Royce Freeman is a 3-year Committee Back for Oregon. Royce's 2016 season ranks in the 0th percentile nationally by opponent-adjusted EPA per play across 185 plays — a developing rate for the RB. Production has trended downward season-over-season on adjusted value metrics.
Recruiting data from CFBD/247Sports composite. Sourced from the player's signing-class team — transfers show original school's class.
Part of a rotation — contributes in a complementary role and keeps the featured back fresh.
Players from 2014–2024 matched on EPA efficiency, play volume, and adjusted value tier — not just one metric.
| Player | Team | Yr | Plays | WEPA/play | Line val | Total EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saquon Barkley | Penn State | 2016 | 288 | 0.340 | 3.9 | 97.9 |
| Dalvin Cook | Florida State | 2016 | 292 | 0.340 | 4.3 | 99.3 |
| Breece Hall | Iowa State | 2020 | 301 | 0.340 | 4.5 | 102.3 |
Comps are statistical — efficiency, volume, and value tier all factor in. Style and conference context differ.
| Wk | Opponent | Result | Opp SP+ | Car | Rush Yds | Avg | Rush TD | Rec | Rec Yds | Rec TD | EPA/play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vsUC Davis | W53-28 | — | 11 | 87 | 7.9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.11 |
| 2 | vsVirginia | W44-26 | -3.8 | 21 | 207 | 9.9 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 0.64 |
| 3 | @Nebraska | L32-35 | 10.3 | 5 |
Usage = share of team plays (CFBD has no true snap counts).
| Season | Team | Line value | WEPA/play | YoY Δ | Total EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Oregon | 4.3 | 0.370 | — | 95.5 |
| 2015 | Oregon | 5.1 | 0.360 | -0.01 | 99.0 |
| 2017 | Oregon | 2.5 | 0.270 | -0.09 | 62.9 |
Chart shows per-game EPA (bars) and rolling 5-game average (line). Season breaks marked with dashed lines. Line value = est. points over replacement per game.
Car 19 · Rush Yds 106 · Avg 5.6 · Rush TD 0
| 31 |
| 6.2 |
| 0 |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| 0.36 |
| 5 | @Washington State | L33-51 | 6.2 | 19 | 138 | 7.3 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0.51 |
| 6 | vsWashington | L21-70 | 26.7 | 11 | 50 | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -0.31 |
| 8 | @California | L49-52 | 2.4 | 15 | 10 | 0.7 | 0 | — | — | — | -0.63 |
| 9 | vsArizona State | W54-35 | -3.0 | 17 | 38 | 2.2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | -0.17 |
| 10 | @USC | L20-45 | 23.6 | 10 | 38 | 3.8 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0.03 |
| 11 | vsStanford | L27-52 | 16.4 | 20 | 111 | 5.6 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | -0.14 |
| 12 | @Utah | W30-28 | 10.9 | 20 | 129 | 6.4 | 0 | 8 | 36 | 1 | 0.23 |
| 13 | @Oregon State | L24-34 | -4.6 | 19 | 106 | 5.6 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 0.28 |
