Congrats to Najee Harris

I would like to put in my Congrats to Najee for breaking the 4 yards per carry barrier this season. Najee finished the 2023 season averaging 4.1 yards per carry.

This was a stat that a lot of fans held over Najee's head last offseason. (Myself Included)

 

I'm happy for him. This is not a put down but getting 1000 yards in 16-17 game seasons is not as impressive as getting well over a thousand in a 12-14 game season. Jim Brown in 1965 tore the league up. In late 50's he have 1400 yard seasons in 12 games. Sad to say as a young boy I watched him destroy the Steelers.

Not undermining his accomplishments or any other NFL RB but more games equal more chances. Impossible to compare past stats to today's stats. Times change.

 

I would like to congratulate Najee for speaking his mind about Canada's offense.

 

Yeah, the yards aren't that impressive over a 16-17 game schedule, but Najee hasn't missed a game due to injury with the Steelers. He also has had to split time with Warren the last two years.

 

You know, I don't know how I feel about this. Now days the skill position players rarely play the full 17 games, because they are not Allowed or Willing to put the Sh!t into their bodies that the old timers would use.

You hear all those old stories of players going into the locker room during halftime and returning to play the 2nd half of the game; only later to find out he was playing on 3 broken bones and doesn't even remember playing the 2nd half after getting a treatment during halftime. "The last thing I remember was the doctor saying your going to feel a slight pinch, and then I don't remember anything after that."

 

sign me up!!!

 

and he only needed 3000 carries to do it ?

 

Given how Arthur Smith seems to employ a lot more of the Wide Zone Running Scheme that Harris definitely enjoyed during his time at Alabama, nabbing this Offensive Line a Center should be among the top priorities. Free Agency does have the likes of Lloyd Cushenberry III or Tyler Biadasz but I doubt the team elects to opt for that route unless Omar Kahn and Andy Weidl both shock all of us and jettisons Mason Cole out of here. Likely to get one in the draft.

 

He averaged 4.1 YPC this season .

 

I'm not sure how relevant 12-to-14 game schedules are to the modern game. The league switched to a 14-game schedule in 1961 and 16 games in 1978.

 

I have enough faith in Khan and Weidl being smart enough to dump Cole that it wouldn't shock me if they went that route.

 

Which is why I said impossible to compare. Memory shaky but I went to a few Steeler/brown games early 60's and don't remember many passes. Such a different league then today.

 

I'm inclined to agree, however, this is also the first yr Harris averaged 4 yds a carry

 

Actually 59

 

They may play more games but he split a lot of time with Warren which I think helped him a lot.

 

58.8235294118

 

Exactly.

 

Angry run champ makes sense. He tends to have a few of these every year. Good on him.

Najee is about the only leader we have on the offensive side of the ball and said some things that likely needed to be said after the loss to Buffalo (mostly not complimentary of the coaching staff and the weekly approach). Its too bad he isn't one of the best players on the offense, or I think his words would carry a lot more weight. We are in a weird position with him because we don't want to just let our locker room leader on offense walk, but his skillset is nowhere near what he will want to get paid. I just don't want to get stuck paying an average back a premium contract. We will see how it plays out.

I would imagine we pick up his 5th year option worth 6.6 million, this would make him a top 10 paid back in AAV terms. He isn't a top 10 back in the NFL, but I think it is a fine price to pay for a year. It will be interesting to see if they want to (and get get Najee to agree to) an extension in the 3 year 15-18 million dollar range with good guarantees. I'd go as high as 20 million over 3 years... but we could also just 5th year option him, franchise him for 12 million, then let him walk. Its hard to tell how his playstyle will age. He already is so inexplosive that I don't worry about him losing his explosion and being worse for it, but he has had a large workload and is a physical guy. They usually don't last much longer than 28-29 years old before a big drop off. He'll be 26 next season so its reasonable to expect the next 3 years he would still have his game.

 

Kyle Brandt looks/sounds like he needs to lay off the nose beers in this one lol

 

That dude needs to get on a treadmill.

 

true dat