• Please be aware we've switched the forums to their own URL. (again) You'll find the new website address to be www.steelernationforum.com Thanks
  • Please clear your private messages. Your inbox is close to being full.

"Najee Harris ain't it". NAJEE 3.0 It's time to go, yo....

stillwright said:
Harris is one of 13 RBs in the history of the NFL to get 1000 yards in each of his first 4 seasons.
Click to expand...
Yep. He was extremely durable for us while getting a lot of carries / touches over 17 games.

That's his superpower.

He is a good back.

But he just isn't a game changer.

And in today's NFL with RBs being devalued, you have to be a big play maker / game changer to get paid on your 2nd contract.

I think it will be very interesting to see how he does in a different system. On a team that has a QB and he doesn't have to be the focal point of the offense. I think that's a much better role for him. But it's not what we needed.
 
NorthernBlitz said:
He's obviously head and shoulders above Archer who's not even an NFL player.

This is probably a joke that's going over my head, but Parker >>> Archer. And it's not a clear decision who to take between him and Najee IMO.

I think they're are pretty comparable. Although their styles are obviously quite different.

Especially if we're talking about who would be better with a bad OL. Because you're unlikely to get consistently good blocking for Najee to march down the field. And FWP only needs a crack and he's gone.

Najee's more well rounded though. Better receiving out of the backfield. I don't 100% remember Parker's pass-pro, but my guess is that Najee would win here too.

Parker was a play maker. Are youtube links to highlights allowed? Seems like that wouldn't take away from traffic from the sight. It's too good not to include, so I'll put it here. But I'll be happy to take it out if it's not OK.

75 yard SB Run

Najee's long run is will ever have a run across ~ 1,100 carries in the NFL is about half as long. He just doesn't have the speed to avoid getting chased down IMO. Although I also agree that he likely didn't have too many plays that were blocked this well. Not sure if anyone listens to the Ramon Foster show, but he described Najee's running style as running to where the hole is supposed to be (often into the backs of linemen) instead of using vision to run to where the hole actually is.

Najee's super-power is durability. And he beats Parker here IMO.

But it's not like Parker's a slouch in this area. He had two seasons with 320+ carries. Najee's career high is 307...although Najee had way more touches because he's a better receiving threat (and because of the era too). Worth noting that Najee gets an extra game every season too. So while Parker isn't as durable as Najee across a 4 year stretch, he was certainly able to carry a very heavy load for a 3 year period.

Seems like the big argument for Najee is that he had 4x 1,000 seasons in a row. Parker didn't have 4, but he had three consecutive seasons of 1202, 1494, and 1316 yards. All more than Najee's high @ 1200. And Najee got an extra game per season.
Click to expand...
Willie Parker was a top 3-5 RB for 2005-2007. He was leading the league in rushing until he got injured, over guys like Ladanian Tomlinson
He had a good line but Harris would not have produced like Parker did in that time. Even the great Jerome Bettis, Staley, Haynes, none of those guys were anything to write home about behind that line.
Willie was a remarkable underdog talent with elite speed.
Harris has never been near the top of the league in anything but volume.
 
bigben said:
Willie Parker was a top 3-5 RB for 2005-2007. He was leading the league in rushing until he got injured, over guys like Ladanian Tomlinson
He had a good line but Harris would not have produced like Parker did in that time. Even the great Jerome Bettis, Staley, Haynes, none of those guys were anything to write home about behind that line.
Willie was a remarkable underdog talent with elite speed.
Harris has never been near the top of the league in anything but volume.
Click to expand...
I can't wait when Parker goes into the HOF.
 
insaniti said:
Anybody can do that now, Barkley and Henry do that in their sleep...He aint no Barry Sanders, that's for sure!
Click to expand...
Let us know who's next since anybody can do it...

FYI Bijan Robinson has not done it in two years that he's been in the league. Neither has Jahmyr Gibbs, Travis Etienne, Saquon Barkley or the king - Derrick Henry...
 
bermudasteel said:
Let us know who's next since anybody can do it...

FYI Bijan Robinson has not done it in two years that he's been in the league. Neither has Jahmyr Gibbs, Travis Etienne, Saquon Barkley or the king - Derrick Henry...
Click to expand...
it has a lot to do with injuries and rushes per game, let's not simplify it. I'm not saying he's bad but he is not a guy to build your offense around and spend a 1st rounder or pay a 2nd contract.

