After four seasons spent with the Pittsburgh Steelers, running back Najee Harris decided to take his talents to the West Coast to join the Los Angeles Chargers. Harris signed with the Chargers in free agency after the Steelers didn't pick up his fifth-year option. Drafted in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Alabama star back caught the eyes of Pittsburgh. The Steelers were struggling to find their identity in the run game, they believed Harris was their fix.
In his four seasons, Harris rushed for 1,000 yards in each season. That is hard to come by in the NFL, so lack of production was not the problem for Harris. The major problem is, when you watch Steelers games, you often see a lack of movement with Harris. The team never seemed to move him around or let him play to his strengths. It usually was just handing the ball off to Harris and just seeing what happens.
In his last season, you can tell Harris started to get a little frustrated at times because he couldn't find the hole or he just got swallowed up in the backfield for negative yards. But, that didn't stop Harris from giving everything that he had. Maybe he was just drafted by the wrong team and didn't have the right leader on offense.
Najee Harris calls out Pittsburgh's offensive struggles with criticism Steelers should take to heart
In a recent interview with Chris Hayre of KCAL News, Harris summed up that the main reason he struggled and the Steelers offense struggles is that it lacked a veteran presence. "We just didn't know anything on offense, really," Harris said. "We had a young guy coming in at quarterback, I was young, the team was young."
When Harris came into the league, his quarterback was a veteran. He had Ben Roethlisberger at the start of his career. Which had to be helpful for him. But after Roethlisberger retired in 2022, the Steelers drafted QB Kenny Pickett to take the reigns. Which, didn't work out very well. Harris went through multiple quarterbacks and didn't have a single one that played all 17 games. So no wonder why he struggled so much.
After hearing the interview, this might be a wake-up call for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have struggled on offense for the past five seasons at least. They just can't seem to get the offense right. After hearing Harris' remarks, the Steelers organization should have some talks about how they can get better as a team. Whether it's a rookie RB taking the handoffs, Jaylen Warren, or Kenneth Gainwell, they still don't have that veteran leadership. Because they don't have a quarterback.
Not saying Harris disliked his time with Pittsburgh. But, it could have been better and maybe he would've stayed in Pittsburgh if they offered him a contract. For now, we will see if Harris can unlock his true skill set with the Chargers this season. With a very heavy run first team, it will be very interesting to see if Pittsburgh truly messed up with the usage of Najee Harris if he goes off this season.