Despite Pittsburgh Steelers RB Najee Harris having a strong end to his 2023 season, becoming the first back in team history to rush for 1,000 yards his first three seasons, analyst Greg Cosell has the same take exiting the year as he had going into it. Harris is a competent back but nothing special.
Appearing on Steelers Nation Radio, as shared by Arthur Moats’ YouTube channel, Cosell sang a similar tune about Harris.
“I don’t see Najee Harris as the foundation and starting point,” Cosell said. “I don’t see that. I hope people listening understand that is a tape-study response.”
Cosell has never been particularly high on Harris’ game, making similar comments about his ceiling and upside in the past. Primarily, Cosell’s issue is Harris’ lack of big-play ability, something elite power backs like Derrick Henry possess. Statistically, it’s a largely fair assessment. After three NFL seasons and 837 carries, Harris’ longest rush is 37 yards, a mark he recorded as a rookie.
Of the 21 players with at least 500 carries over the past three seasons, only Alvin Kamara and Chuba Hubbard have shorter “longs” than Harris’ 37, and both of them have considerably fewer carries. And despite Harris tying for fourth in the NFL in 2023 runs of 20-plus yards with eight of them, his long the entire season was only 25 yards, meaning he had eight that fell into the 20-25 range. Downfield blocking plays a role in turning good runs to great ones, but Harris’ lack of top-end speed is a factor playing into Cosell’s evaluation.
“I think he’s a grinder. To me, given his size and his style of runner, he has to be consistent. Not once in a while. He’s a guy that when it’s blocked for three gets seven,” Cosell said of what Najee Harris has to routinely do.
Where Harris excels is breaking tackles. Running through instead of around defenders. Since entering the NFL in 2021, his 81 broken tackles easily lead the league while his broken tackle rate is ninth among all running backs. His stiff-arm against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17 earned him the league’s “Angry Run of the Year” for the second-straight season.
Pittsburgh has an offseason decision to make on Harris, whose fifth-year option for 2025 must be decided on by May. If the team fails to exercise it, Harris will play out 2024 on the final year of his rookie deal. Publicly, the organization has hinted that it intends to pick up his option.
Though he’s spoken more highly of Jaylen Warren, Cosell stopped short of calling him a feature back.
“Harris has not, to me, on tape shown that he’s that guy. And I actually really like Jaylen Warren, but I mean, he’s not a feature back in the sense that you’re building your offense around him,” he said.
Warren comes with more explosiveness, but he’s also benefited from routinely playing fresh while rotating with Harris. No matter how you slice it, the Steelers value their committee. Najee Harris makes Jaylen Warren better and vice versa. For the first time in two decades, the team has gone away from its lone wolf approach of a designated workhorse back, joining most of the rest of the NFL with a timeshare approach. The only thing left to focus on with the Steelers’ running game is starting faster than it has the last two seasons.
