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During the offseason before the 2019 season, we looked at how often Alabama running backs fumbled. Mark Ingram, of course, was easily the best, only fumbling once every 211.3 touches. Damien Harris finished his career solidly in second place at 179.7 touches/fumble. Then there was a big drop to Derrick Henry in third (128.8).
Now it’s time for a little update to add in Najee Harris.
Updated Fumble Rates
| Player | Fumble rate (touches/fumble) | Fumbles |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Fumble rate (touches/fumble) | Fumbles |
| Bo Scarbrough | 96 | 3 |
| Damien Harris | 179.7 | 3 |
| Derrick Henry | 123.8 | 5 |
| Eddie Lacy | 65 | 6 |
| Glen Coffee | 64.9 | 7 |
| Jalston Fowler* | 66 | 2 |
| Josh Jacobs | 105.7 | 3 |
| Kenyan Drake | 49.8 | 7 |
| Mark Ingram | 211.3 | 3 |
| Najee Harris | 284 | 2 |
| T.J. Yeldon | 62.2 | 10 |
| Trent Richardson | 90.9 | 7 |
Yeah, that’s pretty good. Najee Harris blows Ingram out of the water, something I did not expect to see a year and a half ago. Harris only has two career fumbles, losing just one of them. And he really should have only one fumble, as the one this year - the only one he lost - was complete horse hockey. Were we to take that one away, Harris would have just one fumble in 568 career touches. The refs suck sometimes, though; so it is what it is.
Harris is averaging 24 touches a game this season, so he could really leave Ingram and everyone else in the dust if he doesn’t fumble again.
I didn’t include Brian Robinson in the chart since he’s never been the primary back or been heavily utilized (roughly 8 touches/game last year and 6 touches/game this year). Still, let’s take a look at his numbers here.
Robinson has 240 career touches and just one fumble (in 2018). So he would be in second place over Ingram by a good bit, though obviously far behind Harris.