With Najee Harris hitting the open market in free agency and the possibility of him returning to Pittsburgh getting lower and lower, the running back position will be a big need for the Pittsburgh Steelers come the start of the new league year on March 12 at 4 p.m.
Though the Steelers weren’t interested in paying Harris $6.79 million on a fifth-year option, declining it last May, they may find themselves needing to dish out some money to address running back ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft to ensure the strength of the position in Arthur Smith’s offensive scheme.
The good news for the Steelers is that they’ll have some options on the open market.
For CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell, names like Harris, Nick Chubb, JK Dobbins, and Rico Dowdle make sense for the Steelers in free agency, as he named the Steelers among the best fits for the four running backs.
Harris could be re-signed and put right back into the bell-cow role ahead of Jaylen Warren in Smith’s offense. He’s coming off his fourth-straight 1,000-yard season and is as durable as they come, having not missed a game in his career, all while having at least 255 carries every season.
But while the four straight 1,000-yard seasons are impressive on paper, digging deeper into the numbers, it’s not all that great.
“Harris’ 4.3 yards-per-touch average across the last four seasons is the second-fewest in the NFL, minimum 750 touches, and ahead of only Ezekiel Elliott’s 4.1 yards per touch in that span,” Podell writes of Harris. “Harris is a durable runner, starting every one of his possible 68 games played during his career, and he doesn’t go down easy: his 80 tackles avoided in 2024 were tied for the fifth-most in the entire league.”
The durability is great, as is the ability to make defenders miss and create after contact. However, the limited production from a touch perspective remains a real concern. Maybe it was the Steelers’ offense. Maybe it was Harris.
If the Steelers pivot away from Harris, a name like Chubb makes sense. Based on a report earlier this week from 93.7 The Fan’s Jeff Hathhorn, there is interest from the Steelers’ perspective regarding the former Cleveland Browns running back.
Based on what they’ve seen of him during his career, it makes sense there’s interest, especially given Chubb’s success against them. Chubb has rushed for 824 yards and four touchdowns on 182 carries in 12 games against the Steelers.
That said, he’s coming off of a tough 2024 season. Chubb is still returning from a devastating knee injury suffered in Week 2 of the 2023 season against the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
In eight games last season after making his return, Chubb rushed for 332 yards and three touchdowns on 102 carries, mustering just 3.3 yards per carry on a bad Cleveland offense. A full offseason of training might help him get back to the form many are used to from him, but that’s a significant gamble, especially with Chubb entering his age-30 season.
Along with Chubb, JK Dobbins was mentioned as a fit for the Steelers. He’s coming off of a bounce-back year with the Los Angeles Chargers, in which he rushed for 905 yards and nine touchdowns on 192 carries under head coach Jim Harbaugh.
After two straight years of major injuries, including a torn ACL and an Achilles, Dobbins stayed relatively healthy for much of the year and produced.
“The good news for J.K. Dobbins is he is fresh off the best season of his career, posting career bests in rushing yards (905), rushing touchdowns (9) and carries (195). The problem is the injury concerns with Dobbins are still there,” Podell writes. “He missed the 2021 season with a torn ACL, only played eight games in 2022 before needing a procedure to relieve knee tightness, and tore his Achilles in Week 1 of the 2023 season. In 2024, a knee sprain forced him to miss four games from Weeks 13-16.
“Once he does get a head of steam, he can get going quickly: Dobbins’ 1.6 yards before contact per rush were the eighth-highest in the NFL last season among 31 running backs with at least 150 carries.”
Injury did strike Dobbins late last season, as Podell wrote. He missed four games from Weeks 13-16, and then when he returned from injury, he wasn’t all that effective, rushing for 63 yards on 18 carries in Week 18 and then just 26 yards on nine carries in the AFC Wild Card Round loss to the Houston Texans.
Still, at what should be a very affordable rate, Dobbins could be worth a flier.
Then, there’s Rico Dowdle, who had a breakout year. With limited wear and tear over his career, Dowdle could find himself hitting a lucrative free agent market at the running back position.
“Dowdle’s 2024 season showed he can be a team’s dependable, every-down back. He became the first running back in Cowboys history to rush for over 1,000 yards on the strength of being one of the NFL’s most efficient rushers. His 53.6% rushing success rate on 235 carries was the sixth-best in the NFL in 2024,” Podell writes of Dowdle. “Given his age and lower career volume, Dowdle has the potential to provide the most prime years of any running back on the open market this year. He’s a violent, downhill runner whose vision and pass-catching ability continue to improve with more reps.”
During the 2024 season, Dowdle rushed for 1,079 yards and two touchdowns on 235 carries, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He also added another 39 receptions for 239 yards and three touchdowns, playing some good football for the Cowboys late in the season.
Depending on his price, Dowdle would be an intriguing addition for the Steelers due to his violent downhill running style and his work as a pass catcher and pass protector.
What’s clear, though, based on the running back market in free agency, is that it’s not that deep, which will put a major emphasis on the position in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Steelers will have options there, but it would be a shame to see them go into the draft with a major need rather than trying to shore up the group with a veteran in free agency.
