Najee’s 5th will cost 7 million

Well its pretty evident that successful teams build from the trenches out and then when it comes to speciality players its the QB’s, WR’s, and CB’s that are the premium positions. IN select cases you may put a high emphasis on the RB if they are a unique talent like a Mcaffrey. Gernally speaking if you have the offensive line, the WR’s and the QB you can still do very well with a lower tierd rb. A big part of me believes Tomlin is infatuated with the Shanon offense or components of it. Heck he loves it so much he wants to trade for their wide receivers. He wants to run the wide zone blocking scheme. Isn’t that what Shannon and all his cronies do? They guy in Miami as well. The element both of those offense have at RB is speed. That is the one thing Najee does not have. I really believe this all comes down to them believing Najee is not going to be a fit in this new offense.

 

Of the four holes I would be concerned about in 2025, CB and WR are both top priority at present. Now, anything could happen with either Darius Rush and/or Cory Trice but I am not willing to push my proverbial chips in for either. However, you forgot to mention one important detail.


These needs are all under the assumption that the QB Position plays out as well as me and you both hope it will. I hope the team will not need one. I wouldn't be surprised if the team does end up needing one though.


Time will tell for certain.

 

Yeah thats a whopper of me to forget. I am hopeful I guess one of those QB’s pans out. The thing is we have had bad QB play for what the last four years at least probably more so if they are even average it will be like a breath of fresh air to this fan base. I feel like they don’t really have to do much to have us want them back. I wouldn’t discount the DT position below the needs of WR and CB going into next year. The good thing is next years class is strong in all three of those areas. I feel like we will probably fill one of them in FA with our large cap space.

 

So is paying the better back

 

Which is why Najee should get paid.

 

The team wants to play bully ball, but doesn't want to keep Harris one of the most punishing RBs in the league beyond 2024, make it make sense.

 

Quite a bit of Warren runs comes on third downs when the defense is in pass coverage, keep that in mind.

 

The franchise tag would be double what his 5th option would've been.

 

I thought Najee had a chance to put Derrick Henry type numbers up in Arthur Smith's offense. Really makes no sense at all.

 

Problem is a franchise tag is going to be @ $10M.

 

Changing the one lineman did have a big impact on the results. The changes in the scheme were an addition to the improved play at right tackle. Okorafor was that bad in the running game. I'm surprised the Steelers put up with it as long as they did.

 

True but you have another year to see his performance and if he gets hurt.

 

He would still be getting those carries though. Not to mention, I've posted a few times showing where many of Warren's big plays come on first and second down in more running situations. I get there is some extent of Jaylen getting some "fake yards" on 3rd and 10+ where they kinda give him 7 and tackle him short, it isn't a huge portion of his average. I understand that he likely wouldn't average 5.3 ypc as the lead back, but I do think that he would be above 4.5 ypc. He's proven that he is a highly efficient back that can fight for tough yards, but also break big plays. He is the more explosive runner and has the upside of being a good pass catcher (and runner after the catch) and good pass protector. He's a very solid all around back. I don't think we should be afraid to give him more of a feature role.

 

Dallas thought the same thing with backup RB last year, how did that work out with Pollard as the feature back?

 

Different players, different team, different situation. The Cowboys moved on from Zeke bc injuries, wear and tear, and cap reasons. We seem to be moving off a young healthy back for someone we like better. Not worried about another team something similar and not having success. That has 0 impact on our situation. Besides, we did the same thing back in the day with AB getting Wallace's money and it worked like a charm.

 

You didn't answer his point. The valuable comparison wasn't Elliott to Harris. It was Pollard to Warren. When asked to step into the larger role last season, Pollard gained two fewer yards on 59 more caries. Harris has proven he can carry the ball 250-plus times. Warren has not.

 

There goes them damn Steelers again, not having a plan.......

 

Sorry, I thought this as well but the actual facts/STATS say Warren is a better runner than Najee on 1st and 2nd down. Crazy, Najee wins the Average on 3rd Down though.

It is crazy, but it looks like on 1st and 2nd down your better option is Jaylen Warren. I would not have believed this until I looked it up trying to prove that Najee was a better back on 1st down when all things are equal.

Najee Harris
1st Down Average 4.5 YPC
2nd Down Average 3.0 YPC
3rd Down Average 8.3 YPC


Jaylen Warren
1st Down Average 5.3 YPC
2nd Down Average 5.5 YPC
3rd Down Average 3.9 YPC

Jaylen picks up a 1st down with 2 runs, and it takes Najee 3 runs to do it.


And it doesn't matter what half of the Game it is. I thought maybe Jaylen was padding his stats at the end of the game in the 2nd half.
Jaylen Warren: 1st half 5.3 YPC, and in the 2nd half 5.2 YPC
Najee Harris: 1st half 4.0 YPC, and in the 2nd half 4.1 YPC

Looking at these stats I can now see why people are wanting to know if Jaylen Warren is going to get a shot at the RB1 spot in camp this year. Move Najee back to short yardage and goal line specialist.

