The Pittsburgh Steelers’ entire offense is a group on the rise, but Najee Harris is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle. After a couple rough games in the Steelers’ two losses, he has been spectacular over the last two games, rushing for over 100 yards in each win.
“Glad I’m on the same team as him,” ILB Patrick Queen said before Wednesday’s practice via a video posted by Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker on X. “He’s doing his thing. He’s doing his thing. That’s what I keep telling to him every single game is, ‘Just keep bringing your stuff.'”
Queen, of course, knows what it is like to not be on the same team as Harris. He faced Harris twice a year as a part of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry. He also had the unfortunate task of matching up with Harris in backs on ‘backers during training camp. He found out just how physical Harris is at that point.
“Nobody wants to tackle you,” Queen said. “Big, 230 pounds, 6-2, run however fast he wants to, and just a physical guy all around. A mean guy, nasty guy, so whenever he runs like that, nobody wants to tackle that. Nobody wants to deal with that for four quarters.”
In the first half of games this year, Harris has 47 rushing attempts for 155 yards and 3.3 yards per carry. In the second half, Harris has 70 carries for 323 yards, 4.6 yards per carry, and two touchdowns. He is clearly wearing teams down in the second half, which is a testament to his physical run style. He seeks out contact and makes tacklers look silly in one-on-one opportunities. He is tied for fourth in the NFL with 10 broken tackles. That wears down defensive players throughout a game as fatigue starts to set in.
Harris has also added more wiggle to his runs as of late. There were reports that he shed some weight this offseason, and that added agility is starting to show. He has a great blend of quickness and power, and he is finally coming into his own as a feature back.
