On his most recent episode of Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger, the former two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback from the Pittsburgh Steelers spoke about Najee Harris and his recent improvements.
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The Steelers' star running back, Harris, was the number one draft pick for the team in 2021. He had an excellent rookie season. He had 1,200 yards off 307 attempts and 7 touchdowns. His sophomore season, however, got off to a slower start.
Harris self-reported a Lisnfranc injury early this season. He said the injury happened during training camp, however, little came officially from the Steelers and Harris was starting most games.
The Harris that started earlier this season was not the Harris we saw and loved as a rookie. There was a great deal of talk about what factors might be impacting his abilities to play, but it is indisputable that he wasn’t getting north-south the way he needed to.
It felt like Harris danced around on most plays, trying to make something happen. But instead of anything good happening, he was getting tackled for a loss or for very little gain. Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin decided to go with more of a two-back system and introduced backup, Jaylen Warren to more playing time.
Warren was finding success on the field and this allowed Harris to heal. If it was the injury that was plaguing Harris, or just working on his own technique, he came back from the bye week a new man. We have seen steady improvements from him ever since.
Roethlisberger Says the Steelers Needed Harris to Do This All Along
Roethlisberger was recapping the most recent win over the Carolina Panthers on his podcast Tuesday with co-host, Spencer T’eo, and guest, former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder, Neil Walker. He said:
“I was yelling at the place we were watching the game, when Naj got his rushing touchdown, he came one-on-one with a DB. [Harris] did nothing but say, ‘There's literally nothing that you can do to stop me.’ I was thinking, I was literally yelling, 'Yes! On third down do that! Run through that guy!' Like the guy had zero percent chance of doing anything. He could have went for the leg, it wouldn't have mattered, Naj went into him with like a, ‘I'm gonna throw him off with my arm.’”
He expanded on the idea that Harris is back to running with the same kind of swagger he had last season:
“That's how he needs to run, like that more often with that kind of authority, that kind of you can't stop me, you're not big enough to stop me, you're not talented enough to stop me, or I am too talented, and I am too big, and I'm too strong, and I am too much of a bad man, that you can't stop me. He needs to run the ball like that every single time and so I was just like dude, that's the guy I want to see.”
Harris did have a much-improved performance in Carolina, especially considering he only got 33 yards rushing against Baltimore the week before. Against the Panthers, he had 24 attempts for 86 yards and 1 touchdown.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 18: Najee Harris #22 of the Pittsburgh Steelers rushes for a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers during the first quarter of the game at Bank of America Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
According to Te’o, Roethlisberger has been saying since the Steelers drafted Harris, that if he can get that powerful north-south run working, then he is nearly unstoppable.
What do you think of Harris’ improvement this season? How did his runs in Carolina compare to earlier games? Click to comment below.
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