Well, the NFL Draft has definitely has some surprises, but the Pittsburgh Steelers did not overthink one of their biggest needs at pick 24 with a ton of player available and selected the best running back in the class in Najee Harris.
The Steelers had plenty of options at 24 with how the board fell, featuring players like LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, OT Tevin Jenkins and even C Landon Dickerson, but Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert raved about Harris for weeks and opted to take the best running back in the draft out of Alabama. Harris is the first running back to be drafted by Pittsburgh since 2008 when the team selected Rashard Mendenhall from Illinois and after finishing dead last in the NFL in rushing, the Steelers front office went running back to fix that problem immediately with Harris. Now the Steelers of course have needs at the offensive line, but with major tackles and interior linemen being available still, the Steelers have options in the later rounds to address that need and give Harris a good line to run behind. As for his collegiate career, Harris was one of the best running back to come out of Alabama, leaving Tuscaloosa as the all-time leader in touchdowns with 57 and rushing touchdowns with 46, passing Heisman trophy winners Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry who have both had good NFL careers in their own right. Along with that, Harris also leaves Alabama leading in rushing yards with 3,843 after winning the Doak Walker Award in 2020 for being the best running back in college football and helping lead the Crimson Tide to another National Championship over Ohio State. As far as how Harris will help the Steelers offense, he is an exceptional runner with not so elite speed but good awareness of blocking schemes and an efficient way of breaking tackles in open space. Harris can also catch the ball well out of the backfield, something the Steelers utilized well when they had Le'Veon Bell and can use to not only improve the passing game but set up the play action as well, something quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has done well throughout his career. Now of course the pick may not be welcomed by some of Steelers nation, but the offensive line class still features names like Brady Christiansen, Jalen Mayfield, Samuel Cosmi, Liam Eichenberg and Wyatt Davis, so the Steelers have plenty of options on day two of the NFL Draft to address the offensive line or some other needs. I love the pick at Harris at 24, but let me know how you feel on Twitter @mvp_EtHaN!
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June 2021
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