Najee Harris Poised to Outperform Expectations in 2023

Najee Harris Poised to Outperform Expectations in 2023

Time Stamp: June 25, 2023 8:26 PM

In 2022, Najee Harris rushed for over 1000 yards and 7 touchdowns. However, this was a slight regression from his rookie campaign in which he rushed for over 1200 yards. This could be due to multiple injuries throughout the season as well as the poor offensive line. With a much improved offensive line and Harris back to full health, Harris should be primed for a breakout season.

Injuries in 2022

Before the 2022 season even began, Harris suffered a Lisfranc sprain on his left foot. Although he didn’t miss any significant time with this injury, it clearly plagued him throughout the first half of the season. He even played with a steel plate in his shoe.

This means that from the start of the season through week six, Harris was significantly affected by this injury.

This was evident in his statistics from those weeks. In the first six weeks of the season, Harris averaged 3.18 yards per carry. This would’ve placed him outside of the top 50 most efficient runners in 2022. However, from week seven on, Harris averaged 4.07 yards per carry, which is right around league average. Harris also only reached the endzone once during the first six weeks.

In addition to this, Harris also went down with an unspecified abdomen injury in Week 12 that kept him out the rest of the game. He returned the following week against Baltimore, but rushed for a measly 33 yards on 2.75 yards per carry.

Harris was very unfortunate with injuries throughout the 2022 season and it impacted his play on the field. If he can remain relatively healthy in 2023, Najee Harris should have a much improved year.

Offensive Line

The 2022 Steelers offensive line was one step ahead of the 2021 line. While that sounds good, they were ranked dead last in the league by PFF in 2021. They jumped to mediocrity in 2022, finishing with a rank of 16th by PFF. The group began horrendously and steadily progressed throughout the year.

Throughout the first eight games, the team averaged only 95 rushing yards per game, as well as only rushing for four touchdowns. The team went 2-6 during this stretch. After the bye week, it was a completely different story. The Steelers finished with a 7-2 record. This was large in part due to the offensive line allowing for the team to rush for 146 yards per game and 12 touchdowns.

As much as the line refined themselves, the front office knew that there had to be changes made. The Steelers heavily invested in the trenches during the offseason. They gave $24 million to veteran eagles guard Isaac Seumalo. Seumalo should anchor the left guard spot that was suspect in 2022 with Kevin Dotson.

Pittsburgh also used their first round draft pick on offensive tackle Broderick Jones from Georgia. Jones was one of the premier tackle talents in the draft. He is a phenomenal athlete which makes him a dominant run blocker. He should take Dan Moore’s spot at left tackle, a big weak spot of the line last year.

Conclusion

In total, the offensive line should be much better in 2023 than in 2022. Najee Harris should no longer be finishing 40th in the league in yards before contact. The offense as a whole should function on a different level.

Stay tuned for more exciting NFL content, including roster moves, in depth analysis, and more news from around the league. 

Feature image courtesy of Steelers.com

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