Coming off of a second straight performance in which he cracked the 90-yard rushing plateau which also saw him add two touchdowns on the ground, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris was nominated as the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week by the NFL Monday morning.
Harris finished with 90 yards and two touchdowns, scoring on runs of 19 yards and 1 yard on 20 total carries in the 37-30 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
Along with Harris, Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (24 carries, 109 yards) and Detroit Lions running back Jamaal Williams (17 carries, 64 yards, three touchdowns) were nominated fro the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week award by the NFL.
After struggling early in the season while dealing with a LisFranc injury, Harris has bounced back in a major way in the last two weeks after the Week 9 bye for the Steelers, looking like the running back the Steelers believed they were getting with the 24th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Harris’ 19-yard touchdown in the first half Sunday was the longest touchdown of the season for the Steelers and showed his overall burst and decisiveness at the position.
Outside of the trio of running backs nominated for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week, Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow (24-for-39, 355 yards, four touchdowns), Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill (22-for-27, 333 yards, two touchdowns) and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes (20-for-34, 329 yards, three touchdowns) were nominated for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week award by the league for their performances in Week 11.
Harris is the only player nominated in Week 11 that was part of a loss.
FedEx gives fans the opportunity to recognize weekly top-performing quarterbacks and running backs in games played on Thursday through Sunday through the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards. Voting is open until Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET at NFL.com/FedEx each week of the season. Fans can also vote on Twitter via the @NFL published polls and on the NFL Mobile App.
Through the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week Awards, FedEx will make a $2,000 donation in the names of the winning quarterback and running back ($4,000 total) to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), according to FedEx.
