Denver Broncos rookie RJ Harvey has been compared to Alvin Kamara since the team drafted him this spring.
Of course, those are incredibly high aspirations for any young running back.
But, most of the way through his rookie season and Harvey is on an exclusive list with Kamara.
Maybe comparisons of Denver Broncos rookie RJ Harvey to Alvin Kamara are apt
Sean Payton drafted and enjoyed five years with Alvin Kamara in New Orleans, which is part of why Denver Broncos rookie RJ Harvey has been compared to him.
Harvey heard it just after the draft too.
“Definitely want to be like those guys,” Harvey told reporters in May. “Like Darren Sproles, he went crazy with the Saints. Kamara, too. I want to be better than those guys, so I’m going to work every day, get better, just prove myself to all the vets and the coaches. I want to make an immediate impact in this league.”
Some predicted the former UCF star would be the Broncos starting back when the season kicked off. Although, others thought the 5’8″ back might be too small to run between the tackles. Sean Payton nixed that idea.
“He’s an extremely instinctive runner,” Payton said after Harvey’s first preseason game in August. “We’re going to get a number of looks to see him between the tackles. It’s all there on college tape and the best thing is that he’s such a willing learner. He’s very, not critical of himself, but man he wants to please and he’s very coachable.”
Instead of Harvey starting, though, veteran J.K. Dobbins was the go-to guy for Payton and the offense.
And Dobbins excelled. He became the workhorse back while Harvey was the backup, getting spot duty here and there. Dobbins racked up 772 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns and was on pace for a career year before being hurt in Week 10 by the Raiders.
That’s when the starting job was handed to Harvey, like football in his gut.
He was making explosive plays even before he was starting, though. Like the 40-yard touchdown run against the Cowboys, and the 27-yard TD reception vs. the Texans. Harvey racked up 6 total touchdowns in his first 10 games, being the best receiving back on the Broncos, and a scoring machine.
Now he has 12 TDs, and he’s the leading touchdown-scorer by a mile on the team (Courtland Sutton, 2nd, 7 TDs).
And all that scoring has brought comparisons to Kamara back up.
In fact, RJ Harvey joined Hall of Famer Gale Sayers and Kamara as the only two rookie running backs to run for 7 TDs and catch 5 more.
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Sayers’ rookie year was 60 years ago; he ran for 867 yards with 14 TDs, and caught another 6. He was named to the AP All-Pro team. Meanwhile, Kamara’s rookie season (2017) saw him run for 728 yards and 8 TDs, with another 826 receiving yards and 5 TDs. He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year and Second-Team All-Pro.
Currently, Harvey has run for 512 yards and 7 TDs, with 351 and 5 TDs. So, Kamara had basically double the yards from scrimmage, but a similar amount of touchdowns.
Harvey’s versatility make him the real “Joker” in the offense
Many wondered who the “Joker” would be in Sean Payton’s offense, and it’s been RJ Harvey this year.
He possesses the ability to both run the ball with quickness and great vision, but also catch the ball out of the backfield.
“We drafted the runner, and I mean, what we saw from him as a runner, and then we saw enough his senior year as a receiver that we felt — but it was like the opposite with [Alvin] Kamara. When we drafted Kamara, we drafted the receiving threat, and then it was like, ‘Wow.’ We saw something different when we handed it to him as well,” Payton explained after the Week 14 Raiders win. “And with RJ, we drafted the runner first, and when you see him, you guys have spent time with him, he’s quiet, but he’s put together. He’s short, but he’s put together well.”
Payton seems to be pleasantly surprised with the rookie’s ability to catch the ball since they drafted him as a runner first.
The Broncos desperately needed a touchdown on Christmas night. Bo Nix rolled out and found Harvey in the back of the end zone for the winning touchdown. Nix was really proud of the way his back got himself open.
“At the design rollout, he in was in the flat. They trailed him a bit, but he was in the back of the
end zone. He worked and it was a very savvy move by him,” Nix explained. “You can tell he has been in my shoes before, throwing. He knows what it is like to find space, and is a really savvy football player. He does things a lot that are unteachable that he has in his toolbox.”
And what Nix is talking about there, “been in my shoes” is Harvey was a quarterback in high school. He used that experience to help his quarterback and find a way to get open.
As the Broncos take on the Chargers in Week 18, and as Denver goes onto the playoffs, Harvey’s play will be important both when running and receiving the pigskin. Today, the Chargers face the Texans, and Houston win would give Denver the AFC West title for the first time since 2015.
