Would You Draft a Running Back in Round 1?

Agreed. Harris ran hard, but didn't have the elusiveness that comes from a combination of vision, quickness, and 'wiggle' that would have taken advantage of his power and made him a more effective runner (at least behind this line).

It'll be interesting to see what they do with free agency and the draft with it. They need two (Patterson looked done after returning from injury) and I would think one they'd want to be a bigger/sturdier back to compliment Warren, both for short-yardage and durability's sake.

 

Mr .Chubb will get a FA payday from the Steelers. Tomlin is drooling right now.

 

i agree, relatively speaking Harris is cheap. Still don’t get why they didn’t extend him when they had the chance? Talk about a bargain! i like both our running backs and I even agree with others we could use another even speedier little one and make it a set. A late round one.

 

God I hope not.

Chubb has been a complete train wreck after the Minka Hit in 2023. Tried to comeback last year and was a completely different running back with his surgically rebuilt knee. 3.3 yards per carry post Minka Hit.

 

Kaboly... with his cutting-edge news. Embarrassing he is known as a Steelers insider....

 

I don't see how that works unless they can add another back to take on Harris's role. Warren showed us all last year that it makes little sense to count on him as a feature back.

 

I am having a flashback because i am hearing Boogie Wonderland and Shining Star and Thinking about the 3 head Monster. Que me up for some Earth Wind and Fire

 

I am still saying Najee signs a 3 year $30 million contract this year.

Spotrac has Najee's Market value at $27.5 million for 3 years.
https://sports.yahoo.com/steelers-rb-najee-harris-earn-140500158.html#:~:text=According to Spotrac, Harris is,deal on the open market.


FYI. The 2025 NFL franchise tag for running backs is $13,629,000. And the Steelers passed on picking up Najee's 5th year for $6.7 million.

 

IMO he just tried too hard to be something he wasn't. He'd too often hurdle and juke when he should've been stiff-arming and putting his head down. He wanted to be Derrick Henry with the big plays, but that's just never who he was. He could've been a more effective runner if he just decided to be a power runner and not a playmaker.

I would imagine tendering Warren is the correct move, and I am not sure that we HAVE to get a sturdier back to complement Warren. But we can. Judkins or Hampton seem to be good fits in that regard, but Henderson and James shouldn't be discounted as options just because that isn't who they are. It is entirely possible we end up double dipping at RB and getting one in the first 2 rounds and then another day 3. Pick up a Henderson early and then Jackson in round 6 or 7... not a bad idea. The only one I don't think we can go is Sampson. We don't need a Devon Achane type if we don't have a bigger back to go with it (though Warren is hardly small).

I want one of the top backs, and my top 5 are below.
1. Jeanty
2. Henderson
3. Judkins
4. Hampton
5. Johnson

We probably need to spend a 1st or 2nd to get any of the above.... I'd be happy enough with any of these guys, despite personal preference for the top 2 on that list. If we go with Fields as our QB, we should sell out a bit on the run game. A big time, explosive, RB makes the QB run SO MUCH scarier. We have the right OC for it too. I'd like to give it a shot.

 

He might, it depends on a team falling in love with him (or panicking because their rushing attack sucked last year). I think its possible that he gets in the 8-10 million range. Which, hey, good for him. I am just infinitely glad that we aren't the team paying him that money. The Chargers is probably the best landing spot for him. The Raiders seem to be the most likely destination IMO.

I could care less about the tag cost. Najee's skillset isn't worth 6.7 million per year (let alone 10, or 13). Big-bodied volume runners don't tend to have long careers. I think we got off the Najee train at the exact right time. It's just too bad he didn't turn out to be the player we thought he was going to be. Tomlin and Colbert really struggled drafting at the top of the draft at the end of KC's tenure.

