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Declining Najees 5th looks even better

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by Blast Furnace, Jul 22, 2025.

  1. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    Najee had one year where he was top 5 in explosive plays IIRC.
     
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  2. Thor

    Thor Mod Team

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    I always like seeing his 'angry runs'. Dude gave full effort on every run.
     
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  3. El Kabong

    El Kabong Well-Known Member

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    How about...the Steelers considered Najee to be their best chance to win last year and Warren their best chance to win this year?
     
  4. Steelers '08

    Steelers '08 Well-Known Member

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    Happy Najee got his money in San Diego. He was good for us. We just had a circus of QB’s when he was with us. Especially that he tore his Achilles. Season over.
     
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  5. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Edmunds is a terrible comparison. He was never good, but they never had a quality option to challenge him.

    The evidence supports me very well. Warren was too good to sit, but not good enough to take the job from Harris. If they believed Warren was better, they would have turned to him late in the season or in the playoff game. Even with them having to abandon the run fairly early and needing big plays against the Ravens, Harris still got more touches than Warren in that playoff game last year.

    When they had both backs, they always chose Harris. That is the most important fact. The rest is your mental gymnastics.
     
  6. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Yup. That is why I found it laughable when someone claimed that Warren runs harder. I love the way Warren runs, but no, he doesn't run harder than Harris.
     
  7. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Possibly, which is where my point about wear and tear comes in.
     
  8. Jean74

    Jean74 Active Member

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    Well wasn't too sure over in having Harris fifth season being declined a good idea, but things can be a blessing in disguise.
     
  9. Joel Buchsbaum

    Joel Buchsbaum Well-Known Member

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    Edmunds, Bush, and Harris were all not given 5th year options by the Steelers. When it is his 5th year, Jones likey will join them. All were poor 1st round picks.

    Tomlin lives in his fears and IMO is not an offensive coach. In fact I think he is really lacking in offensive knowledge in comparison to his peers.



    Any coach who keeps feeding a 4.0 - 3.9 yard YPR a cloud of dust back as Tomlin did for years, is hurting his offense. Just like any coach who would promote a rookie " duck " at QB who went undrafted is kicking his own offense is the shorts.

    Dark shades Tomlin who dresses like he's from North Alaska did both. I would love for a beat writer to point this out and ask questions open ended questions.

    Tomlin does not offer detailed interviews. Why do you think this is so?

    Sorry ladies and gentleman, Tomlin is not going anywere untill 2027.

    Every NFL team that is very good ( wins at least one playoff game ) or bettter has a top 15 QB and a good head coach. Find me a team that does not.

    -JB
     
  10. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    Whatever man :lolol:
     
  11. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    If you don't think Harris was a positive for the offense his rookie season, I have no idea what games you were watching. The same is true of the second half of his second season, once he recovered from the foot injury he suffered in training camp. Even the last two seasons he was more productive than what we have seen from Warren so far. This isn't meant to say Warren is playing poorly this season. He isn't. I think he wasn't quite at top speed for the opener, but he has been as tough and dynamic as ever the last two games. Poor execution by the offensive line and an erratic passing game that doesn't force defenses to back off have been holding him back just as they held Harris back. That is what Tomlin saw the last four years that you are missing.

    Regarding Duck Hodges, what did you expect from a third-string quarterback? The Steelers went 3-3 in games started by Hodges. I think most teams would be thrilled to do that well if they are forced to turn to their No. 3. Remember, that was the year the Steelers lost Roethlisberger at the start of the season. Mason Rudolph missed a chunk of the season with a concussion, then played very poorly later in the year. If you want to blame Tomlin for them trading away Dobbs (I think that was the year they traded him), that's fine, but I'm not sure he would have done much better.
     
  12. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    Rudolph was struggling as a first-time starter Duck gave the team a spark for a while.
     
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  13. NorthernBlitz

    NorthernBlitz Well-Known Member

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    If we define explosive runs as 20+ yards (I think there's some disagreement whether to call 10+ yard runs explosive...explosive pass plays are 20+ yards), he was 5th in 2024 and 4th in 2023. I didn't go through the explosive run rate (divide runs by carries). But I think that might bring his ranking down.

    This was the best source I found for this info: https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/advanced-stats-rb.php?year=2024

    But you do need to sign up for a (free) account to see the data now. This wasn't the case when I made a post about this same info on another board last year.