From statmuse:

1743201737311.png

so who cares if it was 1000 yards 4 straight seasons?I mean, if a guy does: 1200, 1100, 976 (played less games), 1400, is he worse than Najee for not having 4 consecutives seasons with a number that doesn't mean much without context?

Yes Najee is a top 10 RB thanks to availability, how long can that last in such a punishing position?
 
Litos, your last sentence sums it up very nicely.

His durability is his strongest assets.

If he could be “MAD” Najee and run with purpose more than 2 games a season, he possibly could be higher ranked.
(The “MAD” Najee would need to be present 10-games minimum)


Salute the nation
 
bermudasteel said:
Let us know who's next since anybody can do it...

FYI Bijan Robinson has not done it in two years that he's been in the league. Neither has Jahmyr Gibbs, Travis Etienne, Saquon Barkley or the king - Derrick Henry...
Click to expand...
Other than maybe Etienne, every GM in the league is taking every one of those guys over Najee.
 
Litos said:
it has a lot to do with injuries and rushes per game, let's not simplify it. I'm not saying he's bad but he is not a guy to build your offense around and spend a 1st rounder or pay a 2nd contract.

From statmuse:

View attachment 14141

so who cares if it was 1000 yards 4 straight seasons?I mean, if a guy does: 1200, 1100, 976 (played less games), 1400, is he worse than Najee for not having 4 consecutives seasons with a number that doesn't mean much without context?

Yes Najee is a top 10 RB thanks to availability, how long can that last in such a punishing position?
Click to expand...

Couldn’t agree more.

I’ll never diminish his best ability of availability/durability…it is impressive.

But worth saying that a guy that so much of the offense is ran through that produces such mid results (almost 4 ypc) is definitely a contributing factor to the lack of success by the offense.

Could be bad fit, poor scheme, poor blocking but at any rate change is/was necessary.
 
bigben said:
Willie Parker was a top 3-5 RB for 2005-2007. He was leading the league in rushing until he got injured, over guys like Ladanian Tomlinson
He had a good line but Harris would not have produced like Parker did in that time. Even the great Jerome Bettis, Staley, Haynes, none of those guys were anything to write home about behind that line.
Willie was a remarkable underdog talent with elite speed.
Harris has never been near the top of the league in anything but volume.
Click to expand...
Harris has more rushing yards and 9 more TDs than Parker had after four years in the league. Parker only score more than 5 TDs in one of his 6 seasons. Harris has score at least 6 in each of his.
 
Troglodyte said:
Harris has more rushing yards and 9 more TDs than Parker had after four years in the league. Parker only score more than 5 TDs in one of his 6 seasons. Harris has score at least 6 in each of his.
Click to expand...
How many of Harris' TDs came from inside 5 yards or so?

As a made up stat, I'm going to say that we gave Bettis 95% of those carries for Parker's first 2 years. And Parker only got 32 carries in 8 games (no starts) as a rookie.

And in that one season where Parker scored more than 5 TDs, he scored 13. Najee's highest is 8. And like with every stat, Najee's super consistent here 7, 7, 8, 6. YPA always between 3.8 - 4.1. Longs of 37, 36, 25, 36. Najee is very durable. And super consistent.

I think the issue with your comparison is that by choosing to look at totals (and not rate stats) you're implying that they got the same usage. But Harris got 22 more starts (~1.375 seasons for Parker). Part of this is Parker not getting any starts in his rookie year (32 carries total). Part of it is Najee playing when there's an extra game every year. And part of it is Parker missing 2 games. One each in 2005 and 2007. I think both were for injury. He was put on IR in 2007 and the game he missed in 2005 is in the middle of the season, so it's not resting for the playoffs.

Despite having 152 fewer carries in 4 years, Parker's only 150 yards shy.

Their rushing TDs / start (Parker didn't score as a rookie) are basically the same @ 0.41.

I didn't take the weighted averages of their success rates (which are available on PFR), but I think they look comparable.

Parker was more explosive (long runs and receptions). Which gave him better YPC.

It's not in the table below, but Parker's rushing yards per game (including the 8 games as a rookie where he barely touched the ball) is 77.7. Najee's is 63.4 (started every game).

