There was no question the Pittsburgh Steelers were hell-bent on taking a running back in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The only decision was who. And frankly, the worst kept secret that year was the team’s focus on Alabama’s Najee Harris, widely considered the top name at the position, over someone like Clemson’s Travis Etienne. On paper, it made sense. The Steelers prefer bigger and more powerful backs who could, in theory, handle a heavier workload in a system that centered on a singular feature back.
Fast forward two years later and one analyst says the Steelers made the wrong choice. That Etienne should’ve been their man. On the latest episode of the 3 and Out podcast with John Middlekauff, he says Harris isn’t a bad player. He’s merely average and if the Steelers could hit the reset button on that pick, they would.
“I’ve watched Najee Harris since he was in high school,” Middlekauff said. “I’ve loved him. Obviously one of the biggest recruits in the country. Followed his career closely at Alabama. He’s just pretty average. If you could have that as a do-over, they would have a do-over. Hell, they picked the wrong running back. Back-to-back picks, it was Najee Harris and Travis Etienne. In 2023, it’s not even debatable who you would rather have out of those two players.”
For context, Middlekauff was going off the belief that the Steelers had named RB Jaylen Warren the team’s starter. That is inaccurate. Warren was introduced with Steelers’ starters prior to Sunday’s kickoff against the Green Bay Packers, a ceremonial move that Mike Tomlin said was well-deserved for his hard work. But Harris still started the game, had one more carry than Warren, and the two played the same number of offensive snaps. Clearly, Warren’s role has continued to grow and he’s not even a “change of pace” runner anymore, now seeing significant snaps as a big part of the team’s running and passing game.
After passing on Etienne, a fact he still remembers, the Jacksonville Jaguars grabbed him with the 25th overall pick. His NFL career got off to an unfortunate start, the former Clemson star missing his rookie year with a Lisfranc injury in his foot. But he returned to have an impressive sophomore season, rushing for over 1,100 yards and averaging more than five yards per carry.
His 2023 numbers are down, an average below four yards (Harris has the better average between the two this year) but what’s interesting is that Etienne has assumed the role of the team’s workhorse back. He’s logged 79 percent of the team’s offensive snaps and had games where he’s rarely come off the field, playing nearly 90 percent of the Jaguars’ snaps in their Week 8 win over the Steelers. Despite being smaller and known more for his speed and big-play ability, he’s shouldered the load as Harris has seen his role decrease.
For Middlekauff, Harris’ issue is that he doesn’t do what he was supposed to be known for coming out of Alabama.
“Najee Harris is a between-the-tackles running back and he’s just not that good between the tackles,” Middlekauff said. “He doesn’t run that hard for a big, physical back.”
Do the numbers tell that story? Statistically, not really. Harris’ 1.9 yards-after-contact is tied for 10th-best in football among running backs with at least 50 carries this season. And his 7.7 rushing attempts per broken tackle is fourth-best of the same subset of players. But both of those numbers lag Warren, who ranks fifth in yards-after-contact per carry and has the NFL’s best broken tackles/per rushing attempt mark of 6.5.
Point is, the best drafting tool a general manager can have is a crystal ball or a time machine. Failing that, you’re taking educated guesses and hoping you don’t fall on your face. It’s fair to say Etienne is the better running back than Harris. Most evaluators would rank it that way. The Steelers haven’t hit the home run they were searching for with the Harris selection. But they haven’t struck out either. And they’ll need him and Warren to propel the offense the rest of the year.
