PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There are a couple of reasons Najee Harris is excited to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. It’s one of two teams (Niners) that he watched growing up in California. He gets to play against his buddy (Ravens corner) Marcus Peters twice a year. Plus, he gets to play with Ben Roethlisberger for at least one season.
“Oh, man, that's dope as hell,” Harris said Thursday. “It's dope, though, because shoot, I mean, people didn't realize it, but I only followed two teams and that was the Steelers and the Niners and that's because I actually liked those teams.”
“But actually seeing Big Ben [Roethlisberger], all the Super Bowls he came into and actually seeing him perform at a high level and stuff like that and actually
being able to line up with him, on the side of him and learn from him, I mean, that's an honor right there to have.”
“I'm excited to meet them, really the staff, everybody. But Ben, of course I'm excited to meet him, too.”
The Steelers brass and players on social media seem excited to meet him as well. There is an immediate need for an explosive running back after finishing last in rushing in the NFL in 2020.
“I feel like through a lot of stuff, through practice and hard work, I feel like that can be changed,” Harris said. “I don't feel pressure at all to be honest with you. I've been put in a lot of situations with that type of stuff put on me, especially in college. NFL is different, of course, but I feel like it's nothing that I can't do in time for sure.”
Harris didn’t hesitate when asked about the runners who came before him in Pittsburgh.
“Franco Harris, they had Jerome [Bettis], obviously Le'Veon [Bell], had James
[Conner] recently,” Harris said. “But I mean, yeah, one thing about the Steelers is recent history has always evolved around the run game. I always thought it would be a perfect fit to be there, but like I say, with a running back everything
bounces around, what's going to happen. I know a little bit about it because I am a football junkie, but I'm always open to learn more.”
That would align with why he returned to Alabama for his senior season. Sure there was the shot at winning a national championship, which he did. But more so he wanted to learn more.
“When I look at tape and film I want to be satisfied with myself,” Harris said. “My junior year I was not satisfied with myself.
There was a lot of things I felt like I needed to improve on and work on, me personally.”
“A lot of people were saying was it a hard decision (to stay in school). No, it wasn't. It was a no-brainer to be honest with you. I didn't really care about what other running backs in the draft class (did), it was, was happy with what I put on film that year? And no, I was not. So I wanted to go back and improve on all those things that I felt like I needed to work on.”
“I think I showed that I'm a three-down back and stuff like that, but I guess the stereotype, any big back can be a three-down back, blah-blah-blah, so I wanted to make sure is that question answered, and I feel like this year I answered a lot of those questions.”
Harris rushed for 1,466 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior and caught 43 passes for 425 yards and 4 more scores.
Alabama had one game decided by a single score all season. They had eight games where they won by four touchdowns or more. Imagine his numbers if he had more opportunities in the fourth quarter.
“I feel like now in today's game, some people say it's a passing league,” Harris said. “So I've got to say, ‘Hey, Najee, can you be utilized in the passing game?’ I think I can line up out wide, I think I can line up in the slot. I think I'm a mismatch with the linebackers. I feel like if a DB or a corner is not sticking me there, then it's a mismatch on a linebacker.”
“Running in between tackles I feel like is a big thing now in today's game. I
feel like I can match all that because of my size. I'm 6'2", 230, but also it's because they added another game on, so now we're playing more games, so I feel like we need somebody to carry the load for sure, so I feel like I fit in perfectly.”
I know for the Steelers if Harris can help dramatically improve the run game. That would be ‘dope as hell’.