The Big 12 was blessed when they saw what RJ Harvey could do on the football field for UCF. The star running back had some early setbacks and put together a beautiful campaign that is sure to put him on the map ahead of the upcoming NFL Draft. Let’s take a deeper look at what Harvey has to offer at the next level.
Height: 5 ft – 8 in
Weight: 207 lb
Age: 24
Position: Running Back
College: UCF
College Career Summary:
RJ Harvey is a little older than many expect. He came into his college career as a redshirted freshman with the Virginia Cavaliers. He spent the entire year there in 2019 before leaving and joining the UCF Knights. In 2020, he appeared in two games and rushed just three total times, so not much happened there either. In 2021, he missed the entirety of the season with an ACL injury, making three total carries in his first three years. Finally, he got some action in 2022 with just under 800 rushing yards and 13 game appearances. The following year, he doubled his numbers, rushing for 1,400 yards and starting 10 games. Then, most recently, in 2024, he hit career highs in a number of categories such as rushing yards, rushing attempts, games started, average yards per carry, receiving yards, yards per reception, and receiving touchdowns. Given how long that list is, it’s safe to say that he was quite successful this year. Coming into the NFL Draft, he has a selection to the Third-Team All-American squad under his belt, as well as a nod to the First-Team All-Big 12 group.
2024 Season
Games Played: 12
Yards: 1,577 rushing, 267 receiving
Touchdowns: 22 rushing, three receiving
Career Stats:
- 40 games played
- 3,792 rushing yards
- 47 total touchdowns
- 579 rush attempts
- 61 receptions
Passing/Rushing/Receiving/Defensive Metrics:
- 8 yards per carry throughout his career
- 8 yards per reception throughout his career
- 720 receiving yards
Strengths:
- Big play ability every time he touches the football
- Elite lateral quickness, constantly making defenders miss on jump cuts
- Unbelievable speed and acceleration consistently on display
- Firm patience, lets blocks set up first
- Workhorse back with high durability
- Three-down potential thanks to his receiving talents
Weaknesses:
- Very poor in pass protection, struggled against blitzing linebackers
- Can get “cute” at the line of scrimmage, losing yards
- Doesn’t have strong power to move piles in goal-line situations
- Concerns regarding his capability of handling a featured role
High Pressure Situations/Clutch Gene:
Unfortunately, we didn’t exactly get to see Harvey in many high-pressure and clutch situations in 2024. The team only won four games, though Harvey was able to exceed the 75 rushing yard mark in every single game and surpassed 100 yards in all but three. Despite the losses piling up, Harvey showed up for UCF every single week, trying to put the team on his back and willing them to victory. I’d say that putting together this many consistent performances counts for high-pressure situations. The year before we saw him play at the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl against Georgia Tech, and he played great there also. He put up 15 rushes for 120 yards without a touchdown, ALTHOUGH he did lose a fumble. Still, the performance was very strong in what wound up being a loss. We’re going to need a bit more data on Harvey in big games to really determine if he’s able to rise to the occasion like we anticipate, or if we simply just haven’t seen enough of him to know if he’d underperform or crumble under the bright lights.
NFL Projection And Fantasy Relevance:
RJ Harvey is anticipated to fall a good bit in the draft. He won’t go undrafted, though he probably won’t be a first or second-round selection. Most assume he’ll fall somewhere between the third and fifth rounds, which makes total sense. If you’re looking at it from a fantasy football perspective, it means that he’s a nice stash for later but likely doesn’t offer much immediate relevance. If he does fall that late, he probably won’t have a massive role immediately, and he’ll need to carve it out himself as time passes by. He’d have to truly perform above expectations though, because these days running backs are counted on to catch passes out of the backfield and protect the quarterback. Harvey can catch out of the backfield, but his pass protection needs significant work. If his team can’t trust him to stay back and block, then he’ll find opportunities harder to come by than most. I wouldn’t expect a game-changing fantasy option here. However, there is potential in a late stash with him, because running backs are always too valuable to just pass up.
Harvey’s numbers would indicate that he should have a much higher draft stock than he currently has. The talent and big-play ability are off the charts, and nobody is questioning that. The problems come with other very important aspects of the position. For starters, he needs to improve his pass blocking, he also needs to adapt to the modern NFL offense from UCF, and he has to prove that his body can handle a large amount of touches without getting hurt. After all, given his smaller frame, it wouldn’t be surprising if he isn’t able to be a three-down workhorse back given the hits he’d routinely be taking from strong NFL defenses. All of the teams that are going to have a chance at drafting him will be weighing the exact same questions in their mind. Is his big play ability and explosiveness out of the backfield enough of a positive to outweigh any fears about his size and pass protection? Eventually, a team will decide on the positives as opposed to the negatives, and we’ll be on our way. I think it’s more likely he gets drafted in the fourth round, but the third round wouldn’t be surprising if his statistics were any indication of his talents.