Ra'Shaad Samples Talks RB Competition, Distributing Carries in Oregon's Loaded Backfield

Oregon’s running back room is loaded with talent once this season. Coach Ra’Shaad Samples enters his second season with the Ducks after coming over from Arizona State.

He met with reporters in Eugene following Wednesday’s fall camp practice and below are some of the key quotes from his media availability.

On where he’s seen Makhi Hughes grow from spring to Fall Camp

Samples: “Just the familiarity and the playbook. He’s gotten so much more comfortable around his teammates, with the scheme, with what we’re gonna do. His personality is starting to come out. You can see him starting to come out of his shell a little bit. Makhi is growing every single day and I think as he continues to get comfortable with what we’re trying to do, the more time he spends understanding the scheme, the more time he spends understanding the totality of the offense, you can start to see his play go to the next level.”

On where he sees Da’Jaun Riggs carving out a role

Samples: “Dink has an immense level of talent. He has pace, he has feel, he has a really good conceptual understanding for the game. He’s competing at a high level. I think he has to continue to grow. He has a chance to play as a redshirt freshman. I think he has to continue to grow and come to work every single day. I think all those guys have a special trait. When you talk about carving out unique roles I think all those guys could have certain roles and do different things. I think right now the focus is showing up every day and trying to grow as a complete player.”

On where he’s seen growth from Jay Harris

Samples: “I see it everywhere. Jay is one of the guys I’m most proud of. You talk about a kid going through the maturation process and finding himself as a player. Finding himself spiritually. Growing mentally, spending so much time in the playbook. He’s so much different than he was last year. He’s more coachable, he’s more comfortable, he’s more trustworthy. That’s a kid that the sky’s the limit when it comes to talent. His ceilingless when it comes to talent. As the person continues to grow the player continues to grow.”

On how much different of a player Noah Whittington is now compared to this time last year

Samples: “I think Noah, he broke through the wall last year during the Illinois game. That was big for him, he had a couple big runs and I think that was like his coming out party. And I think ever since then you saw in some games late in the season he started to get more comfortable. I went back and watched his film when I first got here because he was hurt and I saw the type of explosion he has. The type of slash running ability he has. Ever since the end of last season you’ve seen that growing, you’ve seen that person get more confident in that leg and putting his foot in the ground and his ability to run at guys and change direction. So more than anything I think the ability’s been there and I think you guys have probably seen the ability he has more than I have. You guys were here to witness it. But I think he’s finding a process and I think he’s become so much more consistent every single day as a player. I know what I’m gonna get from Noah Whittington every single day when we job out on the field.”

On what he’s looking for to determine running back depth chart

Samples: “I think when choosing a guy to job out there, whoever your RB1 is, and we’re gonna have a bunch of guys that can play and that are gonna play this season. But when you talk about what do you need to be the guy, I think it’s that level of consistency and trust not only from me but you talk about the whole offensive staff. You talk about the O-line, you talk about the receivers, you talk about the team. I think that’s the most important thing.”

On distributing carries, having an RB1, RB2

Samples: “In the best situation you want a bunch of RB1’s. I think Noah was coming off of an injury last year like you said. I think that played a big part into it. I think as the year went on you saw those kind of carries balance out a little bit more. When you got a group of guys that can wear a defense down. That can come in fresh, that can spell each other. I think that’s the best way to do it. I think it’s hard when you gotta put the carries on one guy and that’s not something we plan on doing. Luckily we have a bunch of guys who can carry the ball, who can do some different things and I don’t see that being a thing we do this year. I think we’re gonna have a couple guys that can run the ball.”