5 second-year Pittsburgh Steelers poised for big seasons in 2022
By Tommy Jaggi
Steelers RB Najee Harris
Najee Harris is poised for a big second season for obvious reasons. As a rookie in 2021, the former 24th overall pick broke the single-season rookie all-purpose yardage record previously held by the great Franco Harris. Now he will have a chance to expand on that in year two.
Obviously, we hope this doesn’t come at the cost of more touches. At the rate Harris is being fed the ball in the backfield, the tread on these tires won’t last long. Even if the Steelers bring in another running back to help ease his workload, this should only make Najee more efficient as a rusher, and he still has a frame that can support heavy usage without getting injured.
Najee was already an experienced player coming into the league but should be improved in year two. I can’t see Pittsburgh’s offensive line being as bad as it was last season, and Kevin Colbert is no doubt going to allocate resources to make sure they don’t have a repeat of 2021.
Assuming Steelers improve the offensive line and bring in a quarterback that can push the ball down the field and take defenders out of the box, Najee Harris could be well on his way to an excellent season and his yardage in 2022 shouldn’t be so hard to come by.