Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: RB Najee Harris
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The veteran running back recorded his first 100-yard rushing game of the season that stood, and it came on the last day of the year. Rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns, it was one of the best performances of his career and was a catalyst for the team’s offensive success.
It might not be enough to make the Steelers pick up his fifth-year option, but third-year RB Najee Harris certainly affirmed his talent on Sunday. Exhibiting the qualities that got him drafted in the first round in 2021, he pounded his way to his first 100-yard rushing game of the season in bruising fashion.
All told, he toted the rock 27 times and did so with efficiency. He rushed for 122 yards, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt, and scored two touchdowns on the ground to give him seven on the season (matching his rushing touchdown total in each of his first two years, though he lacks the receiving scores).
Most impressive is the fact that he recorded a successful play on 18 of his 27 rushing attempts, a full two-thirds of the time he touched the ball. That’s an impressive ratio and speaks to the efficiency of his efforts, which were hard-won with broken tackles. Often of a rather physical nature.
Of course, he wasn’t alone, and RB Jaylen Warren deserves full praise for his efforts in powering the run game this past week as well. But that’s a separate topic that we will no doubt get to as well. Today, Harris deserves our attention.
Harris has often been under fire and subject to occasionally unfair criticism due to his former first-round status. Warren’s emergence and success has not done him any favors by comparison. But the reality is that they work best as a tandem, and we got nearly the best of that this week.
In fact, if they can continue to run the ball like that, it may even be enough to power a playoff contender. RB Le’Veon Bell became the focal point of the offense the last time the Steelers had postseason success in 2016, the only problem being he injured his groin.
Having both Harris and Warren gives them some injury protection and produces less wear on each back. Harris’ 27 carries were by far his most of the season, his first of 20-plus carries since the final two games of the 2022 season.
