Factoid

April 02, 2022

Najee Harris

Is Steeler back overrated or underrated?

I'm a Najee Harris fan, and at times when I talked him up here it was commented that he was overrated. It's true that holes can be poked in his rookie season; perhaps he's not as good as I think he is. Perhaps.

Certainly, Harris didn't take over games or anything. He averaged just 3.9 yards per rushing attempt, which is lousy. He also averaged just over 70 rushing yards per game. Among all rookie running backs to play in at least half their team's games since 2000, that doesn't even crack the top 30 in that regard. Another rookie, sixth-rounder Elijah Mitchell, was considerably better than him in that area this season. (Search tools at pro-football-reference.com used in compiling this table.)

ROOKIE RUSHING PER GAME, 2000-PRESENT (8+ GAMES)
Year	Player	Tm	Ru/G	G	GS	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD
2016	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	108.7	15	15	322	1631	5.1	15
2004	Julius Jones	DAL	102.4	8	7	197	819	4.2	7
2012	Alfred Morris	WAS	100.8	16	16	335	1613	4.8	13
2007	Adrian Peterson	MIN	95.8	14	9	238	1341	5.6	12
2002	Clinton Portis	DEN	94.3	16	12	273	1508	5.5	15
2000	Mike Anderson	DEN	92.9	16	12	297	1487	5.0	15
2012	Doug Martin	TAM	90.9	16	16	319	1454	4.6	11
2019	Josh Jacobs	OAK	88.5	13	13	242	1150	4.8	7
2016	Jordan Howard	CHI	87.5	15	13	252	1313	5.2	6
2021	Elijah Mitchell	SFO	87.5	11	10	207	963	4.7	5
2007	Marshawn Lynch	BUF	85.8	13	13	280	1115	4.0	7
2000	Jamal Lewis	BAL	85.3	16	13	309	1364	4.4	6
2015	Todd Gurley	STL	85.1	13	12	229	1106	4.8	10
2001	Anthony Thomas	CHI	84.5	14	10	278	1183	4.3	7
2005	Cadillac Williams	TAM	84.1	14	14	290	1178	4.1	6
2017	Kareem Hunt	KAN	82.9	16	16	272	1327	4.9	8
2008	Chris Johnson	TEN	81.9	15	14	251	1228	4.9	9
2018	Saquon Barkley	NYG	81.7	16	16	261	1307	5.0	11
2008	Steve Slaton	HOU	80.1	16	15	268	1282	4.8	9
2017	Leonard Fournette	JAX	80.0	13	13	268	1040	3.9	9
2013	Eddie Lacy	GNB	78.5	15	15	284	1178	4.2	11
2020	Jonathan Taylor	IND	77.9	15	13	232	1169	5.0	11
2010	LeGarrette Blount	TAM	77.5	13	7	201	1007	5.0	6
2008	Matt Forte	CHI	77.4	16	16	316	1238	3.9	8
2001	LaDainian Tomlinson	SDG	77.3	16	16	339	1236	3.7	10
2020	James Robinson	JAX	76.4	14	14	240	1070	4.5	7
2004	Kevin Jones	DET	75.5	15	14	241	1133	4.7	5
2001	Dominic Rhodes	IND	73.6	15	10	233	1104	4.7	9
2003	Domanick Williams	HOU	73.6	14	10	238	1031	4.3	8
2005	Samkon Gado	GNB	72.8	8	5	143	582	4.1	6
2018	Sony Michel	NWE	71.6	13	8	209	931	4.5	6
2021	Najee Harris	PIT	70.6	17	17	307	1200	3.9	7
2014	Jeremy Hill	CIN	70.3	16	8	222	1124	5.1	9
2013	Zac Stacy	STL	69.5	14	12	250	973	3.9	7
2018	Phillip Lindsay	DEN	69.1	15	8	192	1037	5.4	9
2011	DeMarco Murray	DAL	69.0	13	7	164	897	5.5	2
2006	Joseph Addai	IND	67.6	16	0	226	1081	4.8	7
2013	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	66.2	13	13	244	860	3.5	8
2018	Gus Edwards	BAL	65.3	11	6	137	718	5.2	2
2019	Devin Singletary	BUF	64.6	12	8	151	775	5.1	2
2018	Kerryon Johnson	DET	64.1	10	7	118	641	5.4	3
2015	Thomas Rawls	SEA	63.8	13	7	147	830	5.7	4
2014	Tre Mason	STL	63.8	12	9	179	765	4.3	4
2007	Ryan Grant	GNB	63.7	15	7	188	956	5.1	8
2012	Trent Richardson	CLE	63.3	15	15	267	950	3.6	11
2011	Ben Tate	HOU	62.8	15	2	175	942	5.4	4
2018	Nick Chubb	CLE	62.3	16	9	192	996	5.2	8
2020	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	KAN	61.8	13	13	181	803	4.4	4
2015	T.J. Yeldon	JAX	61.7	12	12	182	740	4.1	2
2008	Kevin Smith	DET	61.0	16	12	238	976	4.1	8
2005	Ronnie Brown	MIA	60.5	15	14	207	907	4.4	4

Looking at that, you can say, eh, Harris was OK, but he wasn't that great a rookie running back.

