Oregon RB Makhi Hughes named top back ahead of 2025 season
Oregon RB Makhi Hughes named top back ahead of 2025 season
Top 10 College Football Running Backs next season via @GregMcElroy⚡️
Do you agree? 🤔https://t.co/QiS4suk40K pic.twitter.com/Dxpq3OCHIR — On3 (@On3sports) May 12, 2025
The 2025 college football season is nearly three months away, and after the culmination of the Oregon Ducks' spring season, we've learned some key information about the new-look Ducks while some questions are left unanswered.
Major roster turnover, especially at key skill positions, is the cause for much of the uncertainty surrounding the 2025 Ducks. A year after Oregon spent the majority of the season atop the AP Poll, it will have a new starting QB, RB, and top WR, as well as a revamped offensive line and an overhauled defense. There's little doubt Oregon will remain one of the top teams in the country, but whether the Ducks can go a step further than they did in 2024 remains to be seen.
While the Ducks' plethora of new faces is cause for some uncertainty, they are also cause for excitement. The Ducks lost star running back Jordan James to the NFL this offseason, but filling his place is Tulane transfer Makhi Hughes, who Greg McElroy, an ESPN college football analyst and former NFL QB, ranks as the second-best RB in the country this season.
In his two years with the Green Wave, Hughes put on a show almost every fall Saturday for Tulane, racking up 2,779 rushing yards and 22 TDs on 5.3 yards per carry. Hughes is also a receiving threat, which should make him even more of a weapon in Will Stein's offense. In 2023 and 2024, Hughes went for 243 receiving yards and two TDs (8.1 yards per catch).
The sole back ranked above Hughes on McElroy's list is Notre Dame's Jeremiah Love, who starred for the Fighting Irish in last year's College Football Playoff. Right behind Hughes is Penn State's dangerous duo of Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton.
McElroy's list is just one of the many that will flood our timelines for the next few months, but his ranking of Hughes at No. 2 is significant. The other three running backs ranked in the top four were all playoff stars in 2024, and they all would've been selected two weeks ago if they declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. Hughes has accomplished a lot in his time in college, but as of now, he's rushed for zero yards and zero TDs at the Power 4 level. A vote of confidence this big from McElroy is more evidence of what many of us already think: Hughes is the real deal.
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