Royce Freeman

Freeman somehow followed his outstanding 2014 true freshman season with a resoundingly better 2015. Playing in 13 games, he ran for 1,838 yards (6.5 YPC) and 17 TDs while catching 26 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games. Especially impressive, Freeman posted those numbers even as the offense around him sputtered while QB Vernon Adams dealt with a broken finger. Despite his highly explosive production, Freeman is actually a bulldozer of a back at 230 pounds, so he's built to withstand the enormous workload he'll take on for the third year in a row.

Unlike most of the nation's top backs, Freeman's ceiling is relatively modest in an Oregon offense loaded with playmakers. The flip side of the coin is an extremely high floor, however. Freeman is the top running back in one of the nation's most prolific offenses and will play a lead scoring role in the team's likely sixth consecutive season with 45-plus points per game. But Freeman's 252 carries for 1,365 yards (5.4 YPC) and 18 touchdowns last year were inflated by a 15-game schedule, as he averaged just 16.8 carries per game. And an increase doesn't seem likely with junior Thomas Tyner primed for a bigger role this year. The Ducks also lost three starting linemen, including two high NFL draft picks.

With a frame to pack on 230 pounds, Freeman clearly projects as a workhorse runner eventually, but he might have to wait a couple years since Byron Marshall and Thomas Tyner are already on the Oregon depth chart. The Oregon offense usually has room for two productive runners, though, and both Marshall and Tyner are early entrant candidates for the NFL, so Freeman might get his shot in 2015.