But in fantasy football, it was a different story. Harris wasn't just great -- he was one of the very best rookie running backs this century.

In addition to his 1,200 rushing yards, Harris caught 74 passes for 467 more yards. He scored 10 touchdowns, he didn't leave the field very often, and (with the new 17-game season) he played one more game than any running back in previous years. That helped him rack up 300.7 PPR fantasy points -- the 7th-best total by a rookie running back since 2000. (Table shows the top 50 rookie running backs, using PPR scoring.)

ROOKIE RUNNING BACKS, 2000-PRESENT (PPR POINTS)
Year	Player	Team	G	Run	Avg	No	Rec	TD	FF
2018	Saquon Barkley	NYG	16	1307	5.0	91	721	15	385.8
2016	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	15	1631	5.1	32	363	16	327.4
2017	Alvin Kamara	NOR	16	728	6.1	81	826	14	322.4
2002	Clinton Portis	DEN	16	1508	5.5	33	364	17	322.2
2012	Doug Martin	TAM	16	1454	4.6	49	472	12	313.6
2008	Matt Forte	CHI	16	1238	3.9	63	477	12	306.5
2021	Najee Harris	PIT	17	1200	3.9	74	467	10	300.7
2017	Kareem Hunt	KAN	16	1327	4.9	53	455	11	297.2
2000	Mike Anderson	DEN	16	1487	5.0	23	169	15	280.6
2006	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAX	16	941	5.7	46	436	16	279.7
2001	LaDainian Tomlinson	SDG	16	1236	3.7	59	367	10	279.3
2008	Steve Slaton	HOU	16	1282	4.8	50	377	10	275.9
2006	Reggie Bush	NOR	16	565	3.7	88	742	9	272.7
2012	Alfred Morris	WAS	16	1613	4.8	11	77	13	258.0
2007	Adrian Peterson	MIN	14	1341	5.6	19	268	13	257.9
2020	Jonathan Taylor	IND	15	1169	5.0	36	299	12	254.8
2012	Trent Richardson	CLE	15	950	3.6	51	367	12	254.7
2020	James Robinson	JAX	14	1070	4.5	49	344	10	252.4
2008	Chris Johnson	TEN	15	1228	4.9	43	260	10	251.8
2013	Eddie Lacy	GNB	15	1178	4.2	35	257	11	244.5
2003	Domanick Williams	HOU	14	1031	4.3	47	351	8	233.2
2016	Jordan Howard	CHI	15	1313	5.2	29	298	7	232.1
2000	Jamal Lewis	BAL	16	1364	4.4	27	296	6	231.0
2017	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	16	435	3.7	80	651	7	230.6
2017	Leonard Fournette	JAX	13	1040	3.9	36	302	10	230.2
2006	Joseph Addai	IND	16	1081	4.8	40	325	8	228.6
2001	Dominic Rhodes	IND	15	1104	4.7	34	224	10	226.8
2013	Giovani Bernard	CIN	16	695	4.1	56	514	8	224.9
2018	Phillip Lindsay	DEN	15	1037	5.4	35	241	10	222.8
2019	Miles Sanders	PHI	16	818	4.6	50	509	6	220.7
2013	LeVeon Bell	PIT	13	860	3.5	45	399	8	218.9
2015	David Johnson	ARI	16	581	4.7	36	457	13	217.8
2014	Jeremy Hill	CIN	16	1124	5.1	27	215	9	214.9
2008	Kevin Smith	DET	16	976	4.1	39	286	8	213.2
2015	Todd Gurley	RAM	13	1106	4.8	21	188	10	210.4
2020	Antonio Gibson	WAS	14	795	4.7	36	247	11	206.2
2001	Anthony Thomas	CHI	14	1183	4.3	22	178	7	202.1
2010	Jahvid Best	DET	16	555	3.3	58	487	6	198.2
2009	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	16	947	3.8	28	213	9	198.0
2007	Marshawn Lynch	BUF	13	1115	4.0	18	184	7	196.3
2004	Kevin Jones	DET	15	1133	4.7	28	180	6	195.3
2018	Nick Chubb	CLE	16	996	5.2	20	149	10	194.5
2020	D'Andre Swift	DET	13	521	4.6	46	357	10	193.8
2019	Josh Jacobs	RAI	13	1150	4.8	20	166	7	193.6
2013	Zac Stacy	RAM	14	973	3.9	26	141	8	185.4
2005	Cadillac Williams	TAM	14	1178	4.1	20	81	6	181.9
2020	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	KAN	13	803	4.4	36	297	5	176
2005	Ronnie Brown	MIA	15	907	4.4	32	232	5	175.9
2019	David Montgomery	CHI	16	889	3.7	25	185	7	174.4
2011	Roy Helu	WAS	15	640	4.2	49	379	3	168.9

Maybe Harris will burn out quickly. Pittsburgh has thus far made only modest improvements to its offensive line, and they have a pretty big question mark at quarterback. But I remain a Harris fan, and I expect I'll have him on some teams this season, too.

--Andy Richardson

Najee Harris

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