Najee Harris is making a statement this season, and it should be no surprise to anyone since he called his series on his YouTube channel “The Campaign.”
Like teammates DeVonta Smith, Alex Leatherwood and Dylan Moses he decided to come back to Alabama for another season to try and go out the right way with the team. The playoffs are still some ways away but Harris is doing nothing but playing in the moment.
Saturday’s game against Tennessee was no different as he rushed for 96 yards on 20 carries and finished with three rushing touchdowns. He also got it done through the air as quarterback Mac Jones found Harris out of the backfield six times for 61 yards.
He’s proved that he is a complete running back with his performances every single week, as the team is able to lean on him for consistent production.
In fact, he’s been consistently great, and based on that he is beginning to climb up a few of the major rushing leaders in Alabama history.
When you add his three rushing scores from today Harris is now tied with Johnny Musso with the eight most rushing touchdowns in program history with 34. Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram is the all-time leader with 42 meaning that he’s just eight away from tying the record and nine from owning it.
Based on his current trajectory he has a great chance to sit atop that list.
The other major leader board he is quickly climbing is the Crimson Tide’s rushing yards leaders. Harris is now the sole owner of the number nine spot on the list and is less than 100 yards away from surpassing former teammate Damien Harris who sits at number nine.
The all-time leader in this area is Derrick Henry who has a career total of 3,591 yards. With Harris having rushed for 2,972 yards already that means he’d have to average over 123 yards per game over the course of the next five games to pass him.
Harris currently averages 119 rushing yards per contest so a slight increase in that department is needed, but for someone of his talent very attainable.
Although the idea of passing some of the legendary running backs records may be a true accomplishment to some, Harris would be the first one to say that he is not in it for the individual awards.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
