Player: RB Najee Harris
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: Najee Harris has been an asset to the Steelers many times this season, complicating his future. On Sunday, however, he offered little against the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only did he manage scarcely two yards per carry, his critical fumble was the turning point in the game. While he doesn’t need any berating, Harris is clearly in need of a bounce-back performance.
Najee Harris rushed for 14 yards on six carries, adding a seven-yard reception, against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers needed the run game to work, but the home team was on top of it. And it didn’t help that on one of the game’s most pivotal plays, he fumbled.
Harris is not the type of player to make excuses, not that there was any wiggle room here. He told reporters that he took his eyes off the ball as Russell Wilson pitched it back to him. Instead of focusing on securing the ball, he was looking for the hole—a precious commodity on the day.
Of course, the Steelers didn’t even run the ball much, just 17 attempts on the day. You can’t say much about a running back’s day when he only had six carries, as in the case of Harris. There are plenty of games in which he did little early only to flourish late in the game.
On Sunday, they never got to find out. The Eagles dominated time of possession, which included a 10:29 closeout drive. Even if they wanted to get Najee Harris going, they didn’t really have a chance.
In truth, the run game has been struggling lately, particularly with Harris. Jaylen Warren has put up solid numbers, but Harris’ efficiency is waning. Over the past six games, he has 299 yards on 93 carries, averaging 3.2 yards per attempt. He also has three touchdowns during that span.
But the lack of efficiency is increasingly becoming a problem, the Bengals game being the only exception. On the season, the Steelers’ success rate when Najee Harris carries the ball is all the way down to 42.8 percent. He never posted a figure below 46 percent over his first three seasons. Instead of improving, as had been the case the past two seasons, the run game is trending the wrong way.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
