Redshirt Review: C.J. Verdell

Duck Sports Authority continues its spring tradition with its 12th annual Redshirt Review series, this installment highlighting Chula Vista (Calif.) Mater Dei Catholic running back C.J. Verdell.

Before Oregon: Verdell was a three-star rated prospect who picked the Ducks over 16 other scholarship offers. Recruited by former Duck RB coach Gary Campbell, Verdell was one of three running back commitments in the Class of 2017 along with Mountain View (Calif.) St. Francis Cyrus Habibi-Likio and Fort Myers (Fla.) prospect Darrian Felix.

Verdell chose the Ducks over a final group of Oregon, Nebraska, UCLA and Utah.

"CJ Verdell He is a real one, he really is. CJ is what you want; a downhill runner, great balance and body control, great vision.

"He really understands the game. He understands protection. He has gotten better at that. That is something that we wanted to work on and Coach Mastro has done a great job with that.

"CJ makes explosive plays happen. You saw him. Once he puts his foot in the ground he is very decisive when he has the ball in his hands. He does not dance around much, he gets downhill in a hurry and will make you pay the price for trying to tackle him high.

"He does not get taken down by arm tackles and he does not get tripped up. Picks up his feet, great jump cut guy. Can slash, can run by you, can run through you. He is really good at catching the football too. The expectation for him is pretty high.

"He is one that will be playing a lot of football for us. He is in there battling to the the guy.

"Tony Brooks James is our starter, but CJ is not willing to just lay down and let that be the case.

"CJ wants the rock and he has earned the opportunity to get that shot."

CJ Verdell was very impressive this spring. During spring camp he was impressive with his smooth, downhill running style and his ability to accelerate from the cut.

In the spring game he was fantastic rushing for 44 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns.

Even though the Oregon running back corps is deep, it seemed that Verdell emerged from camp as the No. 2 guy, passing Darrian Felix who played as a true freshman. It seems entirely possible that had the Ducks not already had two downhill runners in Royce Freeman and Kani Benoit, Verdell may have been the one to play as a true frosh instead of Felix.

Regardless, C.J. Verdell will get plenty of snaps in 2018, and currently projects to carry the ball between 10-15 times per game. He should be a big part of the offense.