Last confirmed: Oregon, 2017. No 2026 box-score games on record.
5′11″ · 231 lb · Imperial, CA
Royce Freeman: RB · Oregon · #21.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Royce Freeman
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. Royce Freeman has been at Oregon through two head coaches in four seasons. A game that shows it: 160 rushing yards against UCLA — Week 8, 2017.
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 12.7% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 12.7% of his carries. 6 carries for 51 yds vs California; 29 for 160 vs UCLA.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
41.0% of carries overall (242/590) → 20.0% of Q4-with-lead carries (19/95) — 78.9% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
18 of 26 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (69.2%). 17 of the team's 33 inside-the-5 carries (51.5%).
No outlet on our list has written about him by name this season.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2017 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 77-21vs Southern Utah | 23 | 150 | 6.5 | 4 | 28 | 4 rushing TDs |
| Wk 2 | W 42-35vs Nebraska | 29 | 153 | 5.3 | 2 | 28 | 153-yard day |
| Wk 3 | W 49-13@ Wyoming | 30 | 157 | 5.2 | 3 | 28 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 4 | L 35-37@ Arizona State | 15 | 81 | 5.4 | 1 | 20 | |
| Wk 5 | W 45-24vs California | 6 | 51 | 8.5 | 0 | 20 | |
| Wk 6 | L 10-33vs No. 11 Washington State | 12 | 62 | 5.2 | 0 | 26 | |
| Wk 7 | L 7-49@ No. 23 Stanford | 18 | 143 | 7.9 | 0 | 59 | |
| Wk 8 | L 14-31@ UCLA | 29 | 160 | 5.5 | 0 | 25 | Season-high 160 yds |
| Wk 9 | W 41-20vs Utah | 20 | 139 | 6.9 | 0 | 38 | |
| Wk 10 | L 3-38@ No. 12 Washington | 24 | 122 | 5.1 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 12 | W 48-28vs Arizona | 19 | 135 | 7.1 | 4 | 28 | 4 rushing TDs |
| Wk 13 | W 69-10vs Oregon State | 19 | 122 | 6.4 | 2 | 23 | |
| Total | 244 | 1475 | 6.0 | 16 | 59 |
Week 1 · 2017
W 77-21
150 rush yds (23 car) · 4 TD · 4 rec · 50 yds
Dominant 56-point win at home against Southern Utah.
With T. Brooks-James — 2 rec · 49 yds · 32 rush yds (9 car) · J. Herbert — 281 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 96.0 · 12 rush yds (4 car)
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
51%244 carriesFumble rate
0.8%2 of 244 carries · 1 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds6.0 yds/carry on 244 carries · 20% explosive (10+ yds) · 51% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2017 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 116 | 6.6 | 1.7 |
| Road5g | 133 | 5.8 | 0.8 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 114 | 6.3 | 1.4 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 136 | 6.2 | 1.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Willie Taggart
Pass share
33.5%
311 pass / 618 run
Plays / game
71.5
13 games
Team sack rate
7.3%
344 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2017
244 carries and 14 catches in 12 games, more touches a game than nearly every FBS running back who plays every week.
How it ended
Four seasons at Oregon, 5,621 rushing yards — drafted at #71 overall by the Denver Broncos.
His career
He has a stat line in 51 games over 4 seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2014–2017
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Mark Helfrich → Willie Taggart. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Where he ended up · NFL
Denver BroncosEntering 9th NFL season
Denver BroncosEntering 9th NFL season
