Damien Harris: Patriots' Top-10 All-Time Rusher?

FOXBORO — With the exception of his rookie season in 2019, New England Patriots running back Damien Harris has been extremely efficient.

That season Harris became was essentially a redshirt rookie, buried fifth on the depth chart behind Sony Michel, James White, Rex Burkhead, and Brandon Bolden. Since then, however, he has ascended to New England's No. 1 and proven to be one of the better running backs in the NFL.

After tallying 691 rushing yards and two touchdowns in his second season, Harris broke out in year No. 3. In fact, the 25-year-old fell just short of his first 1,000-yard season last year, finishing with 929 yards in 15 games. Leaving his rookie campaign out, that's an average of 810 rushing yards.

If he continues that pace in 2022 — and it seems safe to assume he will considering he is in a contract year — Harris adding at least 810 yards to his current career total of 1,632 yards would increase his total to 2,442 yards.

That would be enough for him to jump into 14th place on the team’s all-time rushing list, just above Leonard Russell (2,437 yards) and just below Craig James 2,469 yards). Going into the 2022 season, Harris currently ranks 22nd on the team’s all-time list.

Sam Cunningham (5,453) is the team’s all-time leading rusher, followed by Jim Nance (5,323 yards).

The Alabama product is yet to top 1,000 yards in a single season so far in his career, but if he hits that milestone in 2022, he has a chance to move up into the top 10 on the Patriot's all-time rushing list. LeGarrette Blount is No. 10 with 2,917 yards. Harris would need 1,285 yards to catch Blount.

Harris's status heading into a contract year is somewhat unclear. Not only is there no guarantee he will be in Foxboro beyond 2022, but the team is also expecting a second-year jump out of Rhamondre Stevenson while adding fellow running backs Pierre Strong Jr. and Kevin Harris in this year’s draft.

“It’s a lot of fun just having the opportunity to come out here with this team, having all our guys back just brings all the more excitement," Harris said in June following the Patriots’ first practice at their mandatory minicamp. “Every time you touch the ball you want good results to happen, so you’ve got to practice good habits, practice good fundamentals, and let the rest take care of the rest.”

The Patriots will kick off training camp in two weeks. Fans will be able to catch their first glimpse of Harris and the 2022 Patriots in action on the practice fields outside of Gillette Stadium starting July 27.