The Pittsburgh Steelers made a phenomenal choice to select RB Najee Harris with their first-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. The pick was initially questioned by many fans and analysts because the Steelers' highest priority entering the draft was offensive linemen. Harris has done a fantastic job of quieting those who criticized the team for their selection of the bruising 2nd-year running back out of Alabama. Harris has quickly become one of the offensive leaders for the Steelers in 2022 and he knows this young offense has the potential to be explosive!
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris participates in 2022 training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. | Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Harris amassed 1,200 rushing yards on 307 carries and 7 touchdowns. Harris not only proved he is already one of the best running backs in football, he proved that he is extremely capable of being a receiver out of the backfield, as well. Harris finished the year with 74 receptions (second on the team) for 467 yards and 3 touchdowns. He's just a do-it-all kind of running back; a pure football player!
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Harris sat down on The Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor and touched on several topics in the episode that was released Tuesday afternoon.
Taylor asks Harris if he's ready to face loaded boxes during this season after such a productive rookie campaign in 2021.
"Yeah," Harris stated emphatically. "That's the best thing you can ask for, man. I hope they load the box, man. To load the box, to create opportunities for Diontae [Johnson], Chase [Claypool], George [Pickens], Gunner [Olszewski], [Calvin] Austin, anybody, to get these one on one things, especially Pat [Freiermuth] there. So, man, if I could be a threat to the defensive coordinator, man, that's the best blessing a running back could do. You know what I mean?"
Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Harris is aware of the the young talent that encompasses the Steelers' offense. None are probably as intriguing as Pickens, right now, though. Pickens' name has been the topic of discussion since starting training camp. He showed on Saturday in the preseason opener that the hype is in fact real! If defenses want to load the box against the Steelers, Harris knows that it's going to open the door for Pickens or the other offensive playmakers to make a play!
Clark then asked Harris about individual goals that he has for the upcoming 2022 season and being the team player that he is, Harris reiterated an earlier point.
"Man, like what we talked about, I want to become a threat for defensive coordinators," Harris stated. "Where they can stack the box up and we can create opportunities one on one, on the edge, being more of a leader, vocal leader, stepping into that role more and really just having a better season and finishing better as a team than last year. We barely made the playoffs, but we made the playoffs. But the offense needs to be more explosive. There's so much stuff and questions that needs to be answered, I guess, for the offensive side that I feel like it needs to be answered this year. Really just having a better year than last year."
Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
Harris didn't give the crew what they wanted, so Clark asked more directly. "What are your statistical goals?"
"I can sit here and say, 1,000 yards, man, 1200, but, man, it's so much of a team game that we just need to do better than last year," Harris answered.
Check out the full episode below!
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