With Durham "questionable" vs. Ole Miss, who are LSU's other RB options?

The week of practice in the coming days will go a long way in determining if LSU has the team’s starting running back available for the Ole Miss game on Saturday.

The Tigers are 4-0 on the season and 1-0 in SEC play, but LSU’s first SEC road game doesn’t come until Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT in Oxford.

No. 4 LSU will face off against another 4-0 team in No. 13 Ole Miss on ABC. The game can also be streamed on ESPN’s website and app.

One of the questions still to be answered for the Tigers: will the program’s starting running back suit up?

LSU sophomore Caden Durham suffered an ankle injury while being tackled in the second quarter of a 56-10 win over Southeastern this past weekend. Durham limped off the field and didn’t return on a night when the first-team players on offense were all sent to the sidelines after the first drive of the second half.

After the win, Kelly said the team’s medical staff would evaluate the MRI results on Sunday and go from there.

Any fears of a season-ending injury, or even a setback that could sideline Durham for multiple games, became a much less likely outcome when LSU head coach Brian Kelly took the podium on Monday for his weekly press conference.

Kelly said MRI results were negative, adding that further evaluation brought more good news: Durham did not suffer a high ankle sprain – an injury that often sidelines running backs for more than just the next week of practice.

Kelly said the staff would know more on the sophomore’s availability for Saturday’s game in Oxford as this week’s practices began. On Monday, the Tigers went through a light day before diving back into practice on Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning’s weekly SEC Coaches Teleconference, Kelly shed more light on Durham’s status.

“I think we’re going to list him as questionable,” Kelly said. “We’ll see how he progresses through practice each day.

“He could go from questionable to out or questionable to probable depending on how he moves through the remainder of practice. We won’t make those assessments until we see the full body of work through practice.”

Across LSU’s 4-0 start, Durham has a team-high 213 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries. He’s also logged eight catches for 39 yards.

In games involving two SEC teams, the league office requires both programs to release injury updates publicly. The first injury reports comes on Wednesday evening, then again on Thursday evening before a a final report ahead of kickoff on game day.

Much like a year ago, LSU is still trying to find steady success with the running game, and more so than in LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier’s first season as starter in 2024, it’s evident LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan and the staff are committed to finding that balance with a passing game that carries far fewer question marks.

So far, it’s been a mixed bag of results. While LSU is 4-0, the Tigers have totaled 467 rushing yards this season – second-worst in the SEC and ahead of only South Carolina.

The silver lining for this week’s matchup with the Rebels? Ole Miss sits at the bottom of the SEC rankings in rushing yards allowed through four games this season, which includes the worst average yards allowed per carry (5 yards) among all 16 SEC teams.

If Durham is not able to play, expect to see much more of sophomore Ju’Juan Johnson. The former high school quarterback began his LSU career at defensive back, then moved to the other side of the football to help alleviate depth concerns at running back.

Now, even when Durham is at full health, Johnson has carved out a role in LSU’s offense.

In the win over Southeastern, Johnson was given eight carries and turned those opportunities into 43 yards and two touchdowns. Beyond his impressive mark of 5.4 yards per carry, Johnson also caught his lone target in the passing game for a 14-yard gain.

Beyond Durham and Johnson, the other two running backs used by assistant Frank Wilson are Kaleb Jackson and Harlem Berry.

Berry, a true freshman and former 5-star prospect who was ranked by Rivals as the No. 1 running back in the 2025 class, is the player most likely to see his workload increase if Durham misses time.

In the win over Southeastern, Berry had seven carries for 28 yards – good for 4 yards per rush attempt. Jackson, in his third season at LSU, had just two carries for six yards, though he caught all three of his targets in the passing game for a total of 23 yards.

It’s been a slow start for Jackson, who has seen the fourth-most touches in the running back room with six carries for six yards across the team’s first four games. Berry has carried the ball 15 times for 87 yards for an impressive 5.8 yards per attempt.

With Durham’s team-best 213 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries and eight catches for 39 yards, Johnson has been the second-most productive player in the running back room thanks to his usage both carrying the football and work in the passing game.

Through four games, Johnson has 16 carries for 52 yards (3.3 yards per carry) and two touchdown to go with seven catches for 49 yards (7 yards per catch).