Najee is a good back. He's very durable. He's pretty much good at everything (but not great at anything). And he gives very consistent results that are basically average for an NFL back.

It's funny because I think both of these guys would be better fits if they swapped positions in time. I think Najee's durability and lack of explosive plays would have fit better in the early '00s NFL. And Parker's explosiveness would work better now. Particularly because he'd almost certainly be in a time share and wouldn't have been worked as hard on a per game basis.

Here is the comparison for their first 4 seasons:
PlayerStartsCarriesYardsTDsYPCLongRecYardsY/RTdsLong
Harris6810974312283.93710811496.4632
Parker469454198194.480756208.3448
 
Last edited:
Troglodyte said:
Harris has more rushing yards and 9 more TDs than Parker had after four years in the league. Parker only score more than 5 TDs in one of his 6 seasons. Harris has score at least 6 in each of his.
Click to expand...
Parker also had over 1,200 yards rushing each season from 2005-2007 and averaged over 4.0 YPC. He was also an undrafted free agent, so absolutely no draft investment and was a very productive back for a short stretch, but most importantly helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl.
 
BLITZ said:
Parker also had an offensive line to run behind. and a competent game plan.
Click to expand...
I get the offensive line excuse, but when you have one of the worst YPC among the top 30 NFL rushers, there are other RBs that play behind poor run blocking lines that perform better than Harris in terms of YPC.
 
SteelerFan448 said:
I get the offensive line excuse, but when you have one of the worst YPC among the top 30 NFL rushers, there are other RBs that play behind poor run blocking lines that perform better than Harris in terms of YPC.
Click to expand...
Yeah a lot of those backs have competent game plans.
Najee did more with less. The guy had to run into 8 and 9 man boxes with the line we had.

And those 8-9 guys new 99% of the time were the ball was going on 1st and 2nd down
 
BLITZ said:
Yeah a lot of those backs have competent game plans.
Najee did more with less. The guy had to run into 8 and 9 man boxes with the line we had.

And those 8-9 guys new 99% of the time were the ball was going on 1st and 2nd down
Click to expand...
And this doesn't happen to backs outside of Pittsburgh as well?
 
bermudasteel said:
Let us know who's next since anybody can do it...

FYI Bijan Robinson has not done it in two years that he's been in the league. Neither has Jahmyr Gibbs, Travis Etienne, Saquon Barkley or the king - Derrick Henry...
Click to expand...
Tough to make an example of Gibbs, who gained 945 yards and averaged 5.2 YPC as a rookie in a platoon system.

But I do think Najee is going to prove himself with a BIG season for the Chargers in 2025, which will set him up with a nice contract going forward. Harbaugh knows how to run the ball.
 
topseed said:
Tough to make an example of Gibbs, who gained 945 yards and averaged 5.2 YPC as a rookie in a platoon system.

But I do think Najee is going to prove himself with a BIG season for the Chargers in 2025, which will set him up with a nice contract going forward. Harbaugh knows how to run the ball.
Click to expand...
Well Tomlin knows how to want to run the ball
 
This play not to lose scheme holds more than just the RB back from making plays. We have what should be a top WR for 3 years and nothing. If this scheme don’t open up a little, Metcaf will be a waste as well.



Salute the nation
 
topseed said:
Tough to make an example of Gibbs, who gained 945 yards and averaged 5.2 YPC as a rookie in a platoon system.

But I do think Najee is going to prove himself with a BIG season for the Chargers in 2025, which will set him up with a nice contract going forward. Harbaugh knows how to run the ball.
Click to expand...
I think it will be interesting to see what happens here.

I don't think he'll get as many touches as he had with us.

So to have a bigger season, he'll have to be a lot more efficient. And he's been extremely consistent in his career in YPC / success% despite improvements in OL, changes in OCs, etc.

I'd say that he might end up being more efficient, but I don't think he's going to start ripping off the huge runs that really drive up YPC. He's just not fast enough and / or doesn't have the vision to find the holes.

But I think he'll be a valuable piece for the Chargers. In part because they don't need him to be the main piece of the offense like we did. It's a better fit for him there IMO.

All of this assumes he'll remain healthy. And the probability of that for RBs tends to decline sharply after the first 4-5 years. But Najee's been insanely durable. Hopefully that holds for him. He's an easy guy to root for. Seems like a good human.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top