Oregon RB Makhi Hughes impresses with physicality, comfortability in Ducks' offense
Oregon RB Makhi Hughes impresses with physicality, comfortability in Ducks' offense
One of the constants throughout Dan Lanning's three-season career as head coach of the Oregon Ducks has been a strong and dependable run-game. For the first two years, those efforts were led by Minnesota transfer Bucky Irving (who shined last year as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie), and last season, Jordan James (who will drafted later this month) was the Ducks top back.
Heading into year four, Lanning has gone back the transfer portal waters to bolster the Ducks running game, bringing in former Tulane RB Makhi Hughes.
In two seasons with the Green Wave, Hughes rushed for 2,779 yards (5.3 YPC) and 22 TDs on 18.7 carries per game. In 2023, he was the AAC's Rookie of the Year, and in 2024, he was first team All-AAC.
Through practices this spring, Hughes is acclimating to the new Oregon offense and finding ways to make an impact. After practice on Tuesday, Oregon RBs coach Ra'Shaad Samples indicated that throughout the spring, Hughes has impressed in more ways than one.
"Just how physical of a runner he is and his ability to break tackles, his contact balance, his striking in pass pro, his contact initiation, and obviously his productivity in a really good league against really good talent,' Samples said. 'He's shown the same things here. Every day, he's getting comfortable. He's getting more and more comfortable with the playbook. You can see some of his natural ability starting to come out as he's starting to play faster and think less.
Stylistically, Hughes is a hybrid of Irving and James. His shiftiness looks like Irving, he has James's pure power, and the common thread between all of Lanning's running backs is a refusal to be tackled.
Next to Hughes in the running back room is long-time Ducks RB Noah Whittington, who has run well behind Irving and James after transferring from Western Kentucky in 2022. Whittington has one year of eligibility left and should complement Hughes well in the 2025 Oregon offense. Hughes is entering his junior season, which means, depending on how his 2025 campaign fares, he could be back at Oregon in 2026.
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