Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the position previews for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. One of the impact player positions for the Cajuns is undoubtedly the running back. It’s been the heart and soul of the offense for the last several years and they seem poised to continue that trend.
Without further ado, let’s look into what’s in store for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns in the backfield.
Departing Players:
The lone departure from the running back room from last season was Darius Hoggins who had a very interesting senior season. He suffered a broken jaw early in fall camp and missed the first few games of the 2017 season.
Hoggins still had a decent season considering the crowded backfield that they had, rushing for 323 yards on 51 carries and one touchdown.
Returning Players:
The running back room for 2018 is loaded with youth and Raymond Calais seems to be the strong favorite to be the RB1 headed into fall camp. Last year he was used more as a kick returner and that was a good role for him, but his experience with the program will help him out as fall camp gets underway.
All that being said, Trey Ragas is the player that could challenge Calais. He led the program in rushing last season with 813 yards and nine touchdowns and he seems poised to keep the momentum going.
Elijah Mitchell, who is returning from a foot injury, will be another competitor for playing time. The Erath product only played in five games in 2017, but made the most of his time on the field, rushing for 273 yards. If he can remain healthy throughout fall camp, he’ll be a factor when it comes to the run game.
Finally, there’s Jordan Wright who saw some action throughout the season but didn’t eclipse the century mark last season on a total of 23 carries. He’ll need a big fall camp to make waves up the depth chart.
The Other Guys:
Looking at the rest of the running backs on the roster, Ashton Johnson is one that you need to keep an eye on. He was primarily used for special teams last year, but had role back in the spring game, rushing for 39 yards. With how top-heavy the running back corps is in 2018, it seems like he’ll be back on special teams, but if someone gets injured down the line, he could see some meaningful snaps in the backfield.
Overall Thoughts:
The running back position for the Cajuns in 2018 is pretty deep and will see at least three running backs rotated out. If I were to make a prediction to how things will look when they open up the season against Grambling, I’d go with Trey Ragas being the RB1 with Elijah Mitchell and Raymond Calais being right behind him. With Ragas, he can be that bruiser that will go up the gut while Mitchell will be used more as a scatback to give offense some new weapons to mess with.
-Clint Domingue