EUGENE, Ore. — This is the player who honestly never thought he’d be here until he was. A player who as a fan owned a Royce Freeman Oregon jersey before becoming teammates with Royce Freeman. A player who entered the Ducks’ depth chart (gratefully) at No. 6 as a no-name hometown freshman.



His grand plan was to be on the team for four years, not play for four years. His best-case scenario was that he’d be a guy coaches would look to in his junior and senior seasons to take a few snaps in mop-up situations before he graduated and headed to medical school where he could someday say “I was on the Oregon football team” as a fun fact.



Three years after his own signing day, Justin Herbert is still just happy to be here. So you’ll have to excuse him for what he’s about to say because he’s just as surprised as anyone with how a few of the pieces came to be in his decision to return to Oregon for his final season (or that...