Time to bench Najee

Most of Pickens yards came on one play too

 

Najee looks like he is running in quicksand. OL certainly isn’t helping but that dude is about as unimpressive as possible.

 

Harris might not be elite, but he's far from being a bust, his YPC hasn't been great but he's the only Steelers RB to rush for 1,000 in their first two years. Jarvis Jones and Artie Burns are what you call busts.

 

Please do confuse College ball with the NFL. It's the same as confusing High School ball with College. Like D. Williams....who while Bell was out led the league in rushing .....said....Wait until Bell sees what it's like running when the Defense is primarily set up to stop Him Instead of Ben, and the passing game.

 

This ...also the Qb needs to back the D up on 1st, and 2nd downs at least sometimes.

 

And this is the $hit that starts the dumb talk.

 

Well then Barry Sanders sucked, and shouldn't be a HOF.....because most of His yards a game came on 2 - 3 runs a game.

 

It seems to me that Najee runs from an upright position and Warren runs bent over leaning forward.

upright is better for the open field.

bent over is better between the tackles

just a guess

 

The Tarzan line is good. You must have been saving that for quite a while for a perfect opportunity like this. Great will power and hats off.

I have a Najee signed jersey; look at my aviator. But there is no denying what is right before our eyes. Warren is either better, or just better on this team or in this scheme. A new suit might be better for the player and the teams. Where I don’t know.

I like the man. Great human and team guy, but we all have to shoot straight here. Warren jumps off the screen when he has the ball and Najee usually disappoints. It could be like boxing where styles make fights. And Harris’ style doesn’t fit the current Steelers.

I wouldn’t “bench” him, but I’d START Warren and put Harris in when the play and circumstance made sense. Not even sure he’s good as the 3rd down option - because we need the conversion and I’m not sure he’d get it with the marriage of this line and scheme.

It reminds me a bit of Zeke Elliot and Tony Pollard. I saw the same kinda thing last season - it was clear. Pollard was/is the better fit and option. And Jerry jerk face Jones made the obvious decision.

I’m not going to dig it up, but about the 3rd quarter-ish of last years season opener - I posted in the Bungles game forum here that Warren had more pop than Harris. I guess it wasn’t just the plate in his cleat. It all started back then and most people were waiting for situations to come together for the guy with the pedigree.

Meanwhile Warren has done nothing but stay quiet and just perform better. It’s obvious….

 

Bell was pretty decent in the nfl too prior to getting hurt and then staying out a year. He averaged 4.9, 4.9 and 4.7 ypc in his 2nd to 4th year in the league. That’s right up there with some of the elites.

 

How is it obvious???
You do know Najee is rushing for over 2 yards more a carry????
People keep saying this....Am I in bizarro world??

 

He also had no team scheming for Him. Ever wonder why every RB that came in when He was injured, or suspended looked pretty good. Like I said D. Williams was leading the league in rushing while Bell was out , and He took His place.

 

Im going to believe that stat since you wrote it.

But tell me, when you are watching the game, do your eyes tell you he’s running better?

Seems that they are force feeding Harris. I’d bet, if force fed, or given the inverse amount of plays and a rhythm, that Warren would out perform. Call it a hunch.

But the X-factor of Canaduh making the right play calls for the right players in the right situation is the fly in this whole hypothetical ointment.


He’s pathetic at designing a scheme for his side of the ball, preparing his players, and having a good feel for play calling.

Canaduh is sooo bad at this point that I am sincerely starting to feel bad for him. I swear.

But even when I feel sorry for the twat, I still can’t help but disparage his HUGE roll in this whole foul situation.

 

You are arguing for the change, so I'm presenting the available evidence. By the end of last season, as good as Warren looked, Harris was the lead back. I haven't seen any reason to change that. Using Harris over Warren isn't the problem in the running game. It is the piss-poor scheme, lousy execution by the offensive line, and the lack of a consistent threat from the passing game. The plays on which Warren has been impressive are primarily in his role as the third-down back, not the primary ball carrier.

 

No, it isn't. He hasn't. The difference between the work a lead back gets and the work that goes to a third-down/change-of-pace back has been explained repeatedly, but some folks just don't want to hear it.

