It might not be an offensive approach that many people like in today’s NFL, but the run-heavy, smashmouth football style that the Pittsburgh Steelers aim to play in 2023 could lead to a monster season for third-year running back Najee Harris.
That could lead to an NFL rushing title in the process for Harris, something a Steelers running back hasn’t accomplished since 1946 when “Bullet” Bill Dudley did it for the second time, at least according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo.
Appearing on the 93.7 The Fan Morning Show with co-hosts Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson, Fittipaldo stated that betting on Harris to win the NFL rushing title this season is “not a terrible” one. Currently, bettors are banking on that happening in 2023 with Harris, with 42.1 percent of all money on Harris to lead the NFL in rushing at +1800 on the BetMGM Sportsbook.
“It’s not a terrible bet. There are so many situations around the league where there are two guys in each backfield, so when you break it down there are, I don’t know, only five to seven running backs in the league that are going to get their team’s touches,” Fittipaldo told Crowley and Dickerson, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “Guys like Derrick Henry and other guys like that. So really, it’s only between Najee and maybe five or six other guys who are going to get those touches and challenge for the rushing crown.”
Harris is a true bell cow as evidenced by his workload in his first two seasons in the NFL with the Steelers after coming out of the University of Alabama and being drafted No. 24 overall.
He’s played in a total of 35 games (34 in the regular season, one playoff game) and has carried the football 579 times, adding another 115 receptions.
While the usage is there in abundance, the production isn’t what it was expected to be coming out of Alabama.
Through two seasons, Harris has just 2,234 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, with another 696 receiving yards and six touchdowns. The touchdown numbers are strong — an average of 10 per season — but Harris is averaging just 1,117 yards on the ground per year, and 348 yards through the air, good for 1,465 total yards from scrimmage.
That’s just 86.17 yards per scrimmage per game. Not great.
However, the Steelers have leaned heavily into the power rushing attack, which played a key role in the second half of the season as Harris helped Pittsburgh finish as the No. 7 rushing attack in the NFL in the second half of the 2022 season. He looked much more decisive rolling downhill behind his size and strength and really bludgeoned defensive fronts throughout games, wearing them down.
Now, after signing left guard Isaac Seumalo in free agency and moving up in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to land Georgia left tackle Broderick Jones, the Steelers have a very clear identity in the trenches and overall offensively under head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and that centers on the run game.
If Harris can stay healthy and still generate the amount of touches he had in his first two seasons — and sees a significant jump in efficiency — he could find himself challenging for the NFL’s rushing record in 2023, becoming the first Steelers running back since Dudley in 1946 — 77 years! — to accomplish that feat.
