USFL names former Saints RB Darius Victor its Offensive Player of the Year

Now this is cool to see. The spring-league USFL announced its inaugural award-winners, with former New Orleans Saints running back Darius Victor named Offensive Player of the Year for the 2022 season. Victor has taken 127 carries for 577 yards through 10 games with the New Jersey Generals, third-most in the USFL, while leading the league with 9 touchdown runs. His rate of 4.5 yards gained per carry ranks second-best among players with 100-plus attempts.

Victor has also scored on a touchdown reception and totaled 113 receiving yards, combining for 690 scrimmage yards (second-most in the USFL behind his teammate Trey Williams), which certainly helped build his case. He and Williams helped form a terrific one-two punch at running back with another teammate, wide receiver KaVontae Turpin (a standout at Neville High School in Monroe, La.), winning the title as the league’s Most Valuable Player, and head coach Mike Riley being named Coach of the Year.

It’s an impressive second turn for the former Saints running back, who turned pro with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Maryland’s Towson  University back in 2017. Victor ran hard for the Saints during training camp and preseason that year but was slotted behind a veteran starter in Mark Ingram II, a rookie draft pick in Alvin Kamara, and a much-hyped free agent pickup in Adrian Peterson. There wasn’t room for him in that rotation, which the Saints themselves needed some time to figure out.

After being waived by New Orleans Victor briefly caught on with the Arizona Cardinals and later kept his career going with the XFL’s New York Guardians. Now he’s earning more recognition in the USFL, and helping lead the 9-1 Generals towards a win-or-go-home matchup with the 6-4 Philadelphia Stars in Saturday’s playoff semifinal elimination game. If Victor’s squad finds a win, they’ll advance to the USFL championship game next week with either the 6-4 New Orleans Breakers or the 9-1 Birmingham Stallions. We’ll be pulling for him.

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