    For 2024 Najee was 14th in attempts with 264

    • 10 yard runs: 9th with 29
    • 20 yard runs: 5th with 9
    • 30 yard runs: t16 with 2
    • 40 yard runs t34 with 0

    For 2023 Najee was 6th in attempts

    • 10 yard runs: t10th with 24
    • 20 yard runs: t4th with 8
    • 30 yard runs: t46 with 0
    • 40 yard runs t32 with 0
    For 2022 Najee was 5th in attempts

    • 10 yard runs: 23rd with 20
    • 20 yard runs: t56th with 1
    • 30 yard runs: t32 with 1
    • 40 yard runs t38 with 0
    For 2021 Najee was 4th in attempts

    • 10 yard runs: 5th with 28
    • 20 yard runs: t7th with 6
    • 30 yard runs: t9th with 2
    • 40 yard runs t29 with 0

    So he did a pretty good job getting 10 and 20 yard runs. But bad with 30 yard runs (4 in his career). No 40 yard plays in ~1300 touches.

    Najee was very consistently OK to good at everything. But not really great at anything. I was on another board at the time, but said that I thought it was a pretty "meh" decision either way because options for RBs aren't very expensive.

    Personally, I think we made the "right" decision and optioning him would have been a mistake because virtually no RBs go 5 years with no injuries and we would have had to exercise option (guaranteed money) after year 3. So it required betting that he wasn't going to have a significant injury for 2 years. Which isn't a good bet for a RB IMO.

    But if they did option him, I don't think it would have been a large mistake. And I wouldn't have complained about it. Because (1) it wasn't much money in NFL terms and (2) I think Najee is probably a good person and it's nice to have someone like that to root for.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
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  14. NorthernBlitz

    NorthernBlitz Well-Known Member

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    From an NFL perspective, I think Edmunds is a pretty good comparison when talking about the options.

    I think Najee was a better player than Edmunds, but from a business perspective re: 5th year options I think they are pretty similar.

    1. They were both in the same tier for options. They hit certain playing time metrics, which put them in the 2nd lowest tier. The higher tiers are for guys who make one or more probowls (on the original ballot, so not as injury replacements).
    2. They were both very dependable / durable.
    3. Both solid but not spectacular.
    4. Neither was good at delivering game changing plays (pretty similar to 3)
    5. Neither plays a high dollar value position
    Their time after the Steelers looks pretty similar too. Both signed to be backups for other teams. Again, I think Najee is a better player. But he also plays a position that chews guys up faster. Sadly, he got a season ending injury without seeing the field much this year.

    Also, I think Warren steadily ate into Najee's snap count for as long as he was on the team and healthy. But Najee was the guy to put in when nursing a small lead (as we often are) because he's so good at ball security.
     
  15. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    You mentioned the key difference. Harris was a much better player. He was also much better at making game-changing plays. How many did Edmunds have in his entire career? He had the two-interception game against a Jaguars quarterback who should have been parking cars and he had a sack in a big moment against the Broncos, who left him completely unblocked. That was about it.

    Also, Harris wasn't signed to be a backup with the Chargers. He signed before they spent the first-rounder on Hampton. After barely playing in the opener due to missing the whole preseason with a freak injury, he got the ball more in Week 2 and had gotten it more to the point he got hurt in Week 3.
     
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  16. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    LMFAO you’re a riot. Harris wasn’t signed to be the starter, he got a whopping 5 million contract with incentives. Chargers were obviously going to draft a RB.

    Edmunds and Harris are identical, both failed first rd picks that weren’t offered a 5th year option. Busts.
     
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  17. Thor

    Thor Mod Team

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    Yes, Harris was a pre-draft signing - by a team that used their first overall pick to take a RB with all of his traits, but better.

    If you want to take that, and the fact that Harris had one more touch in Week 2 - via an additional reception than Hampton, despite Hampton carrying a 64%-34% advantage on snaps - and Harris having one more carry in Week 3 through 1.5 quarters, and conclude that it supports Harris being the lead back, who am I to tell you any different.

    But to plant your flag on a hill as firmly as you do with small/insignificant stats like those does more to damage the credibility of your arguments than help.
     
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  18. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    To compare Najee to Edmunds is a freaking laugh. You know this.
    Edmunds is on his 6th team, and can't keep a job. Hell he was cut from his 1st team that signed him 7 games into the season.
     
  19. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    Just because the Steelers declined Najee's 5th year option doesn't make him a bust, a bust is Artie Burns, Jarvis Jones.
     
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  20. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Life is good

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    Harris was signed as a backup at back up pay
     
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  21. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Life is good

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    Any first round pick not signed to a second contract is a bust
     
  22. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    So Parsons is a bust???
     
  23. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    He’s a failed first rd picks if that makes it go down any better.

    You spend a first rd picks on a RB and dont even pick up the option?
     
  24. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    I’d say Harris was a worse first rd picks. Edmunds was pick 28, practically 2nd rd.

    Not only did the Steelers commit the cardinals sin of using a 1st rd pick on a RB, they got it wrong. If you are going to spend a 1st on a RB, you damn well better get it right.
     

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