If you became a fan of college football within the past decade and a half, you’re quite used to seeing the Oregon Ducks racking up points with a collection of electric skill-position players. In the last couple of years, the electricity has been a little more scarce in a run-heavy, physical offense.

But in 2022, get ready for the Oregon Ducks of old to begin to make a thunderous comeback.

Much of the attention goes to Oregon’s insanely talented bunch of receivers that should be one of the most improved units in the nation. Not enough attention is tossed to the Ducks’ new-look backfield, which most people would assume is bound to take a step back with the loss of CJ Verdell and Travis Dye.

Let me tell you why it might not be crazy to predict that the Oregon backfield might be more of a weapon. The days of Mario Cristobal’s run-it-down-your-throat offenses are over. It wasn’t difficult to guess how Oregon’s offense would attack a certain opponent, a sentence you could never utter about a Chip Kelly or Mark Helfrich offense.

Sure, the Ducks still ran the ball with success, but their passing game has been quite underwhelming, even going back to when Justin Herbert donned the green and yellow. New offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham has promised that the offense will optimize its playmakers and get them the ball in space. With more lethal weapons in the passing attack and a more aggressive and explosive play-calling mindset, it will take the attention off of an already run game that is not to be underestimated.

Byron Cardwell enters year two as the lead back after beginning his first spring buried in the depth chart. When he hit the field, defenders had no clue what they were in for. He flashed his incredible shiftiness, balance, and quickness on plenty of occasions. Eight of his 61 carries went for 20+ yards, including four of his seven against Colorado.

He finished his debut season with an impressive 6.8 yards per tote, and with his talent, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him hit that mark again with a bigger workload.

Minnesota transfer Mar’Keise “Bucky” Irving is perhaps the most complete back on the roster. He finished second on the team with 699 yards on 133 carries. He was a late addition, committing to Oregon during spring ball, but Irving brings a different energy in the backfield than Cardwell. He’s a bit smaller than Cardwell, but he is very difficult to bring down. He’s got enough wiggle to break free from even the most sure tacklers and has solid breakaway speed. If Irving gets outside the tackles, expect a big gain.

But what Irving brings that Oregon really needed was a proven ability to catch passes out of the backfield, hauling in eight passes for 73 yards. He also provided a spark as a kick returner, averaging 24.3 yards per kick return on eight attempts.

Noah Whittington, who transfers in from Western Kentucky, is a similar back to Irving but has more experience than any back on the roster. Despite being a part of one of the most prolific air raid offenses of all time last year, Whittington is still a capable back that will bring physicality and speed, as shown by his 88-yard touchdown in the Boca Raton Bowl last year.

There are a couple of wild cards in the Oregon backfield that could make a huge impact — Sean Dollars and true freshman Jordan James. Dollars has battled injuries since coming to Eugene in 2019, but in the Pac-12 Championship Game against USC in 2020, he proved that he can provide a jolt to the offense. He’s an explosive back that was raved about in spring by Dan Lanning, running backs coach Carlos Locklyn, and his teammates. If Dollars is healthy, he can be good enough to contest Cardwell for the top spot.

As for James, he arrives in fall camp after flipping his commitment from Georgia on National Signing Day. While he is the same height as Whittington and Irving, he packs more of a punch at 205 pounds. He’s stout, physical, and extremely agile, but with the other bodies in the backfield, it remains to be seen how big of a role James will have in his freshman year.

We know that the overall improvement of the passing game should help the offense and we know what the personnel in the backfield looks like, but what about the offensive line? The run game is only as good as the guys blocking up front, and Oregon has some of the best guys in the country at doing just that. Preseason All-Americans Alex Forsyth and TJ Bass will hear their name called in April in the NFL draft, while Ryan Walk and Steven Jones bring a veteran insurance to the rest of the line. They were developed by Cristobal and Alex Mirabal, who are two of the best in the business at building excellent offensive linemen. This unit should be one of the finalists for the Joe Moore Award.

Multiple Oregon players mentioned during spring ball that the offense reminds them of the Chip Kelly-led offenses that destroyed defenses. Keep your eye on this rush attack to put up some serious numbers in 2022.