Through two seasons as an Oregon Duck, linebacker Elijah Rushing has just three tackles to his name. For the five-star recruit and No. 3 edge rusher in the 2024 class, it would appear to be a disappointing start to his college career. Surely, if he could re-envision how it would go, he'd have more tackles, sacks and forced fumbles on the stat sheet.
The reality is that that hasn't happened. But regardless of the slow start, Rushing is staying the course with the Ducks.
"I think a lot of times in this day and age, with this society, if I don't get what I want, ‘I’m going somewhere else,’ and that's not always necessarily the best thing to do," Oregon defensive line coach Tony Tuioti told reporters about Rushing. "I'm just glad that Elijah trusts
the process here, knows that everybody develops at different different times."
The opportunity arose for Rushing to join seven other members of the Oregon defensive line in the transfer portal in January, a mass exodus of the Ducks' defensive depth up front. All of whom ended up with Power Four programs and are competing for starting spots elsewhere. Not Rushing, who decided to stick around and continue competing for reps in an Oregon uniform.
Even still with seven departures, the defensive line and outside linebacker positions are stacked for the Ducks in 2026. Reps will not be easy to come by, especially considering all four starters along the defensive line opted to return after an elite season last year.
A starting nod may not be in the cards for Rushing in Year 3, but that's not to say he can't make an impact at numerous different positions.
“Elijah's another one of those big bodies," Tuioti said. "He's up to about 285 now, he put some weight on. That's another long body that we can use with position flex that can play outside, play inside. You know, we're a defense that has a variety of schemes, and we can do a lot of things. And when you got athletic bodies like that, you can plug and play them where you want. So, really happy with where Elijah's at. He's improved a lot. He's got long levers. He can play pretty stout first in the run game, and then he can add some pass-rush for us outside and also inside too, which he hasn't shown a lot of yet, but we're doing that now with him."
Having not bolted in the portal, Rushing will have the golden opportunity of developing in an Oregon program that has produced 31 NFL draft picks since 2021, with five coming from the defensive line and four more likely to enter the league in the 2027 draft.
Interior defender A'Mauri Washington is one of them, as he has commanded first-round buzz ever since breaking out against the Indiana Hoosiers midway through last season. It was his first year as the starter, and while considered to be an athletic freak, there wasn't an overload of expectations for him.
Washington promptly turned in a 33-tackle, 7-pass deflection and 1.5-sack campaign, placing himself squarely in the conversation to be a first-rounder in 2026 thanks to his hulking frame and immense talent. He decided to pass on the opportunity, but the lesson stands for Rushing: Wait your turn at Oregon, and you may very well reap the benefits in the long run.
"You go back and you look at A’Mauri Washington; he didn't start year one, didn't start year two, started year three," Tuioti said. "We've never had that discussions with A’Mauri here. ‘How many reps am I gonna get? How come I'm not a starter?’ He just trusts in the process, and a lot of that has to go back to the relationship. You know, Elijah's got a great relationship with Coach Kam, Coach Lanning, myself, and you know, he trusts the process. So I'm just glad he's still with us, and you know he's definitely somebody that can help us too."
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Elijah Rushing stays patient as bigger Oregon role comes into focus
