Najee Harris Thread: Thoughts after Pro Day?

[Cameron Giles]

Do we care that the Steelers offensive line looks like one of the worst in the league on paper

[Shoreline Steamers]

Do we care that the Steelers offensive line looks like one of the worst in the league on paper

Maybe I'm just uninformed, but the DeCastro news today caught me off guard. As if that poor O-line needed any more adversity and we're not even to training camp yet. Harris is a talent, but the guy can only do so much by himself. It may not be a perennial problem, but it sure appears to be one for 2021.

[jenkins.math]

Do we care that the Steelers offensive line looks like one of the worst in the league on paper

Not if he gets 300+ touches.

[Ice]

Do we care that the Steelers offensive line looks like one of the worst in the league on paper

Only if you're a realist!

[Shoreline Steamers]

And that escalated quickly. Signed Trai Turner ASAP after releasing DeCastro earlier in the day.

At least they're trying to patch together a O-line.

[mild]

And that escalated quickly. Signed Trai Turner ASAP after releasing DeCastro earlier in the day.

At least they're trying to patch together a O-line.

Drafting a RB instead of an OL in the 1st is going to bite them so hard.

[ArrylT]

Guess that depends on how an owner expects Harris to perform. I think the Jaguars got a bottom 3rd grade for 2020 but that did not keep James Robinson from being an RB1. The Vikings also got a bottom 3rd of the league grade by PFF in 2020 and obviously Cook was still a top 3 RB. Josh Jacobs finished 8th overall and the Raiders were also a bottom 3rd graded OLine in 2020.

So it is not as if you NEED a good to great O-Line to lock in an RB1 season - but obviously the better the O-Line the more the RB should benefit.

On the other hand it could potentially lead to a Joe Mixon like 2017 ...

Basically we'll soon see if Harris is a back who has a positive or negative Expected Yards differential. IE will he produce more yards than the O-Line can get a RB. If so then then weaker O-Line will not be as much of a hindrance.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-2020 ... e-rankings

[Ice]

My take is his success is going to depend on his ability to catch a lot of balls out of the backfield. The line was bad last year and Ben's YPA was around 30 at 6.3 even though he ranked third in attempts. On the rushing side of life the Steelers were even worse ranking last at 3.6 YPC.

Harris is a good player in a pretty bad situation from a quality line standpoint and that matters in the short term. Still, this is Dynasty and things change quickly. I wouldn't expect great things in 2021 but he should still be close to a top 10 RB based on projected volume.

The Steelers may actually be the worse team in their division this season. It will be tough sledding.

[Anteaters]

Do we care that the Steelers offensive line looks like one of the worst in the league on paper

Not if he gets 300+ touches.

++

This supposedly poor OL was good enough for Conner+Snell to combine for 1350+ rush/rec yards and 10TDs. Because Pittsburgh historically uses a bellcow and Najee is fully expected to be that bellcow, and everyone thinks Najee is much more talented than them, we should consider those numbers his floor.

That would have made Najee the #8 fantasy RB in PPR in 2020, just a couple of points behind Taylor/Robinson and ahead of Jacobs/Zeke/Chubb. I think any Najee owner would be happy with that, regardless of what some people think of the Steelers' OL.

And if the OL is better than advertised and Najee's ability can really take over, he might do even better.

tldr; not worried at all.

[Cameron Giles]

Do we care that the Steelers offensive line looks like one of the worst in the league on paper

Not if he gets 300+ touches.

++

This supposedly poor OL was good enough for Conner+Snell to combine for 1350+ rush/rec yards and 10TDs. Because Pittsburgh historically uses a bellcow and Najee is fully expected to be that bellcow, and everyone thinks Najee is much more talented than them, we should consider those numbers his floor.

That would have made Najee the #8 fantasy RB in PPR in 2020, just a couple of points behind Taylor/Robinson and ahead of Jacobs/Zeke/Chubb. I think any Najee owner would be happy with that, regardless of what some people think of the Steelers' OL.

And if the OL is better than advertised and Najee's ability can really take over, he might do even better.

tldr; not worried at all.

This was their line last season

Alejandro Villanueva
Matt Feiler
Maurkice Pouncey
David DeCastro
Chukwuma Okorafor

This is their line this season:

PFF grades of Pitt projected OL:
-Okarofor (77th among 89 T)
Dotson (29/86)
Hassenauer (39/55)
Turner (86/86)
Banner (only 86 total pass blocking snaps in entire career)

[dustyroads]

Not if he gets 300+ touches.

++

This supposedly poor OL was good enough for Conner+Snell to combine for 1350+ rush/rec yards and 10TDs. Because Pittsburgh historically uses a bellcow and Najee is fully expected to be that bellcow, and everyone thinks Najee is much more talented than them, we should consider those numbers his floor.

That would have made Najee the #8 fantasy RB in PPR in 2020, just a couple of points behind Taylor/Robinson and ahead of Jacobs/Zeke/Chubb. I think any Najee owner would be happy with that, regardless of what some people think of the Steelers' OL.

And if the OL is better than advertised and Najee's ability can really take over, he might do even better.

tldr; not worried at all.

This was their line last season

Alejandro Villanueva
Matt Feiler
Maurkice Pouncey
David DeCastro
Chukwuma Okorafor

This is their line this season:

PFF grades of Pitt projected OL:
-Okarofor (77th among 89 T)
Dotson (29/86)
Hassenauer (39/55)
Turner (86/86)
Banner (only 86 total pass blocking snaps in entire career)

I get where you are coming from, and in no way do I think we are going to have a good line this year. I also agree with what I think your basic premise is that the line will be worse this year then last. But just reminding everyone that the flashy names of Pouncey and DeCastro were washed last year. Pouncey was a shell of himself. And tbh from what I've read, DeCastro's ankle is shot to the point where he can no longer even play the game anymore.

I think our line was bad last year, it will be bad this year; but from watching every game, it's not hyperbole to say it really can't get much worse. I agree with Anteaters, I would not be worried about Harris. So long as he doesn't get injured and gets his expected touches, he will finish as a back end top 12 fantasy back.

[Pullo Vision]

So, Tomlin has a history of an every down back. In swaggers Najee for 96% of his team's offensive snaps (league leader), as well as leading the team in both rush yardage and receptions. Depending on league scoring, that's 7th in RB PPG.

All of that with Ben "The Turd" Roethlisberger at QB and a degraded oline.

Anyone else getting hyped for him?

[Anteaters]

I would gladly give up two 1sts and Hollywood/or/Waddle to get Najee. Gladly!

[Cameron Giles]

Steelers line looks awful as advertised, so his rushing performances have been awful. He's been saved by being one of the few every down backs in the league and a historic 19 targets in the last game.

I don't think he is worth three first round picks.

[Bronco Billy]

Harris is projecting to be exactly what a few of us thought he would be - a guy who gets what is blocked for him and nothing more. I’m not very enthusiastic about a RB who can barely scrape together a 3.0 ypa.

That 14 catch anomaly is not something I’d be counting on to pump his season total too far. They did score all of 10 pts and lost that game by 2 TDs to a beatable division foe, I’m guessing that isn’t what they’re looking for in regard to repeatable game plans. He’s looking like a very midrange RB2 to me, and replaceable if PIT manages to stumble onto a dynamic talent.