Steelers RB Najee Harris is the clear top rookie in fantasy football drafts

The Steelers have another future fantasy football stud on their hands. Here’s why Najee Harris is the clear top rookie pick this year. 

While Steelers fans may have had mixed feelings about taking a running back in the first round, fantasy football players around the globe are no doubt salivating at the chance to land Najee Harris in their drafts this year.

We’ve known that Pittsburgh was a likely landing spot for Harris for months now, and after he was officially drafted by the Steelers, his fantasy stock skyrocketed. Pittsburgh ranked 32nd in the league in rushing last season, but there is plenty of reason to believe they could turn that around this year. With Matt Canada taking the reigns on offense and with James Conner no longer part of the organization, Harris has a terrific fantasy football outlook in his rookie season.

According to FantasyPros, Najee Harris is the consensus number-one rookie in fantasy football this year with the highest average draft position of 2.1 in rookie drafts. After seeing how the Steelers used Le’Veon Bell during his tenure in Pittsburgh, this really shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Why the Steelers RB should be a top pick in fantasy drafts

The other top players on the rookie rankings include Ja’Marr Chase, Kyle Pitts, Travis Etienne, and Javonte Williams. While I certainly wouldn’t argue that Harris would be anything close to the most valuable of this group in real life, in the fantasy world, there’s a different argument to be made.

Let’s start with the group of running backs. Unlike most of the rookies this year, Harris will have little competition for carries this season. With only Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland around to carve out a sliver of the pie, Harris could see 300 total touches as early as his rookie campaign. This is more than can be said for the other running backs in the class.

While I like Travis Etienne slightly more as a prospect, his landing spot was not ideal for immediate fantasy purposes, and he will have to split work with standout running back, James Robinson (who had 1,070 yards and 7 touchdowns as a rookie in 2020). Likewise, Javonte Williams will play second fiddle to Melvin Gordon in Denver and he seems to be more of a handcuff than a rookie fantasy star at the moment. Trey Sermon might have the best chance of all the running backs to outperform Najee Harris as a rookie, as his landing spot in San Francisco should be very beneficial. However, I don’t see that happening as Harris should still see significantly more volume.

As far as the pass-catchers go, Ja’Marr Chase and Kyle Pitts could have excellent NFL careers, but I wouldn’t bet on them scoring more fantasy points than Najee Harris this year. It will take some time for each of them to get acclimated to their new team and quarterback, and with other viable pass-catching options, they may not explode out of the gate. The same can be said for players like DeVonte Smith and Jaylen Waddle.

Depending on your league’s scoring format, you may want to consider some of these other rookie options in dynasty leagues. However, for standard leagues, I see no reason why Najee Harris shouldn’t be the top rookie drafted this year. Barring injuries, the Steelers first-round pick could be among the top running backs in total touches next year.