Royce Freeman

Royce Freeman
• #21 RB
• Junior
• Oregon
• Hometown: Imperial, CA
• Height: 5-11
• Weight: 230 lbs.
• DOB: 2/24/96



 Statistics:

Rushing:
2014: 252/1365/18
2015: 283/1836/17

Receiving:
2014: 16/158/1
2015: 26/348/2

Royce Freeman is a big power RB with good feet. He makes guys miss by being patient and allowing the defender to make a mistake. He is a very strong runner that easily breaks tackles and delivers big time hits on defenders who try to tackle him. Here is his tape from last year against Washington State. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/royce-freeman-vs-washington-state-2015/ Freeman does just about everything in this game. 27/246/2 on the ground and 3/46/1 through the air. Now Washington State isn’t the best defensive team but you can see how Freeman uses his side step hesitation move to make defenders miss. He also lowers his shoulders to run over the defense. Freeman also has 4 other game tapes on Draft Break down against Cal, USC, Washington and Stanford that you can check out for more footage.

Freeman is a big dude. Here is a picture that Jonathan Stewart posted on his Instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/p/BHN9onkhfd_/?taken-by=jonathanstewar1&hl=en Stewart is no small guy and Freeman is bigger than he is. Freeman takes advantage of his size and runs through smaller players or players who are out of position or off of their angle. This is really good but it worries me translating to the NFL. Yes, he will still try to do these things and use his size but when he gets to the NFL everyone is just as big and strong. Therefore, he won’t be able to rely on running over or through defenders. He lacks the speed that I think he needs to be a very successful NFL running back. Oregon’s spread offense does a good job of creating space for running backs and Freeman took advantage to finish with the fourth-best rushing grade in the nation last season. So it is very important to watch him against top defenses like a Stanford or whoever may be on the schedule. Last year his game against Michigan State was his worst since Oregon has trouble spreading out the Michigan defense.

Freeman has good hands and gets the most out of his runs in the open field. He caught a pass in all but 2 games last season and averaged 11.1 yards a catch. I also saw somewhere that Freeman made a pretty good list of college players in terms of the most rushing yards in a season for a running back with over 25 receptions. Freeman landed on the list between Ezekiel Elliot’s 2014 season and his 2015 season and also ahead of Jay Ajayi’s 2014 season and Le’Veon Bell’s 2012 season. Royce has a lot of the tools needed to be an every down back. He is a very physical runner with good feet and can also catch the football out of the backfield which most bigger backs struggle with.

Freeman is a patient runner that shows good vision and reads blocks well. He is a big time down-hill runner. Freeman is on Pro Football Focus’s list of top 100 college players and he is pretty high on the list at number 14. Pro Football Focus also lists Freeman at No. 7 in its preseason Heisman rankings.

Freeman is someone that I was lower on but have started to come around on since he does have a lot of positive traits. I just wish he was faster and that would really cement him as a top prospect and a future NFL running back that never has to leave the field. At the very least he could be a committee back like a Jeremy Hill or a LeGarrette Blount who gets the red zone and short yardage carries.


NFL Comparison: Slower Le’Veon Bell