 

Do you guys think Naj even wants to be here?

He made a few snipes at Tomlin a few times during the year, and there was some mention that they had a crucial conversation in his exit interview.

He probably wants to test the market for a monster pay day.

 

I understand what you are posting here, but there is always more to it than pure stats.

Jalen Warren fumbles more than Harris does. He seems to have a particularly hard time holding onto the ball in bad weather. That's not good when you are a feature back.

Most speed backs have higher yards per carry numbers because they pop off bigger runs. What that stat doesn't tell you is who is more likely to gain that extra yard that isn't there on third and two when the defense is stacked to stop the run.

The backup RB is always getting the advantage when it comes to what defenses are expecting. When the backup is in, there is a natural tendency to think that there is a higher likelyhood of throwing the ball. When the backup is a change-of-pace back like Warren is, the defense sometimes gets caught off gaurd by the speed of the player after dealing with the battering ram for most of the game. There are some built in advantages when you aren't "the man" that defenses are preparing for as the primary weapon.

Harris has been the better blocker in pass protection. Getting your quarterback crushed because the RB missed his blocking assignment is a huge deal. Warren has had some big mistakes in pass protection allowing free rushers.

Warren hasn't shown that he can take the abuse that a feature back takes. The increased load may lead to more breakdowns. There is just no way to know until he carries the load.

It doesn't mean that Warren will fail as the starting running back, but it is a more complicated consideration than many are thinking. He can still improve every part of his game to help him become more prepared for the challenges of the position, and he better. I still don't believe that Warren has shown that he can do everything that is required of him to this point. I really like him as a running back and particularly in his role as backup+ role with significant touches.

It's why I still believe that it's a good idea to sign Najee Harris to maybe a reasonable 3-year deal. I think they have shown that they are a good set of backs going forward, and Harris is a good fit in Smith's offense. It seems a strange time to shake up the backfield when they have seemingly upgraded the offense and are running an offense that features the power running game.

 

Dude....since stats have become such a big thing on all players.....not just Dallas has thought this(though that was a great example)....problem is....most of the backup/3rd down/2nd rbs have higher YPA. Yet people see this from team to team, and say....well the 2nd RB must be better. LoL

 

Yeah, but anyone that knew anything about football knew Wallace wasn't the same Wr as AB. Wallace was a pretty much one trick pony....while AB was good all around. This is not the same as the difference between Najee, and Warren.....also they did offer a contract to Wallace.....He pretty much turned down the one they gave to AB.

 

None of this is really real. You can't actually ....equally....compare stats....for a guy that just counting last year had 106 less carries. LoL. With a 106 more carries those averages would be way different. I don't see how some don't understand this.
Also why isn't anyone comparing fumbles??? A very important thing in a RB.

 

I am convinced there has to be more too this we as fans aren’t privy too. Najee lost his captaincy last year and shared more of the work load. Perhaps they just aren’t as enamored with him as we are. Is there an attitude issue there we aren’t aware of? They have seemingly gotten rid of all the bad actors on offense wether through trade (DJ, KP, Dotson) or not resigning them in Okorafor. Maybe Najee and GP are next and they just let them play out their contracts. Honestly think about it. Why else would they be willing to sign a big time WR like Aiyuk. Your not going to bring him in here and sign him to a big contract and then turn around next year and extend GP to a big contract. I think Khan is cleaning house of the bad apples to get more high character players on the team. Look at Khans last two drafts. They were lauded with high character players. Heck they brought in that CB last year for a redraft visit Gonzalez and they immediately took him off their draft board after the visit because Tomlin didn’t like his personality. He didn’t have the Dog in him supposedly. He didn’t have a bad character per say but he didn’t have that fighter mentality they seem to be looking for.

All you heard about last year was how there was no leadership on the offensive side in the locker room. It was evident there was dissension and friction on that side of the team. Obviously Canada had alot to do with it but you also see people true colors in those situations and perhaps they saw some things in Najee they didn’t like. This is all conjecture on my part. One thing is for sure on those successful teams that have won SB’s with Big Ben we had guys on the team who wanted it. Hines Ward, Jerome Bettis, Alan Faneca and the defenses were laden with those kind of players. I think they are trying to get back to having those types of guys back in that locker room.

 

I think it is just a signal that they don't think that Najee is worth the 7 million dollars the tag would cost. They are correct to think this. I am certain they would like to get an extension done, but at a certain dollar amount. They are willing to bet that either Najee will sign for less than 7 or that he would get less than 7 in the open market next year and keep him at a reduced rate. They also have a very capable back behind him (who is a better all around back, just a different style) which makes them willing to play chicken. Just how I see it.