That you are talking about the opener last season only weakens your argument. At that time, Warren was healthy. Harris was not. Warren has done absolutely nothing as a runner to show he should be the starter. He has made plays as a receiver, but he already gets plenty of those reps, especially as the third-down back.

If the line can get its collective act together, Harris's style fits perfectly. Go back and watch the win over the Ravens last season to see why. If the line doesn't get its act together, it won't matter because both backs will struggle and this team is going nowhere.

Also, the Tarzan line was good when I first heard it, maybe 30 years ago.

 

Man, you must be a ball at parties. Like always, constantly, being a salty ass dog trying to “win” arguments, piss on parades and just all around be contrary in rank tone.

I wasn’t presenting an “argument” ya dingleberry. I was presenting an opinion and an observation that the coaching staff should have seen in practices and started Warren or given him the bulk of the totes even way back then during Harris’ injury.

You and a minority can do all the ARGUING you want with yourselves. It’s become plain to just as many if not a lot more, that Najee is not the better option. Unless something great changes.

Now, please feel free to respond in your typical faux superior smartest blowhard in the room all you want, but this will play out in two ways soon enough - they will offer him a new contract because he’s worth it, or they won’t. That will be the final answer to whether or not they want to continue round pegging the square hole.

I’m alll ears - this should be fun.

 

Presenting an opinion is presenting an argument. Whatever you thought about who should have played more early last season is not relevant to the current situation. Harris was playing through a significant injury then. To the best of our knowledge, that is not the case now.

I see you are moving the goalposts because the statistics do not support your opinion regarding who should play now. Harris should be the starter now, but that doesn't mean they should re-sign him when his contract is up. I do enjoy the irony of you complaining about me trying to hard to win while you are the one willing to move the goalposts to try to save your failed argument. The criteria is who remains the starter now, not what happens in two or three years. Between the lame ad hominem attack and this false premise, the logical fallacies are piling up and that is not good.

 

This board seems divided on the RB issue. I know we are on the road next two but I fully expect for our running game and are O as a whole to perform much better. I am expecting to be 3-1 two weeks from now.

I'm not big on Najee but give the guy a chance for crap sake. Two games in 16 attempts (ridiculous) for 74 yards. 2-3 catches. That should be numbers for 1 game. Steelers continue down this path they will be 1-3. Can't really judge Najee since for some reason the Steelers offensive guru decided to give him 8 carries on average a game.

IMO, pound the MFing ball against next two opponents and we will be 3-1!!!!! I really believe with Najee and Warren we have a decent 1-2 punch. Sucks not having DJ but with him healthy we got us some receivers. Pounding that ball will only benefit Kenny P.

IMO next two games huge for Steelers season. We are the better team and F that past history crap of underperforming. Mr. Tomlin, Mr. Canada use your damn heads and change the culture of losing out west and losing to inferior teams!!!!

October 8th showdown for first place in AFCN. Can't see Ravens losing to Colts or Browns (-Chubb hurts) True believer morning of Oct. 8th the 4-0 Ravens will be playing the 3-1 Steelers. Gonna be fun!

 

DeAngelo Williams was a good running back himself with good vision and instincts. He had great years in Carolina. Najee doesnt have what Bell or DeAngelo had.

 

I agree with that last part. Not getting the ball enough is definitely an issue for Harris.

I just don't think Harris is struggling in the sense that he is performing poorly. It's not his fault he keeps running into walls because the offensive line is either getting its ass kicked. Part of said ass kicking is a poor offensive scheme. Part of the problem Monday was the Browns coming out in a new defensive formation and Canada took way too long to adjust.

You seem to be trying to have it both ways. You want to point out that Warren hasn't had as many opportunities as Harris, but you want to ignore that he has gotten different opportunities that contribute to his higher average per carry.

 

The funny thing is I've been talking about the importance of Warren getting the ball more as much as anyone. It was my primary reason for arguing against creating more opportunities for McFarland, because I thought it would take away from Warren getting the ball as much as he should.

Changing who gets the bulk of the carries isn't going to fix the running game. The offensive line needs to play a lot better. The scheme needs to be better. Canada needs to adjust to new wrinkles defenses throw at him, something he failed to do for much of the game against the Browns. Pickett needs to be better, so teams can't just stack the box every play. Until those things get better, you could bring back Franco Harris in his prime and the running game would still struggle.