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Brooks-James

Brooks-James (5'9/190) sustained a left knee injury in Oregon’s win over Oregon State to end the regular season. While he’s started running and cutting once more, we won’t see him out there against Sparty on New Year’s Eve. His 2018 season ends with 306 rushing yards and four touchdowns across 11 games played.

After suffering the injury Brooks-James was taken to the locker room, eventually rejoining his teammates on the sideline on crutches with his left knee in a heavy brace. The senior running back suffered the injury on special teams, and he’s one of two Oregon running backs to get injured during Friday’s game. C.J. Verdell left briefly with a right foot injury but was able to return to action.

Brooks-James (5'9/190) hasn’t played on offense since he picked up an ankle injury against Stanford, but he did return kicks against Washington, and looked healthy doing it. This appears to be CJ Verdell’s backfield with Travis Dye as the backup, but the speedy tailback should be a nice change-of-pace weapon for the last playoff contender in the Pac-12.

Brooks-James being in uniform isn’t much of a surprise since HC Mario Cristobal said earlier in the week that he expected the senior to be available. The senior RB’s presence means that Oregon will have its top three rushers available Saturday’s Pac-12 North showdown, with CJ Verdell and Travis Dye being the yardage leaders.

On Wednesday, Oregon HC Mario Cristobal said that it was essentially a coin flip as to whether or not Brooks-James would be able to play. With that being the case, the senior RB being in uniform may not guarantee that he will be used in the Ducks’ first Pac-12 road game of the season. C.J. Verdell, who’s rushed for 314 yards and two touchdowns so far this season, has been Oregon’s most-used option and running back and that will likely remain the case at Cal.

Brooks-James (5'9/180) has been practicing early in the week, but during Tuesday’s session, 247Sports relayed that he was noticeably nagged by the ankle. His absence on Saturday would certainly be felt, but while the senior is listed as ostensible starter on this week’s depth chart, C.J. Verdell has emerged as the team’s true lead back. He’s received 17 more carries than Brooks-James through four games, taking double-digit totes of the rock in each of those contests.

Brooks-James (5'9/180) injured his ankle during this past Saturday’s wild loss to Stanford. That he was able to practice is a good sign for the Ducks’ showdown with Cal later this week. C.J. Verdell has taken the reigns on the starting job, here, having received double-digit carries in all four of Oregon’s games to date, with Brooks-James serving as a more-than-competent complementary back. The senior has rushed for an even 200 yards and three touchdowns this season.

On only 32 carries last year, Brooks-James ran for 288 and three scores, good for a 9.0 average. Brooks-James is in line for more carries this fall, and it’s worth noting that Oregon did not bring in a running back in the last recruiting cycle. “Brooks-James will get a share of the carries after star Royce Freeman and will try to provide lightning speed off the bench,” Cameron Rogers of 247Sports wrote.

A leg injury cost starting tailback Royce Freeman this one, giving Brooks-James his big chance. Brooks-James, who has run a 6.79 second 60-meter dash, is a jitterbug athlete that the Ducks will use all over the formation when Freeman comes back. The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder has scored six times this year. Brooks-James figures to get plenty of touches if Freeman can’t give it a go at Washington State on Saturday.

Brooks-James has posted personal bests of 10.50s in the 100 meters and 6.71s in the 60. With Royce Freeman in-and-out of the lineup due to injuries last year, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Brooks-James had an eye-opening 771 rushing yards on a sensational 7.7-yard per carry average.