A year after a foot injury knocked him off track, Da’Jaun Riggs is back in Oregon’s running back mix and trying to force his way into a crowded rotation.
Riggs entered last season looking like a redshirt freshman ready to crack the Ducks’ backfield. Instead, the injury opened the door for freshmen Jordon Davison and Dierre Hill Jr., and Riggs ended up playing just five games. He finished with 87 yards on 17 carries, a small sample that left him frustrated.
“It bothered me a lot because I knew how talented I was and injuries had me sitting on the side,” he said.
But the setback also changed how he approached the game.
“It gave me a different perspective,” he said. “I was like, I just needed to work because any day this game could be taken away from me. So, when I got injured, I was just telling myself when I get back, I’m just going to work as hard as I could.”
That mindset has brought Riggs back into a deep competition. Davison and Hill are expected to be Oregon’s top two backs when the season opens Sept. 5 at home against Boise State, but the third spot is very much unsettled. Riggs is in the hunt alongside senior transfer Simeon Price from Colorado and freshmen Tradarian Ball and Brandon Smith, both four-star recruits.
Riggs, who got the nickname “Dink” in youth football because of how hard he hit people while playing linebacker, said he has worked to round out his game. As a three-star recruit out of St. John’s High in Washington, D.C., he used speed and elusiveness to pile up 1,061 all-purpose yards as a senior in 2023 while playing running back and wide receiver.
Now, he says, he’s added more force to his style.
“Instead of trying to juke a guy, I can just dip my shoulder and get the four yards that’s there,” Riggs said.
The lessons didn’t stop there. Last year’s starter, Noah Whittington, showed how well power and speed can work together, and on Thursday night he rushed for 40 yards in his NFL preseason debut with the Houston Texans. Before fall camp, Riggs said Whittington urged him to focus on himself and trust that the coaches would notice if he kept doing things the right way.
That has become Riggs’ approach in camp, whether it’s stretching, drills, special teams, or conditioning.
“If you go out there, compete with yourself, work hard, love your brothers, (the coaches are) going to see it,” Riggs said.
Running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples has seen the change. He pointed to Riggs’ work ethic, improved ability, and the maturity that followed last season’s disappointment.
“He’s been such a positive person in that room,” Samples said. “He’s been such a positive light for those guys.
All the guys love him. He’s the personality of the room.
So, Dink is the guy who makes everybody laugh, makes everybody smile, makes everybody happy to be here.”
Riggs is navigating a crowded room from the middle. Hill and Davison are ahead of him, Price is right there competing for the same job, and Ball and Smith bring another layer of talent to the group.
“They’re two guys that are super versatile,” Samples said. “They can play receiver.
They can catch the ball out of the backfield. They’re mismatches in every facet.”
Still, Riggs believes he has an edge in one area that matters at this stage: he already knows what it takes to handle the grind of college football.
“I’m just trying to get in where I can fit in,” Riggs said.
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