RB Royce Freeman - Denver Broncos

5-11, 231

Born: 2-24-1996

College: Oregon

Drafted: Round 3, pick 2018

Main Career stats Game Logs Game Recaps Split Stats Play-by-play Latest News

Photo: Jake Roth, US Presswire

Traditional view FanDuel view DraftKings view

Preseason player page

News you need to know

From the upgrade/downgrade report (Mon Dec 2): Freeman will have value if Phillip Lindsay goes down before the end of the season

General News (Thu Dec 5): practiced fully on Thursday.

General News (Wed Dec 4): partially participated in Wednesday's practice.

Week 14: at Houston Texans

All RB vs HOU

FBG says: Good matchup. The Broncos rushing offense struggled to put up points and yards as their running backs have been kept out of the end zone and failed to exceed 80 rushing yards for the second straight week. This rushing offense does rank around the league average with 108.3 rushing yards per game (16th), but there hasn't been much of a ceiling with anyone in this rushing offense as a runner has crossed the 100 rushing yard mark just once this season. Phillip Lindsay has led the backfield pretty much all year, but he has been the decisive leader on the ground over the past three weeks with 46 carries to just 15 from Royce Freeman. With that said, Lindsay still has averaged a meager 3.9 yards per rush attempt with no touchdowns in those three games in which he has been given the reigns. Poor play from this offensive line continues to plague Lindsay and Freeman, to the point where left tackle Garrett Bolles may be in danger of losing his starting job if Ja'Wuan James can make it back into the lineup this week. An addition of James back from injury would be an upgrade, but this offensive line would remain a below-average unit that fuels a very mediocre rushing offense. The Texans run defense has been dreadful since their Week 10 bye. This team has given up an average of 192 rushing yards per game in the past three weeks. To caveat, that does include a 256-yard performance from the league's top rushing offense (Baltimore). However, quarterbacks aside, the Texans have given up at least 130 rushing yards to running backs in all three games while couching up the most fantasy points per game to the position over that span. In contrast, this defense had allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to running backs through Week 9. There were no notable personnel changes or injuries that sparked the change, just lackluster play from an otherwise talented defense. D.J. Reader is a top-notch run-stopper while both linebackers Zach Cunninnnngham and Bernardrick McKinney are team leaders in tackles with range and ability to make big plays against the run. The Texans also got starting safety Justin Reid back from injury last week, which helps out a secondary that was otherwise weak (and still relatively weak) at tackling opposing runners. It is tough to ignore the past few weeks, but this Texans defense does have the talent to turn things around and stop a mediocre Broncos ground game.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	RSH	YD	TD	TARG	REC	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
11	at MIN		24	8	31	0	1	1.0	14	0	0	4.5
12	at BUF		28	2	20	0	2	2.0	9	0	0	2.9
13	vs LAC		32	5	11	0	4	4.0	13	0	0	2.4
14	at HOU	PROJ-Dodds	*	6	*	*		2.9	*	*	*	*
14	at HOU	PROJ-Tremblay	*	5	*	*		2.9	*	*	*	*
14	at HOU	PROJ-Bloom	*	5	*	*		2.0	*	*	*	*

Weekly Performance vs RB 1, RB 12, RB 24, RB 36

Percentile ranks

Royce Freeman's percentile rank in each category, among RB with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2019 Week 13 vs LAC (5 / 11 / 0 rush, 4 / 4 / 13 / 0 rec)

Freeman continued to play a slow second fiddle to Phillip Lindsay. He received just 5 carries to Lindsay's 17, but did draw one more target(4) than Lindsay. Neither back was able to do anything with their catches despite securing all of their targets. Devontae Booker stole a few passing down snaps as well.

2019 Week 12 vs BUF (2 / 20 / 0 rush, 2 / 2 / 9 / 0 rec)

Freeman has been relegated to a clear number two role behind Lindsay. He only saw two carries on the day. He broke a 13 yard run off right tackle in the 3rd and caught both his targets in the passing game. Freeman's first catch was a short dumpoff that was snuffed out near the line of scrimmage. He had a little more room to work with on his second reception out of the backfield, picking up 7 yards.

2019 Week 11 vs MIN (8 / 31 / 0 rush, 1 / 1 / 14 / 0 rec)

Freeman started mixing in with Lindsay on Denver's third offensive drive of the game. Lindsay saw more work as he out-touched Freeman 18-9. Freeman was stuffed on a goal line carry from the 1 yard line late in the 1st quarter. Fullback Janovich vultured the score on the next play. Freeman's biggest play of the day was his lone target in the passing game, a wheel route out of the backfield late in the 4th quarter that picked up 14 yards on 3rd and 13.

2019 Week 9 vs CLE (5 / 15 / 0 rush, 1 / 1 / -1 / 0 rec)

Freeman posted a dud with just 15 yards on 5 carries. Denver did not run a lot of offensive plays in this one, and Phillip Lindsay got most of the work in the backfield. Freeman lost a yard on his lone target in the passing game.

2019 Week 8 vs IND (12 / 40 / 1 rush, 2 / 1 / 5 / 0 rec)

Freeman carried the ball 12 times to Lindsay's 14 had a slower day than usual in the passing game with only two looks. His longest carry of the day was a 10 yard plunge right through the middle of the defense late in the 1st quarter. Freeman answered the call on a goal line carry in the 3rd quarter, converting the score from the 4 yard line after Courtland Sutton drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone. Freeman had a bad drop on a slant route that he ran from the left slot position in the 3rd quarter.

