At first glance, Najee Harris might appear to be struggling behind the offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The first-round pick from the Alabama Crimson Tide has just 83 rushing yards in his first two games with an average of 3.2 yards per carry. It’s safe to say those aren’t the kind of numbers the Steelers envisioned when they drafted Harris.
After all, Harris was a workhorse in college, setting career records at Alabama for touchdowns (57) and rushing yards (3,843). He scored 30 touchdowns last season to set a single-season SEC record.
Harris was setting these records behind an offensive line that was imperfect at times. Remember this play in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame?
Harris is someone who can make plays out of nothing, and despite getting off to a slow start statistically, there are bright spots in his game. The Steelers are expected to use Harris heavily this season, and he does have six receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown, but right now they aren’t using him enough as a ball carrier.
Harris was the only NFL running back used on every offensive snap for his team in Week 1 — 58 out of 58. So it seems a little strange that he only has 26 carries and eight targets after Week 2.
Perhaps head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Matt Canada are bringing him along slowly as a ball carrier and plan to increase his touches as the game slows down for him.
However, there are many reasons for optimism early on, including his pass blocking, success in the gap-style run scheme, wicked stiff arm and ability in open space.
Now let’s look at the film …
Let’s start with the main reason why Harris is being used on every snap. His pass blocking has been extremely helpful for Ben Roethlisberger. In the first two clips below, the Steelers desperately need a third-down conversion.
When a player is this effective in pass blocking, you can keep him on the field on all pass plays for when the quarterback needs a check-down. Harris is perfect in that role because he thrives in open space.
In the first clip above, he slams strong safety Johnathon Abram with one of the meanest stiff arms I’ve ever seen. Then in the second clip, he runs a great route to shake his defender to get open as he scores his first NFL touchdown. It’s undeniable that Harris has a great ability to make moves as soon as he touches the ball.
In the first clip below, Harris was able to catch the ball, see the defender and make his cut simultaneously, which allowed him to blow by that first defender.
Harris can stop on a dime and make cuts look easy. In the clip above, he shows incredible balance after chopping his feet in order to slow down. Then Harris makes a spin move as he gets past strong safety Johnathan Abram, before finally being brought down by free safety Dallin Leavitt.
In the running game, where the Steelers need Harris the most, he hasn’t been effective yet. He’s been successful when used in a gap-style run scheme, but the film mostly shows zone-run schemes which don’t fit the skill set of Harris or the offensive line.
In the zone-blocking scheme above, each offensive lineman blocks the defender in front of him and then moves onto the next level. In this scheme, it’s up to the running back to find his lanes, but this only can be successful when the offensive lineman get a good push or good leverage on the guys lined up across from them.
As you can see in the clip, it seems like a mess as Harris has trouble getting through his own offensive line and is forced to dance just to gain two or three yards.
When the Steelers use Harris with the gap-style run scheme in the clips below, everyone seems to be a lot more effective.
On each of these clips, as we can see from the back angle, the right guard is able to pull across the line of scrimmage and pick up the edge rusher as the tight end comes across the line and becomes Harris’ lead blocker. On both plays, Harris picks up 10-plus yards while breaking tackles in open space.
Harris is difficult for a single defender to bring down. He forces two or more opponents to wrap up on every single carry. With his overall skill set in the passing game, his balance and strength as a ball carrier and his excellent footwork in small spaces, there is a lot of reason for optimism about Harris’ future.
To give him some immediate help, the Steelers might want to give him a lead blocker more often, whether that is between the tackles or around the edge — because any time they can get Harris in open space, he has the opportunity to do damage.