Blount Suspended But Ducks Still Have Options

LeGarrette Blount has been suspended indefinitely for “failure to meet team expectations.” The rumor on campus of the University of Oregon is that Blount was suspended because he failed to take one class towards his major requirement.

We know he is not the best student as it shows that he was not able to make grades out of high school and had to go to junior college to get into the UO. Which I can tell you is not hard to gain admission to.

What really pisses me off about this situation is that we at Oregon definitely have someone in the athletic department that is charge of making sure our players are academically eligible to play. Blount finished the year with a school record 17 touchdowns and was sure to be the premier back at Oregon.

With it looking doubtful that Blount will be able to play next year the Duck’s have to look at options for next year at running back. The next best option is probably going to be LaMichael James a redshirt freshmen who was ranked #12 on rivals.com last year in their running back rankings (OSU’s Jaquizz Rodgers was #26).  James is a lot smaller than Blount, but he will definitely remind Duck’s fans of Jerimiah Johnson once he gets going. James is a freak athlete and can make catches out of the back field.

His athleticism was very impressive in training camp and could of easily chalked up 500 yards last year if Blount and Johnson weren’t on the team. Chris Harper is another name that could be seeing plenty of carries. Harper won’t be able to take big hits or a load of the carries, but he could be a great option back in the spread.

Along with Harper the Duck’s could line up Darren Thomas in the wildcat formation. Thomas came to the school looking to be a quaterback, but with Masoli on the team for another two years it seems doubtful Thomas will ever see much time behind center.

When all else fails we will still have Masoli leading the Duck’s. Masoli will be able pick up some of the short run carries that Blount would have put in last year, but I’d rather have the 6’6 Blount pounding them in than a 5’10 quaterback. At least the Ducks picked up some solid receiver prospects that will be able to play right away.