RJ Harvey's preseason stat line doesn't tell the full story of his NFL debut

It's official, RJ Harvey has played his first snaps in a Denver Broncos uniform, and it is even better when you hear that he did it with the starters in his first NFL Preseason game. Harvey got the start over veteran running back JK Dobbins, who only got one carry throughout the entirety of the game compared to Harvey's seven carries.

Harvey played 12 of the 13 snaps on first and second down while Dobbins played all five of the third down snaps. Harvey's stat line in his debut was officially seven carries for 25 yards, which has apparently sent many people, especially those who drafted him in fantasy football leagues, into a panic, when really they should look at his plays first.

Here is a video of every snap that Harvey played against the San Francisco 49ers in his NFL Preseason debut.

Harvey's longest run went for 11 yards, which is pretty good considering when you look at the film, he had to jump outside on a lot of his carries because protection on his offensive line broke down. This is nothing new to Harvey as UCF's offensive line struggles in the past few years under former head coach Gus Malzahn, and that is what made Harvey such a great running back was his ability to jump the run outside and still make a big play out of what should have been a loss of yards.

The biggest thing to note of his debut was that he took majority of the first and second down snaps, and Dobbins took the third down snaps. That could be a foreshadowing of Harvey being the lead back and Dobbins continuing to be a third-down back. Harvey was also used in the route-running game, as he did have one reception for four yards.

Harvey's ability to be used in both ways is what makes him so desirable as a running back, as head coach Sean Payton has always loved using running backs in the passing game. Harvey has been a big topic of conversation in the Broncos organization since showing out at rookie minicamp, and now he has the ability to be a starting running back in the NFL, something UCF fans are just waiting to see.

Harvey's debut was nothing to scoff at, and if anything, it should have fans excited for what he will be able to do once the regular season starts. He still has two more preseason games, as long as Payton plays him, to figure out how to play with this offensive line.