Steve Slaton has been nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week honors for the sixth time this season 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.
Voting for NFL Rookie of the Week ends Friday, Dec. 12 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 shining in front of a national audience 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 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 gaining 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.
He first was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week honors after his first-career start at Tennessee in Week 3, when he had 116 rushing yards with his first career touchdown.
Among all rookie running backs, Slaton ranks third in rushing yards (1,024) behind Chicago's Matt Forte (1,081) and Tennessee's Chris Johnson (1,094). But Slaton ranks first in yards per carry (5.0) among all rookie running backs with more than 100 carries.
Coach Gary Kubiak is impressed with Slaton's progress and commented on the play of his rookie starter.
"We knew we were getting a good football player (when we drafted him)," Kubiak said. "We knew we were getting a smart player, a guy that we expected to be a third down player right away for us and then all of a sudden through the injuries, you know, we went with him and he surprised everybody. But he's a fine young man."
