Najee Harris agreeing to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers ends his Steelers career and also finalizes a big ongoing debate among Pittsburgh fans.
Harris, 27, the Steelers' first round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, will reportedly receive a deal worth up to $9.25M from the Chargers. And while his Pittsburgh departure is not surprising, it does lend credence to the past arguments from those who were against drafting him in the first place.
Leading up to the 2021 draft, it was widely known the Steelers loved Harris and were interested in taking the Alabama star with their first pick. However, some argued that it wasn't wise to take Harris, or any similar running back for that matter, in the first round.
Those against the move claimed taking a running back in the first round is too risky and rarely proves to be a long term investment. Running backs almost never sign a second contract with the same team that drafted them. Either the player eventually wants too much money or he starts showing signs of decline. Running backs just simply don't have the shelf life or longevity of other positions.
But of course, Pittsburgh had its mind made up and took Harris with the 24th overall selection.
And even though Harris has surpassed 1,000 yards in every season of his career so far — he has 4,312 in total — he will now be taking his talents all the way across the country to Los Angeles. But while he was productive, Harris only made one Pro Bowl (2021) in four years and averaged 3.9 yards per carry with the Steelers, running for just 83 yards in three playoff games combined as well.
Overall, Harris was inconsistent and reaching 1,000 yards isn't even considered as big of a milestone anymore in a 17-game regular season. And most importantly, Harris didn't change the life for the Steelers from a winning perspective.
In Harris' defense, the Steelers' offensive line was also widely inconsistent during his tenure. But no matter who's to blame, the winning ways Harris enjoyed as a two-time national champion in college at Alabama didn't translate to the NFL.
Saquon Barkley's historic season en route to an Eagles Super Bowl title is making some re-think how they view the worth of running backs in the NFL. But at the same time, few backs are as dynamic as Barkley and his championship season came after leaving the team that drafted him.
The fact now remains that the arguments of the past against drafting Harris clearly had some validity to them.
