Najee Harris was all over the field when he played with Alabama. He can line up in the backfield to run the football. Not only can he run the football really well Harris can also lineup like a wide receiver and run perfect routes too. Najee is considered as a 'hybrid' running back who can do both. That is one of the reasons why the Pittsburgh Steelers could not pass up on him when they had the opportunity to draft Harris in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. I don't blame them one bit either especially with how poorly the running game has been in Pittsburgh over the past 3 seasons.
Najee Harris on catching the football: "I've always been catching the ball, man," an incredulous Harris said when probed about his acrobatic reception. "I always do that. I always do that. Not to brag or nothing but it's like, it wasn't luck. I can tell you that. Since y'all was watching, I'll do it again. Nah, I'm going to get in trouble. But it's not something I work on. I just, I've been doing that since middle school. I got big hands, man."
Going into the NFL draft knowing Najee Harris was a 'hybrid running back' is one of the reasons why I wanted the Steelers to draft him so badly. The Steelers have no seen a running back like Najee Harris since Le'Veon Bell and I will go on the record right now saying if Harris can stay healthy on the football field he should be light years ahead of Le'Veon Bell. For now, I will just keep expectations low in order to not put too much pressure on the Steeler's first year running back.
Harris feels he is going to be very comfortable going into Matt Canada's offensive scheme as he compared it to Alabama's Steve Sarkisian's offense. Harris also learned that some of Pittsburgh's media were allowed to view their practices as he thought the media were 'boosters' up in the stands. He made quite a good impression during his first interview with the media after his rookie mini-camp practice.
Najee Harris says he can play inside and outside: "The inside zone, the outside zone, the power plays, the one-back power, the duo plays," Harris said. "Just a lot of what they do in their offense really resembles a lot of what we did in college. Just putting the players in the best position to make a play. And really not doing too much thinking, just fast playing. The more you think, the slower you play.
Not only did Harris say he is used to playing inside or outside, but he says at Alabama they did a lot of film study. He then said Pittsburgh is going to utilize him everywhere so they want him to know multiple positions. He did acknowledge it is going to be a lot more film work than in College, but he has no issues with spending the extra time watching film. Najee is ready for the challenge and it is one of the reasons why Pittsburgh picked him in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.