SI Names Oregon Ducks RB Royce Freeman Second Team All-American

Sports Illustrated’s pre-season All-America team contains one Oregon Ducks player in the form of junior running back Royce Freeman.

Freeman is expected to have a huge season, drawing Pac-12 superlatives and even some Heisman hype.

It’s a little bit of an upset that Freeman isn’t on the first team — the spots went to LSU’s Leonard Fournette ("He’ll need to succeed vs. Alabama to vie for the Heisman") and Florida State’s Dalvin Cook ("The agile RB topped Fournette and Christian McCaffrey in yards per carry in 2015") — and Freeman shares second team honors with Stanford’s McCaffrey. But SI acknowledged there's a glut of talent at the running back position this year.

Of course, Freeman will have the entire season to provide why he belongs on the top team.