The Steelers drafted a first-round running back in Najee Harris, but here’s why the Alabama star would have been more valuable as a receiver.
If you tuned into some SEC football over the past few years, it was hard not to notice Alabama running back Najee Harris. While Nick Saban’s team is always loaded with talent, Harris helped lead the charge on offense, and he was as well-rounded as any back in the game. The Steelers quickly fell in love with that talent, and they ran to the podium when he was available with the 24th pick in the NFL Draft this year.
Harris is a prototypical workhorse running back who excels in nearly every facet of the game. He’s a bruising runner between the tackles that can run over linebackers or simply go around them with his shiftiness and lateral agility. Likewise, Harris is a willing and capable blocker who can hold his own against blitzing defenders in the box.
However, what makes Harris so special is his receiving ability. In fact, he’s such a good receiver that he may have missed his calling in the NFL.
Why the Steelers RB should have played wide receiver
This is by no means an indictment on Harris as a football player at all. If anything, it’s a compliment to his impressive skill set. We all know the diminishing value of running backs in today’s NFL. Even many of the great players fade out quickly and are tossed onto the pile after 4-5 years, as running back has the shortest shelf-life of any position in the NFL.
While it’s hard to make such a claim against a player who already signed a contract as a first-round pick, Najee Harris could have held more value as a wide receiver.
Harris is big for a running back. At 6’1 3/8” and 232-pounds, he has a prototypical frame for the position. However, this size also could have afforded him some terrific mismatches as a wide receiver. Harris has a remarkable 81” wingspan that would have put in in the 97th percentile of all NFL wide receivers, according to Mockdraftable.com. In addition, his 33 3/8” arms and 10 1/4” hands would have given him a catch radius almost identical to DeAndre Hopkins.
Though not every NFL player is talented enough to play other positions at an elite level, what Harris did as a receiver in college only confirms that he could have been very good at it in the NFL. Harris doesn’t have a ton of straight-line speed, but he’s an incredibly natural football player who runs good routes and is dominant at the catch point.
With his massive wingspan and huge hands, Harris has shown the ability to pluck the ball out of the air or win on back-shoulder fades in the red zone. In addition, his ability to move and break tackles after the catch could have allowed him an A.J. Brown-like career path in the NFL.
We know that Najee Harris isn’t actually going to be switching positions for the Steelers, and Pittsburgh needs a star running back right now more than the receiver anyway. Still, it’s interesting to think about the potential career path Harris could have had if he would have chosen to be a wide receiver instead of a running back. I’m willing to bet he would have been quite impressive there are as well.