Najee Harris must carry Steelers offense, not Ben Roethlisberger

Najee Harris must be the most important player on the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and not Ben Roethlisberger, if they want to get back to the Super Bowl.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers want to send quarterback Ben Roethlisberger out as a three-time Super Bowl champion at the end of the 2021 NFL season, they need to entrust rookie running back Najee Harris to be their guiding light.

Roethlisberger is essentially playing quarterback on fumes right now. His “deep ball” was openly mocked on the internet the other day, thanks to PFF. While he is a no-doubt Pro Football Hall of Famer, Roethlisberger has to understand that Harris can be every bit as good as Franco Harris was long before him in the Steelers’ backfield. He has to entrust the former Alabama football star now.

By handing him the rock repeatedly, this could translate to the Steelers’ best season in a decade.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Ben Roethlisberger has to learn on Najee Harris in 2021

For the Steelers to win big this season, they are going to have to win one way. Fortunately for them, they are built to do exactly that. Pittsburgh has a great defense with stars scattered all over it from Minkah Fitzpatrick in the back-end, to T.J. Watt out on the edge, to Devin Bush right in the middle of it. Add in a ground-centric offensive attack with Harris headlining it, and there you go.

While some people will clamor for Roethlisberger to spread the ball around to receiving targets such at Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster and rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth out of Penn State, this Steelers offense needs to resemble what the AFC North rival Cleveland Browns did under first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski last year. This is Pittsburgh’s only recipe for success.

As long as Harris can be an upgrade in the backfield, Pittsburgh can win a lot of games in the AFC.