Redshirt Review: Cyrus Habibi-Likio

Duck Sports Authority continues its annual Redshirt Review series with a look at Mountain View (Calif.) St. Francis running back Cyrus Habibi-Likio.

Before Oregon: Habibi-Likio was coveted on both sides of the ball by colleges. His 17 scholarship offers were split between running back and linebacker, and originally when he picked Oregon the thought was for him to play defense. The three-star rated prospect picked the Ducks from a final group of Oregon, Utah, Cal, USC and Ole Miss.

Habibi-Likio was ranked as the No. 42 running back prospect in the nation in the class of 2017.

“Cyrus Habibi-Likio Cyrus is a very versatile player. You watched him in high school playing linebacker and running back. He kind of can do it all and he showed this spring that you put him out there, he can go down the field, catch the football, makes a cut, makes an explosive play.

“He has tremendous versatility in special teams as well. He is a guy that we expect major contributions from. He is still developing. He added ten pounds and he is still growing. So he provides that big body-type in there as a ball-carrier, a receiver and a special teams guy that is important to this football team.”

Versatility is the name of the game with Habibi-Likio. He does provide that big back who has proven that he can catch the ball and make plays, as well as provide a physical presence in the backfield. Watching him practice at RB, he has a smooth running style that belies his length.

He is also very clearly a guy that you want in your locker room; a person with a friendly and positive personality, and dance skills sharp enough to have made their way onto SportsCenter.

While he will not be on top of the running back depth chart when fall camp rolls around, that does not mean he won’t see the field. With the skill set of both an RB and an LB, we will be seeing Habibi-Likio play in every game on special teams, as he began to look quite good on those towards the end of spring camp. We would expect to see 10-15 snaps per game from him on special teams.

In terms of running back playing time, that remains to be seen. The Ducks are very deep at that position with senior Tony Brooks-James and redshirt freshman C.J. Verdell both impressing during the spring, and sophomore Darrian Felix also in the mix, it could be zero RB snaps, or perhaps the coaches will find ways to use his assets in certain situations that require some size and length.