Devontae Booker

Devontae Booker (born May 27, 1992) is an American football running back for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Utah. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Devontae Booker
Booker with the Denver Broncos in 2016
No. 34 – Las Vegas Raiders
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (1992-05-27) May 27, 1992
Sacramento, California
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:219 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school:Grant Union
(Sacramento, California)
College:Utah
NFL Draft:2016 / Round: 4 / Pick: 136
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Rushing yards:1,103
Rushing average:3.8
Rushing touchdowns:6
Receptions:105
Receiving yards:872
Receiving touchdowns:1
Total return yards:622
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Booker attended and played high school football for Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California, where he rushed for 2,884 yards and 45 touchdowns as a senior.[1] He helped Grant High to the 2008 CIF State Open Division state title as a junior, leading the team in rushing yards (1,850) and touchdowns (36). Booker was named to the Sacramento Bee's all-metro teams in 2008 and 2009.[2]

College career

American River College

Booker attended American River College from 2011 to 2013.[3] In 2011, he had 793 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns and in 2012, he had 1,472 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was originally expected to transfer to the University of Utah prior to the 2013 season, but was unable due to academic reasons. He stayed at American River College and did not play football in 2013.[4]

Utah

Booker officially transferred to Utah in 2014.[5] He entered the season splitting time with Bubba Poole, but eventually became the main running back.[6][7] Booker started 9-of-13 games his junior season, finishing with 292 carries for 1,512 yards (5.2 avg.) with 10 touchdowns in addition to 43 catches for 306 yards with two touchdowns.[8] He posted the second-most yards (1,512) and third-most carries (292) in school history, earning a first-team All-Pac-12 selection. Booker opened the first 10 games of 2015 before suffering a season-ending knee injury,[9] finishing with 1,261 yards on 268 carries (4.7 avg.) with 11 touchdowns in addition to catching 37 passes for 318 yards.[10] He led the nation with 305 touches from scrimmage (30.5 per game) and carries per game (26.8) at the time of his knee injury. Booker was named a Maxwell Award semifinalist (national player of the year) and Doak Walker Award semifinalist (nation's top running back) in addition to earning All-Pac-12 second-team honor. Booker started 19-of-23 games played at the University of Utah.

College statistics
Devontae BookerRushingReceiving
YearTeamGPAttYardsAvgTDsRecYardsTDs
2014Utah132921,5125.210433062
2015Utah102681,2614.711373160
College Totals235602,7735.021806222

Professional career

Denver Broncos

2016 season

Booker was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round (136th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft.[11] He was the seventh running back to be selected that year.[12] Booker opened training camp competing for a roster spot as a reserve player behind veteran starter C.J. Anderson. At the conclusion of the preseason, he was named the season as the No. 2 running back behind Anderson. On his first NFL carry against the Carolina Panthers, Booker fumbled the ball and was recovered by former Grant High School teammate Shaq Thompson. Booker re-entered the game, and finished with three carries for eight yards.[13] Booker had his first career touchdown against the Houston Texans on October 24 after Anderson left the game with an injury.[14] After Anderson was lost for the season, Booker became the starting running back the following week against the Chargers.[15] He was the starter for the Broncos the next five games until the Broncos claimed Justin Forsett off waivers, who started the final three games. Booker finished his rookie year playing in all 16 games with six starts, rushing 174 times for 612 yards and four touchdowns along with 31 receptions for 265 yards and one touchdown.[16] Booker became the 13th rookie in team history and first since 2009 (Knowshon Moreno) to lead the team in rushing.

2017 season

Booker remained in the Broncos' backfield in the 2017 season. He appeared in 13 games (0 starts), rushing 79 times for 299 yards (3.8 avg.) with one touchdown and catching 30 passes for 275 yards. He added 14 kickoff returns for 276 yards and a 19.7 average.[17]

2018 season

After the departure of C.J. Anderson, Booker competed for the starting running back gig with third-round rookie Royce Freeman. Booker was named the No. 2 running back behind Freeman at the end of the 2018 NFL preseason. He rushed for 183 yards and one rushing touchdown in the 2018 season while appearing in all 16 games (0 starts). In addition, he had 38 receptions for 275 receiving yards.[18]

2019 season

Booker began the season as the No. 3 running back on the depth chart, behind second-year players Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay. He appeared in 15 games (0 starts) and recorded six receptions for 57 receiving yards to go along with two carries for nine rushing yards in the 2019 season.[19]

Las Vegas Raiders

On May 11, 2020, Booker signed a one-year, veteran's minimum deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.[20] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on July 30, 2020,[21] and activated from the list five days later.[22]

NFL statistics
SeasonTeamGamesRushingReceivingReturningFumbles
GPGSAttYdsAvgLngTDRecYdsAvgLngTDRetYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2016DEN 1661746123.5184312658.543T10000043
2017DEN 130792993.8261302759.22901427619.728021
2018DEN 160341835.4261382757.23001023423.435011
2019DEN 160294.5506579.5250511222.432000
Total6162891,1033.82661058728.343T12962221.435075

Personal life

Booker received a bachelor's degree in sociology in December 2015.[23]

References
  1. "Devontae Booker's High School Timeline". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  2. Wolfe, Cameron (August 9, 2016). "Devontae Booker's battles with adversity paved his unusual path to the Broncos". The Denver Post. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  3. "Former ARC RB Booker drafted to Super Bowl Champion Broncos". American River College. April 30, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  4. "Roundabout path to Utah Utes pays off for RB Devontae Booker – Pac-12 Blog- ESPN". ESPN.com.
  5. "Hometown Report". sacbee.
  6. Dirk Facer (October 1, 2014). "Devontae Booker is now the top Runnin' Ute". DeseretNews.com.
  7. "Utah Utes find a winning identity with Devontae Booker running ability – USC Trojans- ESPN". ESPN.com.
  8. "Devontae Booker 2014 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  9. Devontae Booker tore meniscus vs. Arizona, out for regular season
  10. "Devontae Booker 2015 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  11. Hayre, Chris (April 30, 2016). "Broncos select RB Devontae Booker in the fourth round". DenverBroncos.com. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  12. "2016 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  13. "Carolina Panthers at Denver Broncos - September 8th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  14. "Houston Texans at Denver Broncos - October 24th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  15. "San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos - October 30th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  16. "Devontae Booker 2016 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  17. "Devontae Booker 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  18. "Devontae Booker 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  19. "Devontae Booker 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  20. "Raiders sign running back Devontae Booker". Raiders.com. May 11, 2020.
  21. "Raiders' Devontae Booker: Goes on COVID list". CBSSports.com. July 30, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  22. Damien, Levi (August 4, 2020). "Devontae Booker cleared to return from COVID-19 list while third Raiders player opts out". USAToday.com. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  23. http://files.denverbroncos.com/resources/custom/Images/email_blast/2018_Denver_Broncos_Media_Guide_a.pdf
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