Will the Pittsburgh Steelers miss Najee Harris?

The Pittsburgh Steelers made a slew of difficult decisions this past offseason by letting some of their free agents walk. Sure, it was part of the over-arching plan to garner as many compensatory draft picks as possible, but allowing drafted players go is never an easy process.

Once they’ve moved on, for whatever reason, the question which remains is, “Should they have been retained? Will the Steelers regret not bringing them back?”

Of all the players who have jettisoned to new teams, and there were a lot of them this past offseason, there is one which has me asking the question of if the Steelers will miss them. That player is former 1st Round draft pick, Najee Harris.

Before going any further, there are a lot of fans out there who will immediately say Harris won’t be missed, and the Steelers will be good without him in the backfield. But before suggesting the team can be just fine without him, let’s take a look at his four years in the league, from a statistical standpoint.

You may want to bash Harris for his lack of explosive plays, or his yards per carry average, but the fact remains he was always available. Through his four seasons he never missed a game, which is a remarkable feat for a player who touched the football as many times as Harris did. The age-old saying of your best “ability” being your “availability” certainly applies in the NFL, and Harris embodied that trait during his time with the Steelers.

On top of that, Harris was a running back which never truly got an opportunity to be in an offense which suited his play-style. The Steelers running scheme, regardless of the offensive coordinator, never truly fit what would help Harris excel. Throw in the fact the team’s offensive line never truly gelled during his tenure, and it was a struggle at times.

One aspect of Harris’s game which I was always curious as to why the team didn’t utilize him more was in the passing game. In Harris’s rookie season he had 74 receptions with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback. He never had more than 41 receptions in a year after that, and it always felt like a missed opportunity.

With all that out of the way, there are some aspects of Najee Harris which won’t be missed in the Steelers organization.

Harris was more than prickly with the media, and didn’t endear himself to those who cover the team very often. Harris came from a National Championship contender in Alabama, and was a part of the rebuild in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era of Steelers football.

While I did speak of Harris never having a system which completely matched his skill set, but his skill set also left fans feeling more singular than versatile. The Steelers weren’t ready for Harris from a schematic standpoint, and Harris couldn’t do what the team wanted him to do which was outside his comfort zone.

In retrospect, Harris shouldn’t have been a 1st Round pick, but that’s an article for another time.

To come full circle to the question at hand, will the Steelers miss Najee Harris?

What they have at running back certainly brings a level of versatility they haven’t had in years, but also a level of uncertainty to come with it. Jaylen Warren hasn’t proven he can be the bell cow back, Kaleb Johnson is a rookie just trying to get his feet wet, and Kenneth Gainwell has been relegated to back up duties throughout his entire career.

I think there will be some aspects of Harris which will be missed, but ultimately I feel as if the Steelers are preparing to put a different, and in my opinion better, product on the field when it comes to running the football.

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp in July.