Royce Freeman

he attacks the hole when it is there but shows patience to allow his blocks to develop, as well as the vision and burst to take advantage of cutback lanes. he plays faster than he looks, consistently beating middle linebackers to the corner and accelerating to and through the hole into the secondary. freeman may lack elite breakaway speed but he's rarely caught from behind and has multiple 50+ yard touchdowns over his career. freeman looks comfortable catching passes out of the backfield, showing good hand-eye coordination and body control to pluck outside of his frame. he is still a work in progress as a pass blocker but has improved over his career and possesses the frame to handle this role. the oregon coaches have publicly lauded freeman's maturity and work ethic.

COMPARES TO

weaknesses

Freeman may look the part but he is not the consistent punisher his size suggests, looking to elude rather than barrel through defenders, at times. His occasional lack of ideal physicality can also show up in pass protection, where Freeman needs to show more willingness to deliver a blow, bend his knees and anchor against hard-charging blitzers rather than simply catch them.

strengths

Freeman possesses a compact, muscle-bound frame, including a stout lower half. He is powerful, running through arm tackles and showing impressive leg drive and natural forward lean to generate yards after contact. Perhaps most impressively, Freeman possesses very light feet for his size, picking his way through traffic and altering his gait to throw off would-be tacklers. Freeman is an alert, instinctive runner.

hall of fame running back jerome bettis, steelers. freeman is built more like a sherman tank than "the bus," but he shows a similar combination of raw power, underrated agility and consistency as the 5-11, 243 pound bettis, who eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark eight times over his illustrious career in st. louis and pittsburgh - 3rd most in nfl history when he retired in 2005.

IN OUR VIEW

oregon's former running back coach, gary campbell, often compared freeman to another former ducks star - current carolina panthers standout jonathan stewart. campbell cited the players' similar low-key personalities, builds and running styles. one area in which freeman and stewart are different is durability. while stewart struggled with durability at oregon and since in the nfl after earning a first round pick back in 2008, freeman missed just one game over his collegiate career.

Some will quibble with the fact that - as a four-year starter - Freeman has logged plenty of carries over his career. Backs with his combination of durability, size, power and agility are rare and generally do not last long on draft day, however. With the work ethic to take full advantage of his raw talent, Freeman projects as a bell-cow runner in the NFL, with a top 50 draft selection likely if he can answer questions about his straight-line speed during workouts.

Attended Imperial High School, California. Rated among the top running backs in the country, the U.S. Army All-American is included on the Rivals250 listing as one of the top prospects in the state by 247 Sports . . . Accumulated 2,824 yards and 41 touchdowns rushing his senior year (11.0 avg.) in addition to catching eight passes for 116 yards and two more scores . . . Topped 300 rushing yards on three occasions in 2013, including a season-high 340 yards and five scores vs. Cibola (AZ) one week prior to tallying a season-best 21.6 yards per carry (194 yards) at Yuma (AZ) . . . Ran for five touchdowns in each of four of his first five games his final prep campaign . . . Proved equally adept against some of the nation's best players, scoring three touchdowns in the West Team's 28-6 win in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January . . . MaxPrep's California Division II first-team all-state honoree also was crowned the state's medium school's Player of the Year by CalHi Sports . . . Characterized as a powerful runner with great balance, the Imperial Valley League's Offensive Player of the Year also earned San Diego Section Offensive Player-of-the-Year acclaim after completing his high school career with a sectional-record 7,601 yards on the ground . . . Averaged 11.8 yards per carry over the course of his four seasons while tallying 111 rushing TDs . . . Accumulated a single-game school-record 353 rushing yards vs. Parker in addition to six touchdowns (5 rushing) against Central as a junior, finishing the year running for 2,482 yards and 34 touchdowns . . . The Tigers finished the 2013 season with an 11-1 record under head coach Kerry Legara following a loss to St. Augustine in the sectional semifinals.

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