 

And they would have had a disgruntled hostage with a guaranteed salary for two years

How do you think that would have worked out

 

No reason in the stacked rb group would I waste a number one pick on a rb. So plan on steelers doing it. The cheap ass owners need to sell the team. The entire roster quit on the owner and Tomlin last year in a playoff game against division rival. embarrassing. They all need to go and start over. Or even worse, the idiots will resign a mediocre harris is average like 2 yards a carry to a deal twice the size of the fifth year option we turned down. Count on it. The steelers management is a JOKE>

 

It isn't just that Warren was injured multiple times last season. He has never shown he can handle a lead back's workload in three NFL seasons. Even when he was healthy and Harris had to leave a game early this past season, they gave his carries to Patterson, not Warren. That tells me even the Steelers don't have confidence in him taking on that sort of workload.

Warren is great in his current role and maybe he can handle more, but counting on him for 300 or more touches based on what he has shown seems like another mistake akin to trusting Van Jefferson to be their No. 2 receiver this past season. That was a terrible decision that crippled the offense most of the season.

 

They certainly don't have to, but i'd think they'd at least want a situational compliment to Warren. Doesn't have to come from the draft, there are some value options in free agency this year. Like Blast, I think Chubb is worth looking into. Getting the complimentary guy out of the way in FA keeps their options open in the draft.

I still think they would've been better off picking up his option. OTC's valuation of Harris each of the past two years has been ~$7M, so barring injury - which I don't see as a danger for him this season - his production would have justified the cost. That's not to say I don't want them to upgrade the position - they could even do so for less than $6.7M with the right move - just that they've already got a laundry list of roster fills to make at key positions this offseason.

 

Steelers might resign Najee…. This organization is so broken.

 

It is what you are supposed to do with a 1st round running back.

4 year Rookie contract, then the Option year, followed by the Franchise Tag. Then released before they hit 30. It is a hard life for an NFL running back.

 

I'm sure they will. You can find big, goal line style backs anywhere though. I don't think you need to force it. I like the idea of Chubb, mostly for locker room leadership on that side of the ball, but I am assuming he wants to play more than we would give him. I'd prefer us to just take a back somewhat early and move on with it.

I guess we can agree to disagree here. It wouldn't have been the end of the world because at 6.7 million he'd only be overpaid by like 2-2.5 million... but I think he is more of a detriment to the offense than an asset when he is on the field. Defenses attack backs like Harris. He is very slow to top speed, so they have extra time to muddy up the LOS and push into the backfield. But also, they aren't scared of him ripping off a TD at any time, so they can just load the box and sell out to stop him in the backfield. If our OL blocks it perfectly and he has a massive hole.... then they'll just catch him 15-20 yards down field and try again, no harm - no foul. It is very risky to load the box against an explosive back like Barkley or even Henry. They get past the second level and its over. TD... When the announcers mentioned (a few times this year but a lot more in the middle of 2023's season) that the offense looked different when Warren was in than when Harris was, that is what they were alluding to (I think). The defense is just more on it's heels because they cant let Warren break through the second level untouched AND they have to worry about him in space as a receiver. His versatility allows us to run out of the shotgun effectively, use the RB as a threat in space, and gives us the home run threat (all things that you can't do with Najee). Because the defense is no longer on its toes, the offense got to have a bit more breathing room to operate.

I love Harris the person. Seems like a good guy and he wants to win.... but he just has such a poor skillset for today's game. He's a 4mil/yr 8 touches a game + goal line back in the modern game. He'd be a top 5-10 back 25 years ago. The game changed and made his skillset a lot less valuable. I am glad we didn't pick up his option. I think he is a bad asset to have, and one that I am glad wont be touching the ball 18-19 times a game like he has for the last 4 years.

 

It appears he really wasn’t a 1st round running back

Some times you cut your losses

Sunk cost fallacy:

noun

1. the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have investedheavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.
   "the sunk-cost fallacy creeps into a lot of major financial decisions"

 

Yeah, still smarting from Tuitt loss, haven't really been able to replace him maybe this is the year, I wouldn't mind