Najee Harris is an interesting position for the Steelers as he’s produced three seasons of 1,000+ yards in the NFL out of Alabama, but it doesn’t seem good enough in Pittsburgh. Jaylen Warren has gotten a lot of the attention, and it makes you wonder what is going to happen after this season. In 2024 though, what should fantasy owners expect from Harris?
2024 Fantasy Football Profile: Najee Harris
2023 in Review
While Steelers fans may not agree, Harris had one of his better seasons last year. Not only did he surpass the 1,000-yard mark, he did so on fewer carries than either of his first two seasons. He ran the ball 255 times for 4.1 yards per carry and scored eight touchdowns, which are both career bests.
Whether you chalk it up to poor play from the Steelers offensive line or to the fault of Harris, he wasn’t the most explosive out of the backfield. He would pick up huge chunks of yards on some plays and struggle getting back to the line of scrimmage on other plays. That inconsistency led to Pittsburgh declining his fifth-year option.
HERE WE GO… 👀👀👀#Steelers RB Najee Harris has lost a serious amount of weight and is now in the best shape of his career.
YEAR-4 is about to be CRAZY
pic.twitter.com/tRlnqUt39X— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) March 27, 2024
Just to be clear for those who don’t know. Declining the fifth-year option doesn’t mean the Steelers are letting him walk in free agency. All it means is that they don’t want to bring him back at his current price. It opens the door to negotiations for a long-term, team-friendly deal.
2024 Projection
Even with Warren’s presence last year in Matt Canada’s offense, Harris still ran for over 1,000 yards. Now with Arthur Smith’s run-heavy scheme, make no mistake about Harris surpassing that tally again. That offensive style plays right into the mantra of “Pittsburgh Steelers football” despite what fans want to see. It will set up Harris well to reach 10+ rushing touchdowns for the first time in his career.
As mentioned above, this year is going to come down to consistency for Harris. He’s going to need to find a way to produce 3-5 yards per carry almost every time he touches the ball with some big plays sprinkled in. The Steelers can’t have him continue to give them a 50/50 shot on whether or not the play gets back to the line of scrimmage.
With Warren breathing down his neck and knowing this is a “prove it” year, Harris is going to have more motivation than ever before as a member of the Steelers.
Najee Harris Fantasy Football ADP
FantasyPros currently has Harris’ ADP at 69 with a range of 42-92. Given that range, an ADP of 92 makes much more sense than 42 unless you plan on going RB-heavy early in the draft. Harris is best suited to go in the 70-80 range as a solid RB2.
His ADP slots him in just behind Zamir White in the middle-to-upper tier of second running backs. Harris is a player who provides just as much value in standard leagues as he does in PPR leagues. That’s not to say he can’t catch passes, but the Steelers use Warren more often in those situations.
Most of Harris’ points come from rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. However, be prepared for the few games per year where Warren steals the show and Harris produces very few points. If you draft Harris, strongly consider grabbing Warren as a handcuff to rotate them based on matchup.
Main Photo Courtesy of Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports
