The Pittsburgh Steelers made the difficult decision to decline RB Najee Harris’ fifth-year option at the beginning of this month, so he will become an unrestricted free agent next March unless a deal is worked out sometime before the start of the season. Harris has been solid, but first-round running backs are a dying breed and there are very high expectations when one is taken that high these days. He has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground in all three seasons and has not missed a single game.
He just hasn’t been very efficient compared to his peers around the NFL, and even compared to Jaylen Warren, the undrafted free agent RB that has forced a nearly even split in offensive snaps with his explosive playmaking. Harris has taken a fair amount of criticism as a result, but Hall of Fame RB Jerome Bettis doesn’t think the criticism is warranted.
“You have to look at the offensive line,” Bettis said via the Zach Gelb Show on Infinity Sports Network posted on YouTube. “His first year, the offensive line was awful. His second year, they were bad. And in his last year, they were a little, maybe average, a touch below average.
“So he’s been running behind a group that hasn’t been playing up to their potential. They’ve kind of made a resurgence. They’ve got some draft picks. They put some thought into the offensive line…and now I believe he’ll be running behind the best offensive line he will have had all of his years in Pittsburgh.”
Jerome Bettis says the criticism of Najee Harris has been unfair and there’s a chance the Steelers could regret not picking up his 5th year option. @InfSportsNet @JeromeBettis36 @ohthatsNajee22 #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/gJVU7aOfCD
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) May 23, 2024
Gelb asked if he would characterize the criticism of Harris as unfair, and Bettis responded, “Absolutely.”
Harris’ best season came as a rookie when he gained 1,200 yards on 307 attempts on the ground with seven rushing touchdowns. He added 467 receiving yards that year on 74 receptions and another three touchdowns. That was his highest yards per touch average (4.4) of his career. He has become less of a factor in the receiving game over the last two seasons, but his efficiency as a runner has actually gone up, from 3.9 yards per carry as a rookie to 4.1 yards per carry in 2023.
Still, when compared to Warren’s efficiency of 5.3 yards per carry in 2023, Harris doesn’t look like the greatest option.
But Bettis is right. The offensive line play has not been very good for Harris’ entire career in Pittsburgh. In 2021 he had Dan Moore Jr., Kevin Dotson, Kendrick Green, Trai Turner, and Chukwuma Okorafor. Most of those players are off the roster now, and Moore figures to be the backup entering 2024. They started slowly rebuilding the line from some of those draft mistakes and really ramped up their efforts over the last two seasons.
They signed Isaac Seumalo as a free agent last year and drafted Broderick Jones in the first round. In 2024, they used three of their first five picks on offensive linemen, including their top two picks on Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier.
Mike Tomlin called the decision to decline the option layered, but the reports indicated they want to see how the running backs hold up in Arthur Smith’s new offensive system that emphasizes wide zone concepts. Something Harris appears to be preparing for, with reports of him cutting weight and looking more agile.
Harris has every opportunity this season to have the best season of his career and ride into free agency with the highest market value that he has ever had. In some ways, he should be thanking the Steelers for declining his option.
