 2010 operate. An underrated celebrity.

Throughout his Ducks job from 1961 to 1963, Renfro performed both sides of the ball as a defensive again and jogging again. In his profession, he rushed for 1,540 yards and led the Ducks in scoring just about every year with the university.

Neither Freeman nor James translated their college football impact to the NFL, but each have been two of the most successful and electrifying players the sport has witnessed at the position. The recognition speaks volumes about the impression they had while in Eugene.

Renfro, on the other hand, went on to become just one of only six players to be enshrined in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor as a defensive again. He finished his NFL vocation with 10 Professional Bowl nods and 5 All-Professional stints all through his pro profession. Renfro was inducted into the Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983 and into the College of Oregon Sporting activities Hall of Fame in 1992. He was inducted into the Pro Football Corridor of Fame in 1996.

— Aron Yohannes

[email protected] @aronyohannes