Steelers Told To Work Najee Harris Harder Than Ever In Potentially His Last Season With Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers' running game has been the one positive from their offense over the last several seasons. Najee Harris has eclipsed 1,000 yards every year since entering the NFL in 2021, and Jaylen Warren joined Harris in the backfield in 2022 to form an electric duo. Both running backs have had their success in Pittsburgh, yet Harris has been the one shouldering the workload over the last two seasons, which has been a common subject of debate. Many want to see Warren take over the majority of the duties in the backfield, but that is unlikely to happen in 2024.

Shocking news came out of Pittsburgh Thursday when the Steelers decided not to pick up Harris' fifth-year option on his rookie contract, which would have kept him in Pittsburgh through 2025 and guaranteed him $6.7 million for the 2025 season. Now, Harris will hit free agency following the 2024 season, barring a new deal being struck with Pittsburgh. It remains to be seen whether or not Pittsburgh will look to sign Harris to a new deal before free agency, and as of now, the 2024 season will be Harris' last in Pittsburgh. Pro Football Focus' Steve Palazzolo joined 93.7 The Fan to discuss the possibility of Warren taking over for Harris, and what he expects Pittsburgh to do.

"We saw that with Tony Pollard in Dallas, where once he became the workhorse, he wasn't nearly as effective. I think still maybe a 60-40 split with Harris. Then, there's this element of, if you're the Steelers, and you know you aren't bringing Najee back necessarily, do you work him harder a little bit in the last year?"

Harris has been used quite a bit already in his career, during his rookie season in 2021, he carried the ball 307 times for Pittsburgh. Warren joined the team ahead of the 2022 season, where Harris had 272 carries and then 255 in 2023. Overall, Harris has brought the ball out of the backfield 834 times for Pittsburgh, averaging just over 16 carries per game in his career. 

Despite Harris already having a tremendously high workload this far into his career, his carries will probably rise in 2024. There is the point Palazzolo brought up, where the Steelers may not have Harris in their future plans, so they can essentially run him until the wheels fall off in 2024. The Steelers also brought in Arthur Smith as the team's new offensive coordinator, who has an extremely run-heavy offense. Harris will split the workload with Warren in some fashion, but he will likely have more carries in 2024 than he did in the last two seasons.

Smith was the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans during the 2019 and 2020 NFL seasons, and their offense was led by the run game and Derrick Henry. Henry led the NFL in carries during both of those seasons. Granted, he also led the league in yards, and broke the 2,000 yard mark in 2020. Since Harris has a running mate in Warren, it's unlikely we see him at the same level as Henry, but his workload should rise a good amount in the new offense in a contract year.

Steelers Should Know Starting Jaylen Warren Won't Work

It's a situation seen time and time again in the NFL, a team doesn't want to pay their work horse running back, and instead give the starting role to their scrappy third down back. It happened with the Dallas Cowboys and Tony Pollard, it happened with the Minnesota Vikings and Alexander Mattison. There are plenty of examples of it. Warren may be different, but he certainly benefits from the current duo he has with Harris. 

Warren also isn't guaranteed to be on the Steelers roster past the 2024 season. He will be a restricted free agent following the 2024 season, unless he reaches an extension before the free agent period starts. Warren will have the opportunity to sign an offer from any other team in the league, but the Steelers will be given a chance to match the offer to retain Warren. 

How much do you think the Steelers will use Harris in his potential last year in Pittsburgh?