Can Steelers’ Najee Harris win offensive rookie of the year?

Other running back stats

While rushing yards are important, they are far from the only stats that matter. Being able to score and being able to catch the ball is vital for a modern NFL running back to succeed. Going back to Kamara, while he was dynamic on the ground, his 826 receiving yards are what won him the award. He wasn’t just a checkdown option, he was a true receiving threat that the Saints used as a receiver.

Kamara’s receiving yards may have been the most, but Barkley’s receiving total was arguably the most impressive. Despite rushing for over 1300 yards, he also added another 721 yards through the air. In a year where he was closely competing with top overall pick Baker Mayfield, the impressive ability of Barkley both on the ground and through the air gave him the ultimate advantage.

Finally, being able to score both on the ground and through the air can really give the advantage to a running back in rookie of the year voting. The average total touchdowns for an ORTY running back was 12.4, and no award-winning running back scored less than 10 times. Being able to find the endzone is critical if a running back wants to win the rookie of the year award.

Luckily for the Steelers and Harris, he can excel at both receiving and scoring. While his receiving ability seems to be a little overvalued right now (it seems unlikely that Harris spits out as an “X” receiver), he can certainly catch passes and serve as an effective receiving back. He notched 425 receiving yards last season which is on pace with the 452 yards average. Add in his 30 total scores last year and it seems likely that Harris can score during his rookie year with the Steelers. No, he won’t find the endzone 30 times his rookie year, but he could be around or even above that 12-13 touchdown average the past backs have been at.