3 ways Najee Harris will transform the Steelers offense in 2021

Opening up downfield passing and play action

The greatest benefit of having an elite running back is forcing opposing defenses to respect your rushing attack at all times by loading up the box. Last season down the stretch run defensive coordinators had absolutely zero respect for the Steelers’ rushing capabilities and were able to focus much more of their attention on shutting down the Steelers passing attack.

With Najee being added to the fold and hopefully rejuvenating the Steelers rushing attack, we could see the Steelers both take more deep shots downfield and be much more efficient in their downfield passing attack. Last season, Ben’s deep ball was average at best.

I strongly think that was missing connection in what is usually one of Ben’s best attributes had a lot to do with opposing defense’s being able to run a lot more pass-heavy coverage schemes against the Steelers offense since they knew, even if presented with a weak front the Steelers running game wouldn’t be enough to get the job done. Najee should immediately make this angle of game planning and offensive strategy a lot easier for the Steelers.

Last and certainly not least, opening up the play-action passing game is going to be huge for the Steelers this season. Last year under the previous offensive staff they ranked by far dead last in play-action pass attempts. This season I expect to see a huge uptick in offensive motions pre-snap and play-action passing.