Steve Slaton has been nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week honors for the seventh time this season, and for the third week in a row, after rushing for 100 yards on 24 carries against the Tennessee Titans in the Texans' 13-12 win Sunday at Reliant Stadium. He also caught three passes for 15 yards.
Slaton is the only player to gain more than 100 rushing yards against the Titans this season, and he's done it twice. In the first start of his career, he had 116 rushing yards with his first career touchdown at Tennessee to earn his first NFL Rookie of the Week nomination.
Voting for NFL Rookie of the Week ends Friday, Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. CT, and the winner will be announced Friday evening on NFL.com.
Slaton (5-9, 201) most recently was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week after gaining a game-high 120 yards on 26 carries (4.6 avg.) in the Texans' 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers in the coldest game in team history. The speedy tailback also had three catches for 40 yards.
A week earlier on Monday Night Football, he gained a game-high 130 rushing yards with two touchdowns, along with 52 receiving yards on two catches, in the Texans' 30-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Reliant Stadium.
Prior to that, the third-round draft pick (89th overall) from West Virginia was nominated for Rookie of the Week honors after totaling a rookie-record 156 rushing yards on 14 carries (11.1 avg.) with a franchise-long 71-yard touchdown run in the team's 33-27 loss at Indianapolis on Nov. 16.
Slaton won NFLPLAYERS.COM’s Rookie of the Week award this year after the Texans' first meeting with the Colts at Reliant Stadium on Oct. 5. After rushing for 93 yards on 16 carries (5.8 avg.) with two touchdowns in the 31-27 loss, Slaton was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week honors for the third time.
Slaton's second nomination for NFL Rookie of the Week came after the Week 4 game at Jacksonville. In the 30-27 overtime loss, he totaled 83 receiving yards on eight catches with one touchdown and carried the ball 10 times for 33 yards.
Among all rookie running backs, Slaton ranks second in rushing yards (1,124) behind Tennessee's Chris Johnson (1,159).
Coach Gary Kubiak says his rookie is one of the rare running backs who gets stronger as the game goes on.
"The thing that has impressed us so much about this kid is he seems to run better at the end of games," Kubiak said. "I just think he never stops his feet. When he gets in crowds, with his stature, sometimes he gets lost in there. They'll think he's down and he's still moving, and our guys keep working up front."