2019 Week 7 vs KC (10 / 35 / 1 rush, 5 / 4 / 32 / 0 rec)

Freeman found the end zone for the first time this season, following fullback Janovich from a power formation from the one yard line to cap the first drive of the game with a touchdown. Denver chose to go for two points following an offsides penalty during the extra point attempt, but gave the ball to Lindsay, who was stuffed on his attempt from the one yard line. Freeman broke a 14 yard run off left tackle in the 4th quarter, Denver's longest rush of the day. Freeman(10 carries) and Lindsay(11 carries) posted a nearly identical stat line on the ground, with Freeman scoring Denver's only touchdown. Freeman continues to see more looks in the passing game than Lindsay, drawing five targets to Lindsay's one as the Broncos played almost all of the contest from behind. Freeman's first look was a swing route from the backfield for 9 yards in the 1st. He made an incredibly smooth one handed snag in stride on another short out route from the backfield late in the 2nd quarter. His longest reception of the day was another short dumpoff out of the backfield that picked up 11 yards in the 4th quarter.

2019 Week 6 vs TEN (11 / 34 / 0 rush, 5 / 5 / 42 / 0 rec)

Freeman mixed in pretty evenly with Lindsay as a rusher and was busy as a receiver, catching all five of his targets from a variety of formations. He took a big hit corralling his first target on a checkdown pass from Flacco. Freeman lined up wide left and caught a curl route in the 2 minute offense at the end of the 1st half. He was a half a yard shy from converting 3rd and 6 with a 3rd quarter catch out of the backfield. Freeman's biggest gain of the day was a 19 yard reception on a nifty misdirection play that faked a WR sweep and saw Freeman wide open on a swing route out of the backfield. Lindsay got all of the limited goal line work this week.

2019 Week 5 vs LAC (13 / 61 / 0 rush, 2 / 2 / 6 / 0 rec)

With Denver jumping out to an early lead this week, Freeman wasn't asked to contribute as much in the passing game, instead teaming up with Lindsay to grind the clock out with the ground game. Freeman got the first couple of goal line carries early in the 1st quarter, but couldn't punch it in and watched Lindsay take the score. Freeman picked up 6 yards on a checkdown pass from Flacco in the 1st quarter. His second reception was a swing route that was brought down behind the line of scrimmage. Lindsay finished the game with more carries, targets, receptions, and yards.

2019 Week 4 vs JAX (6 / 16 / 0 rush, 6 / 4 / 34 / 0 rec)

Freeman didn't do anything with his meager six touches on the ground, but he was the busier of the two backs in the passing game, moving around the formation to collect 6 targets to Lindsay's 1. Freeman ran a great route on a slant that picked up 15 yards and converted 3rd and long late in the 1st quarter. He lined up wide left as a receiver and caught a curl route to convert 3rd down during the two minute drill at the end of the first half. He finished the day with 50 yards total on 10 touches.

2019 Week 3 vs GB (15 / 63 / 0 rush, 5 / 4 / 10 / 0 rec)

Freeman was featured early in the contest, but missed time later in the first half with a shoulder injury, which gave Lindsay a couple of goal line opportunities. Freeman broke a 10 yard touchdown run off right tackle in the 2nd quarter, but the play was negated by a holding penalty on WR Emmanuel Sanders. He carried no fewer than five Packers down the field for a 13 yard gain in the 3rd quarter in what looked like a rugby scrum. Freeman sniffed the end zone again in the 3rd as he bounced a red-zone carry off right tackle and took it down to Green Bay's three yard line. Freeman drew a few looks from Flacco, but was unable to do anything with them as he netted 10 yards on 4 total receptions. His longest catch was a checkdown pass late in the 4th that picked up 9 yards.

2019 Week 2 vs CHI (11 / 54 / 0 rush, 7 / 5 / 48 / 0 rec)

Freeman looked to the sharper of the two backs this week as he racked up more yards on the ground and through the air than Lindsay with a couple fewer carries. Freeman got some extended work in the passing game, drawing a career-high 7 targets. His first was a checkdown pass from Flacco early in the 1st. He split out wide left as a receiver and caught a curl route that he turned into a ten yard gain in the 2nd quarter. Freeman's longest play of the day was a 19 yard gain on a swing route during Denver's last offensive drive. Freeman didn't do anything flashy on the ground, picking up a couple of runs of 10+ yards in the 2nd and 4th quarter and finishing his day with a solid 4.9 ypc average.

2019 Week 1 vs OAK (10 / 56 / 0 rush, 1 / 1 / 5 / 0 rec)

Lindsay was featured in the backfield for the Bronco's first two drives, but Freeman got in on the action later in the 1st quarter. His biggest gain of the day was a 26 yard run that he bounced off right tackle and turned up the sidelines in the 3rd quarter. Freeman caught a checkdown pass from Flacco at the end of the 1st half, picking up a few yards underneath prevent coverage. Freeman split out wide left in a bunch formation in the Oakland red zone in the 3rd quarter, catching a bubble screen that got blown up behind the line of scrimmage.

Latest News

Broncos | Royce Freeman returns to full practice (Thu Dec 5, 05:47 PM) - Denver Broncos RB Royce Freeman (ribs) practiced in full Thursday, Dec. 5.

link to story

Broncos | Royce Freeman listed as limited (Wed Dec 4, 06:51 PM) - Denver Broncos RB Royce Freeman (ribs) was limited during practice Wednesday, Dec. 4.

link to story

Broncos | Royce Freeman does little in victory (Mon Dec 2, 01:45 AM) - Denver Broncos RB Royce Freeman ran five times for 11 yards and caught four passes for 13 yards on Sunday, Dec. 1, against the Los Angeles Chargers.

link to story

Broncos | Royce Freeman finishes with 29 total yards (Sun Nov 24, 04:26 PM) - Denver Broncos RB Royce Freeman rushed for 20 yards on two carries against the Buffalo Bills in Week 12. He also caught two passes for nine yards during the game.

link to story