BREAKING: CJ Verdell to miss remainder of season with leg injury

Zachary Neel and Don Smalley
·2 min read
1

The injuries keep piling up for the Oregon Ducks in a season that head coach Mario Cristobal has explained as something he’s never seen before.

News came out today that running back CJ Verdell is likely to miss the remainder of the 2021 season after suffering a leg injury in the second half against the Stanford Cardinal last Saturday.

Verdell went down on the play, favoring his left leg, and was helped off the field, eventually being carted to the locker room.

This is not only another unfortunate injury in the snake-bitten career of Verdell at Oregon, but also a brutal blow to the Ducks’ offense. The defensive side of the ball has seen a rash of injuries already this year, with Justin Flowe and Dru Mathis out for the season, as well as Kayvon Thibodeaux missing several weeks with an ankle injury. On top of that, safety Bennett Williams reportedly suffered a broken fibula in a freak injury on the Friday before the Stanford game.

The injury to Verdell is the most serious hit that the offense has taken thus far. Tight end Cam McCormick was lost earlier in the season to yet another ankle injury, but it will be hard to replace what Verdell brings to the running game. So far this season, he had just under 500 total yards with seven touchdowns, and he was a huge piece of the dominant backfield duo alongside Travis Dye.

Going forward, it looks like Dye will have to shoulder much of the load in the running game, with a mix of either Trey Benson, Byron Cardwell, and Seven McGee helping out.

List

15 teams the Ducks are pulling for or rooting against during the rest of the 2021 college football season