When CJ Verdell went down with an ankle injury in week five at Stanford, the Oregon Ducks lost an All-Pac-12 running back and the locomotive of their offensive game plan.
Verdell headlined the Ducks’ one-two punch in the backfield with Travis Dye. Without Verdell, the rushing load now falls primarily on Dye.
But he won’t be alone.
The Ducks have a core of young, blue-chip running backs who are eager to prove themselves. Of the group, perhaps no one has more potential than Seven McGee. As Dye assumes the starting duties, McGee’s lightning-in-a-bottle athleticism and pass catching skills could help him find time.
“We all know Seven is a really good player,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said. “The guys have done a really good job of stepping up and filling in for guys who have been injured.”
McGee is from New York, but played his freshman season of high school football in Southern California at Grace Brethren in Simi Valley, before moving back to New York to play the game he loves with his childhood friends.
Back in New York and reunited with long-time teammates and friends, Nevada receiver commit Justus Ross-Simmons and University of Maine running back Freddie Brock, McGee had the support structure to chase his football dream. McGee worked out before school every morning and played 7-on-7 football with those teammates and others in his free time, activities that prepared McGee to dominate on Friday nights and play at the next level.
“He works at everything,” Justus Ross-Simmons, McGee’s childhood friend and high school teammate, said. “Obviously he’s a short running back… [but] there is not a time that I know Seven has ever been lazy.”
A four-star prospect on 247Sports, McGee is a unique and eye-catching player as his catching ability out of the backfield, perfected playing 7-on-7 with friends, is matched by his ability to make defenders miss in space. Once he hits a hole, McGee has the speed to burn defenses.
Running backs Trey Benson and Byron Cardwell are bigger than McGee. They run the ball well in the Ducks’ inside zone running scheme and can fight for yards after contact. But McGee possesses a different type of talent.
With a playstyle reminiscent of Oregon greats such as De’Anthony Thomas or LaMichael James, McGee possesses the potential to bring back big play, home run-hitting plays, for the Oregon Ducks.
