Freeman Adds Strength For Sake Of Healthier 2017 Season
07/30/17 | Football, @GoDucksMoseley
As the Ducks open preseason camp Monday, their senior running back has added power after a 2016 campaign nagged by injuries.
As the video is ending, a voice is heard to shout from the background.
"Too easy!" yells one of Royce Freeman's teammates, after watching the Oregon running back squat 600 pounds to cap the Ducks' summer strength-and-conditioning. The look on the face of defensive back Tyree Robinson, standing behind the rack for Freeman's lift, says the same – it's an are-you-kidding-me smirk, as if to say, this dude's already one of the best running backs in the country, and now he's squatting 600 pounds?
And squatting 600 pounds like it's nothing, it should be noted. Proof: At the top of the lift, Freeman actually explodes onto his toes, turning a 600-pound squat into a plyometric exercise.
Two things stood out to Freeman's teammates as they took a brief break from their own max-weight attempts to watch that of their senior running back, earlier this month. One was the ease with which Freeman completed the lift.
We're coming! Don't believe me just watch! Proud of @rolls_royce21 for making every day and rep count. Capped off summer training with 600! pic.twitter.com/f9tPQIckPr
— Joey Carnes (@CoachCarnes45) July 19, 2017
"He could have kept going if he wanted to," Robinson recounted Sunday at Oregon's preseason media day, less than 24 hours before the Ducks kicked off preseason camp Monday. "He didn't struggle. He wasn't out of breath."
Freeman shrugged off that suggestion like he did all that weight. "Once you get that high, there's no reason to keep going," he said, in a nod to safety concerns. "Shout out to Coach O (strength coach Irele Oderinde) and the strength staff."
The other thing that jumped out to Freeman's teammates, and what the video of the lift that circulated on social media didn't show, was how outwardly intense the typically reserved running back was before and after.
"It's not often you see Royce pumped up or amped like that," senior offensive lineman Doug Brenner said. "He definitely was. For all of us, seeing those improvements, it was just so rewarding after all our summer lifting and conditioning."
As the Ducks prepare to hit the practice field Monday, they do so as a tighter, tougher team, players said Sunday. Their summer toiling in the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex weight room strengthened team unity and chemistry that frayed at times during the 2016 season. And, new coach Willie Taggart said, before-and-after photos illustrate just how much players' bodies changed under the direction of Oderinde and his staff.
Fans can get a chance to see the new-look Ducks at open practices Monday and Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to noon.
"You'll see it," Taggart said. "When we see some of these guys, it's like night and day. I really think that's helped with our young men's confidence."
Freeman, listed at 5-foot-11 and about 230 pounds, already packed some serious power. And with 4,146 career rushing yards to his name, he can't have been lacking for confidence in his ability to help the Ducks. Never the less, he embraced Oregon's blue-collar summer work ethic as avidly as anyone, and the results show in the huge squat.
A year ago, few would have predicted that Freeman would be on hand with the Ducks for the start of this preseason camp. Coming off a school-record 1,836 rushing yards as a sophomore, Freeman was expected to enjoy a dominant junior season, and then test the NFL draft waters.
But a series of nagging injuries limited him to 945 yards as a junior. And a December visit by Taggart to Freeman's home town helped convince him that remaining with the Ducks was the best move for 2017.
Last season, fellow running back Kani Benoit said, "was really frustrating for him. I think he feels like there were some opportunities missed in certain situations. I think he took that personal, and turned it into a vendetta this year. And I think that carries over to the team in general."
"I just know he's coming with a lot of different tools. Anybody who has to come and tackle him, bring your big-boy pads."
--Tyree Robinson, senior defensive back
Freeman's 2016 season began on a not-unexpected trajectory, as he ran for 207 yards in the second game of the year, against Virginia. But the injury problems began a week later at Nebraska. In Pac-12 play, Freeman exceeded 100 yards just four times, after doing so in all but one game of 2015.
The 2016 season became fuel for Freeman's fire in the weight room this summer. One benefit, he said, will be "prehab" of future injuries, helping him stay healthier during the year.
"Just working on the little things, to make sure I can complete a full season," he said.
For anyone tasked with tackling Freeman, that must be daunting. The preseason national player of the year candidate has further added to his arsenal by building strength.
"I just know he's coming with a lot of different tools," Robinson said. "Anybody who has to come and tackle him, bring your big-boy pads."
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