In Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers’ fourth-year running back Najee Harris had a really rough game on the ground, leading to plenty of questions once again about the former Alabama star.
Harris rushed for just 19 yards on 13 carries against one of the worst run defenses in football while backup running back Cordarrelle Patterson had 43 yards on six carries before exiting with an ankle injury.
It was a tough performance to watch, but the offensive line didn’t really do Harris any favors either.
For former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth, who appeared on FS1’s “Breakfast Ball” Thursday morning, Harris’ performance exposed things the veteran running back has had issues with, particularly ones that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has cited in the past when talking to Schlereth: the inability to just take the simple play that’s there and trying to hit the big play constantly.
“When I was talking to Coach Tomlin, he always talked about Najee having to understand that every meal’s not a banquet,” Schlereth said, according to video via FS1. “Like, sometimes you just gotta take that four-yard gain, right? Sometimes you…can’t break every run. And oftentimes he puts himself in harm’s way because you’re trying to make a big play on every single rush.
“And so sometimes you just gotta put your nose in there, get an ugly four, and keep yourself on schedule.”
It sounds simple but running backs often have struggles with that. Within the Steelers’ offense, it’s not a huge surprise that Harris is having those issues, too.
In his first three years, especially in 2022 and 2023, the Steelers’ offense has largely been a mess. Too often, Harris would take on that burden of trying to be a big-time playmaker, trying to make it all back in one play. That would run him into trouble as he’d spend too much time behind the line of scrimmage and would then get caught up in traffic, not getting the yardage that is there.
That was the case again on Sunday as Next Gen Stats had Harris down for the least amount of Rush Yards Over Expected at -30 in Week 4. That means Harris gained 30 less yards than what was expected on his 13 carries. Not great!
Harris was certainly frustrated on the day as it was tough sledding and there wasn’t much there in the way of room in the run game. But based on what Schlereth is saying coming off previous conversations with Tomlin, Harris needs to know when to try to hit the big play and when to just put his head down, slam it into the line of scrimmage and take what’s there in an effort to stay on schedule.
He hasn’t quite figured it out yet consistently.
