Vol For Life and New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara has been named the 2017 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year.
He was selected by fan votes on NFL.com throughout the season. The NFL will announce its official winner on Saturday's award ceremony.
Kamara led all rookies with 14 touchdowns and 81 receptions. Those catches rank third among first-year running backs in NFL History. He competed in the 2018 Pro Bowl in January. He is the first rookie to record five rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, and a kickoff-return touchdown since Hall of Famer Gale Sayers did it in 1965.
He won the award over Kansas City's Kareem Hunt, Jacksonville's Leonard Fournette, Carolina's Christian McCaffrey, and New Orleans teammate Marshon Lattimore.
The Saints picked Kamara in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He scored his first touchdown in Week 3 of the NFL season; his emergence, along with the steady play of fellow back Mark Ingram, caused New Orleans to trade star running back Adrian Peterson to the Arizona Cardinals.
Kamara continued to dazzle for the rest of the season, making a go-ahead touchdown catch late in the Saints' playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings; New Orleans would ultimately lose the game.
He joined the Tennessee Volunteers football program in 2015 after signing with Alabama out of high school and spending one year at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. In 2016, he assumed primary duties in the backfield after Jalen Hurd got hurt and left the team. He finished his career with 1294 rushing yards and 24 total touchdowns for the Big Orange.
Kamara will receive the award on Saturday during the NFL's awards show. You can watch it at 9 p.m. ET on WBIR.