RB Royce Freeman - Oregon
40 Yard Dash: 4.54
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 17
Vertical Jump: 34
Broad Jump: 09'10"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.16
3-Cone Drill: 6.90
A big back that is elusive, patient in letting blocks develop, and has enough wiggle or power to get by DBs. His areas that are lacking are his pass protection needs work and he is not a fast back but also not a slow one. His forty time meets RB target numbers that I had seen and his three cone was very good.
Receiving: Though not used extensively in the passing game Royce has one of the best reception percentages in the RB class. He caught 92% of his targets in 2016 and 82% in 2017. Freeman caught 80-of-89 passes thrown to him over his college career. In his sophomore season Freeman had only one dropped pass all season with 26 receptions.
Red zone: Royce has one of the highest red zone conversion rates as 33% of his red zone rushing attempts went for a touchdown. Freeman had double digit rushing touchdowns in 3 of his 4 seasons.
Big Plays: Royce is good at breaking big plays (10+ yards). He is second among draft eligible running backs for long rushing plays and third for long plays from scrimmage.
Durable: Royce played all four years and missed only 2 games with the last one by choice.
Productive: Royce played in 51 games and averaged less than 3 yards/carry in only 3 games. For his last year his lowest game average was 5.08 yds/carry. Royce has the 3rd most career 100-yard rushing games since 2000 with 31. He is number 7 on career rushing yards since 1956. In 2017 he had only 11 carries that lost yardage for 4.51% of his total carries. That percentage was 2nd best among top 9 draft eligible running backs.
Athletic: Royce had a good combine meeting RB targets on the 40 yd dash. He came in with the third among running backs for the three cone and 20 yd shuttle, as well as 4th in the 60 yd shuttle.
Elusive: As of mid-November 2017 Royce was on the top 10 list of missed tackles per season since 2014. He was at number 9 with 81 missed tackles in his 2015 season. In 2015 his PFF elusiveness rating was fifth among running backs with at least 95 attempts. In 2016 his rating was second among 39 draft eligible running backs.
He looks like the total package and could be had with at most our lower third round pick. What do you think?
1-- A long-term QB
2-- An Offensive lineman (or possibly even 2)
3-- A defensive tackle
4-- A Cornerback
The RB is definitely in the mix but I'd be a little disappointed if 2 or 3 weren't addressed 1st with better value.
It seems like Freeman is being slept on a little bit a lot like Nick Chubb. In the right fit, I think Freeman will be a steal for a team. Alfred Morris is the best comparison I can think of off the top.
You should be happy then I see the Giants have Penny coming in for a private visit. The only RB they have on the list of private visits so far.
You can't wait forever to get a RB if you want a very good one. We have two third rounders. If you haven't used a pick on a RB by then, don't expect anything better than what you already have on the roster.
It's possible that all the top guys will be gone by our second 3rd round pick at #69 overall. Could see a run, easily. Don't get too damn cute, get an actual playmaker before then. This offense hasn't hardly scored points in two fucking years...get a guy that is going to put the ball in the end zone.
Royce Freeman will be gone by the 4th round. Guaranteed, might not even make it to the third.