EUGENE -- In April, Oregon running back Royce Freeman crouched underneath a metal grate and waited for the whistle.



On its chirp he shuffled forward, staying low, before driving his hands into a padded bag and the teammate holding it backward. The linemen encircling the drill "oohed" their approval of the star senior who'd taken an interest in their grunt work. Offensive line coach Mario Cristobal quipped to the 238-pound Freeman, "another 100 pounds and you're gonna be a great guard."

Royce Freeman jumping into sled and blocking drills. O-linemen loving it. Cristobal: "Another 100 pounds and you're gonna be a great guard." pic.twitter.com/s2b4ZaqbM7 — Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) April 27, 2017

Freeman, of course, is already one of the most decorated running backs in Oregon's history and will only add more accolades this fall. It's likely he'll finish his final collegiate season as the school's record-holder in career rushing yards, all-purpose yards, rushing touchdowns and scoring.



To better protect such a legacy, Freeman has spent 2017 improving how he protects both himself and UO's offense as a whole.



In the weight room, he's added strength while maintaining his agility in the hopes of putting 2016, with its leg and chest injuries and career-low 945 rushing yards, behind him.



And on the practice fields, he's continued to become something of an honorary offensive lineman. Without a role on special teams, Freeman has spent the portions of preseason practice allotted for punt and kickoff returns working on blocking drills alongside the linemen whose position meetings he also attends.

"I take it upon myself to be with my o-line and develop a better chemistry and learn what they're doing," Freeman said. "It's going to help me develop my game overall. Thinking about taking my game to the next level, thinking about how the defense is working, how they're thinking."

It's a new addition to his practice routine, as practices during his first three seasons were not structured in a way that freed Freeman to work directly with the linemen, he said.

"We just think running backs and others are extensions of the o-line, and I think the more they understand the way the line is taught to do things, the better they can be as a running back in setting up blocks," UO coach Willie Taggart said. "I really think it's helping him be more instinctive."

Running back Royce Freeman has worked regularly alongside UO's offensive linemen during preseason camp, pushing blocking sleds as he did on Aug. 10.

Defenses might shudder at the thought of the game coming easier to Freeman.



The Pac-12's offensive freshman of the year in 2014, Freeman broke LaMichael James's single-season rushing record in 2015 while becoming a second-team All-American, as voted by the Football Writers Association of America.



Freeman entered last season on every awards watch list conceivable, and his departure for the NFL after three seasons appeared likely. Injuries to his leg in September and chest in October led him to miss time and run timidly when he did play, however. He said he didn't ask coaches for a reduced role while playing through the pain, but Tony Brooks-James more than tripled his carries and yards from the previous season while Freeman recovered.



"It was very frustrating," Freeman said of the injuries Thursday, during UO's second week of preseason camp. "I mean, football's a game where you're lucky if you're fully healthy going into any of the games once the season begins, but to have your attributes and your play hindered by injuries, trying to play through them, it's rough. But it's something you just have to live with and move on.



"... We sent the seniors out on a bad note (in 2016) and we don't want to be that class going out that way."



Amid a draft class loaded with running backs, Freeman opted to return under Taggart, who tutored Heisman Trophy finalist Toby Gerhart while Stanford's running backs coach from 2007-09.



Getting Freeman to return for his senior season -- he has already graduated entering this season -- was one of Taggart's most important recruiting pitches early on. Running backs coach Donte Pimpleton, who played quarterback with Taggart at Western Kentucky, inherited one of the toughest acts to follow on the new staff in replacing Gary Campbell, the longest-serving assistant at one school in the Football Bowl Subdivision who coached all but one of UO's top-10 career rushers. Yet Freeman has endorsed Pimpleton's way of teaching.



"He's able to help us as running backs see the whole defense because we're back there with the quarterback," Freeman said. "Our job is to protect him. Without that we're probably worthless. He's helping us see the defenses and try to understand it."





It doesn't take a seasoned football mind to see, however, that though UO is exceptionally deep at running back, the same can't be said for its quarterbacks behind starter Justin Herbert.



To guard the 6-foot-6 sophomore more effectively in pass protection, Freeman hits the sleds.

"The best part about him is he understands what's going on up front," Cristobal said. "He understands how defensive structures and pressure affect blocking schemes, so he knows where to push the ball, how to push it and when to put his foot in the ground and come back."

After injuries sapped Freeman's effectiveness last fall, UO's linemen are certainly happy to have him back healthy, running behind their blocks.

But they also won't mind if Freeman throws a few of his own.

"From what I've seen, he's a great protector," right tackle Calvin Throckmorton said. "He knows the protections really well and knows our responsibility, which makes his that much easier."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif