Najee Harris; Most exciting #1Pick since Big Ben

["BuzzNuter"]

This guy is the best RB in 4 or 5 years. I cannot believe he fell to #24. The NFL has really gotten crazy. You can ride a guy like this to the SB. 25 years ago this guy doesn't drop past the 5th pick. If he stays healthy and Big Ben stays healthy we are going to the SB. Najee Harris is L Bell squared. He seems very humble. I just hope he doesn't start rapping.

[Black&Gold]

now i wont have to leave the room when its 3rd or 4th and 1

we actually might make it

[hawaiiansteel]

[Ernie]

This guy is the best RB in 4 or 5 years. I cannot believe he fell to #24. The NFL has really gotten crazy. You can ride a guy like this to the SB. 25 years ago this guy doesn't drop past the 5th pick. If he stays healthy and Big Ben stays healthy we are going to the SB. Najee Harris is L Bell squared. He seems very humble. I just hope he doesn't start rapping.

If this isnt wishful thinking.. I dont know what is. I like your style though. "A" for effort for sure!

[feltdizz]

This guy is the best RB in 4 or 5 years. I cannot believe he fell to #24. The NFL has really gotten crazy. You can ride a guy like this to the SB. 25 years ago this guy doesn't drop past the 5th pick. If he stays healthy and Big Ben stays healthy we are going to the SB. Najee Harris is L Bell squared. He seems very humble. I just hope he doesn't start rapping.

I think its more exciting than Ben. I never watched Ben in college or knew much about him. My expectations were pretty low because I had nothing to go on.

I watched a ton on Najee at Bama. What impressed me the most was his ability to turn a no gainer into a 7 yarder. Guys just seem to slip off of him.

I’m just glad we didn’t try to build the OL first like some experts suggested. No way you build an OL in one draft and its much easier to rebuild with a stud at RB.

[Steel Maniac]

I think its more exciting than Ben. I never watched Ben in college or knew much about him. My expectations were pretty low because I had nothing to go on.

I watched a ton on Najee at Bama. What impressed me the most was his ability to turn a no gainer into a 7 yarder. Guys just seem to slip off of him.

I’m just glad we didn’t try to build the OL first like some experts suggested. No way you build an OL in one draft and its much easier to rebuild with a stud at RB.

Disagree. Been plenty of data put out to support the other way around . But now that we have him, we need to do all we can to help him and Ben by getting that O-line up to snuff.

[hawaiiansteel]

Disagree. Been plenty of data put out to support the other way around . But now that we have him, we need to do all we can to help him and Ben by getting that O-line up to snuff.

still butthurt that Colbert didn't draft OL earlier huh?

[feltdizz]

Disagree. Been plenty of data put out to support the other way around . But now that we have him, we need to do all we can to help him and Ben by getting that O-line up to snuff.

I’m sure there is data to support both ways.

However, I don’t think we believed our OL was as bad as fans. I think they realized no matter how good the OL is you still won’t get good enough production with RB’s who miss holes or hit them but don’t get maximum yards because they are slow as dirt.

IMO you won’t build a good OL in one draft. Why not get the best RB available and build the OL while also letting them get familiar with Najee’s running style?

[feltdizz]

still butthurt that Colbert didn't draft OL earlier huh?

a lot of people felt the same way as SM.

it was really weird to see people grade us negatively for drafting a RB to improve our ground game. Like it was impossible to find value at OL in later rounds.

["BuzzNuter"]

I've been watching a lot of film on this guy the last week. I always watch Bama but I watched a lot of his highlights the last week. He reminds me of a stronger, more powerful, and quicker L Bell.
I don't get the NFL these days. A guy like Najee can get 25 touches a game and he falls to #24. A good strong RB can carry the ball 25 times a game , but the NFL would prefer a skinnier QB who can run but doesn't have the power of a Najee Harris. The skinnier QB is going to get his knees blown out because he doesn't run with power and forward momentum. A guy like Najee can be our #1 offensive weapon ala Franco. Just like Mean Joe said " before Franco got here we weren't winning and after he got here we didn't lose".

[Northern_Blitz]

a lot of people felt the same way as SM.

it was really weird to see people grade us negatively for drafting a RB to improve our ground game. Like it was impossible to find value at OL in later rounds.

I think the grades have more to do with:
(i) Freiermuth who seems like a luxury pick, even though he might be good. But a guy that was arguably the best C in the class was available and C was probably our biggest need. Also my understanding is that TE's usually don't do all that much in year 1; and
(ii) Green is a guy most of us hadn't really heard of before the draft. And personally, I liked Meinerz...but mostly because of the senior bowl coverage. I totally understand going with Green because he played last year (unlike Meinerz), and because he at least has a few games at C (Meinerz doesn't).

I think the reason I wasn't a big fan of the draft is because the timeline of when I think these guys are going to be able to contribute at a high level doesn't line up with the idea that we're bringing Ben back. He's only under contract for 1 year (and the contract suggests he'll retire or go somewhere else after that). But it seems like our 2nd and 3rd (4th too where we got OT help) are kind of at risk of not being able to contribute all that much. This is actually a big reason that I like the Harris pick (also because I think he was arguable BPA...which I guess is also the argument for Freiermuth).

If you believe that our biggest problem was the OL, I personally was hoping that the draft would alieviate some of the questions marks for this year.

Hopefully everything pans out because there are no do overs.

[Northern_Blitz]

Maybe this has been posted already, but I enjoyed watching this.

It's about the draft in general, but there's a lot of time talking specifically about Harris.

Nice to hear Faulkner talking about Harris's work ethic and football IQ. I'd guess those things are important to make the jump quickly to the NFL. I'm picking last in my Fantasy draft and I think he'll be a viable pick up at that point given how we generally don't split carries.

[Shawn]

I've been watching a lot of film on this guy the last week. I always watch Bama but I watched a lot of his highlights the last week. He reminds me of a stronger, more powerful, and quicker L Bell.
I don't get the NFL these days. A guy like Najee can get 25 touches a game and he falls to #24. A good strong RB can carry the ball 25 times a game , but the NFL would prefer a skinnier QB who can run but doesn't have the power of a Najee Harris. The skinnier QB is going to get his knees blown out because he doesn't run with power and forward momentum. A guy like Najee can be our #1 offensive weapon ala Franco. Just like Mean Joe said " before Franco got here we weren't winning and after he got here we didn't lose".

This coming a guy who loved Bell before we drafted him. Harris is a better back. He's special.

[feltdizz]

I think the grades have more to do with:
(i) Freiermuth who seems like a luxury pick, even though he might be good. But a guy that was arguably the best C in the class was available and C was probably our biggest need. Also my understanding is that TE's usually don't do all that much in year 1; and
(ii) Green is a guy most of us hadn't really heard of before the draft. And personally, I liked Meinerz...but mostly because of the senior bowl coverage. I totally understand going with Green because he played last year (unlike Meinerz), and because he at least has a few games at C (Meinerz doesn't).

I think the reason I wasn't a big fan of the draft is because the timeline of when I think these guys are going to be able to contribute at a high level doesn't line up with the idea that we're bringing Ben back. He's only under contract for 1 year (and the contract suggests he'll retire or go somewhere else after that). But it seems like our 2nd and 3rd (4th too where we got OT help) are kind of at risk of not being able to contribute all that much. This is actually a big reason that I like the Harris pick (also because I think he was arguable BPA...which I guess is also the argument for Freiermuth).

If you believe that our biggest problem was the OL, I personally was hoping that the draft would alieviate some of the questions marks for this year.

Hopefully everything pans out because there are no do overs.

I hear you but IF this is Ben’s last year I want a great RB for the new QB.

Also think the OL will be improved this year simply because Dotson is a beast and Pouncey played past his expiration date.

[BURGH86STEEL]

a lot of people felt the same way as SM.

it was really weird to see people grade us negatively for drafting a RB to improve our ground game. Like it was impossible to find value at OL in later rounds.

The Steelers obviously believed that it was a better value to draft one of the top RB's in the 1st round.

They probably believed that the drop off from the top 2 or 3 RBs was substantial and that the drop off of potential Olinmen that they had the opportunity to draft later wouldn't be as substantial.

I believe the Steelers made the right decision to draft Harris.