Steelers’ Najee Harris vows improvement; could there be more fullbacks, big packages?
Like his head coach, coordinator and quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Najee Harris stuck to the theme of staying the course when it comes to improving the team’s struggling offense.
“It’s just people just blowing some stuff out of proportion,” Harris said after practice Friday at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “We are not going to just ‘pop’ like that. It’s never been that easy, especially in the NFL. But we are always one block away, one read way, one whatever away — if we just keep sticking to it, though.”
Of the NFL’s top 40 in carries, Harris has the worst yards per carry average at 3.1. He is 18th in the league with 40 rushing attempts but 35th in rushing yards with 123. The blocking hasn’t been good. Pro Football Focus grades the Steelers’ run blocking as the NFL’s fifth-worst. Footballoutsiders.com pegs them last.
Then again, the metrics aren’t too kind to Harris, either. He also is last in footballoutsiders.com’s list of qualifying running backs and graded fifth-to-last in PFF’s list.
“There are some (holes) I have missed, obviously, (that) I need to get better at it,” Harris said. “And I have to be better at that every day and get a feel for the line and how they blocking, things like that.”
Although the Steelers have pledged not to make any personnel changes, could more subtle schematics be tweaked? Last week, for example, the Steelers deployed a fullback more than they had over the first two games combined. Sunday’s game at the Green Bay Packers could offer an opportunity for more of that, perhaps even buttressed by multiple-tight end packages in which the Steelers go “big.”
Regardless of how the coaches approach the running game, Harris vows to improve at doing his part.
“No matter what you say in the NFL, you can dress up runs however you want, but it’s all the same stuff,” he said. “So we are not doing a lot to change it up. We’ve just got to execute it, and we are working on that.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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