After leading the NFL in touches during a strong rookie season, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris is ready for another heavy workload – even a historic one - if it leads to another trip to the playoffs.
"I can get 500," Harris said in an interview on The Rich Eisen Show. "If I get 500 carries, as long as we're winning, it doesn't really matter."
Harris accumulated 381 touches during the 2021 regular season, the most by a rookie since Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson's 398 in 2001. The Pro Bowler said he's prepared to increase that total if again called upon to be the focal point of an offense that will be breaking in a new starting quarterback following the offseason retirement of franchise icon Ben Roethlisberger.
"The more carries you get, the better you are," Harris said. "You get more of a feel for the game, you get an understanding of how the defense is playing. Obviously, you wear them down."
Harris' quick transition to the NFL game indeed played a big part in the Steelers reaching the postseason for the sixth time in eight years. Pittsburgh went 6-0-1 when the former Alabama star had 20 or more rushing attempts in a game and was 3-7 when he was under that mark.
The 2021 first-round pick accounted for 29.8 per cent of the Steelers' yards from scrimmage. Only Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (35.4 per cent) and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (29.9 per cent) had a higher share of their team's scrimmage yards last season.
Harris takes great pride in being able to contribute on all three downs in an era where skill players are becoming more specialised, and disputed any notion his heavy usage made him less effective.
"I didn't have an issue with it, it was the media that had an issue with it," he told Eisen. "I told them every game, I was like, 'Man, if this is the way to winning, I can carry the load'. I train to carry loads. It's not something I hadn't done before. I did it in college, high school."
A further increase in responsibility would put Harris in some very select company, as only five players in NFL history have recorded 450 or more touches in a season. Tampa Bay's James Wilder holds the league record of 492, set for the Buccaneers in 1984, while the last to eclipse that threshold was Larry Johnson for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006.
"This is our identity right here," Harris said of the Steelers' run-based approach. "So, let's keep this going on."
Record-setting first round of NFL draft goes offence heavy
Offence and then offence, some more offence followed by offence.
That was the story of a record-setting first round of the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit on Thursday night.
For the first time in history, the first 14 picks were offensive players, including six quarterbacks and three wide receivers. The first defensive player didn’t come off the board until the Indianapolis Colts selected edge rusher Laiatu Latu from UCLA with the 15th pick.
The latest a first round had previously gone before a defensive player was taken was No. 8 overall. That’s where the Carolina Panthers took cornerback Jaycee Horn in 2021.
Not only were the 14 straight offensive players to start the draft a record, but it was also the first time 14 consecutive offensive players were taken at any point in the draft.
As expected, the first three picks were quarterbacks.
USC’s Caleb Williams – the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner - went first overall to the Chicago Bears, 2023 Heisman winner Jayden Daniels from LSU was picked next by the Washington Commanders and the New England Patriots took Drake Maye out of North Carolina.
This was the fourth time in the common draft era starting in 1967 that quarterbacks went with the top three picks.
The QBs continued to fly off the board soon after, with the Atlanta Falcons pulling the first surprise of the draft by selecting Michael Penix Jr. of Washington with the 8th overall pick.
The Falcons took Penix less than two months after signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed.
J.J. McCarthy was the next QB taken, as the Minnesota Vikings moved up one spot to 10th in a trade with the New York Jets. McCarthy went 27-1 as a starter at Michigan and won last season’s national championship.
The Denver Broncos grabbed Oregon signal-caller Bo Nix with the 12th pick as they look to settle a position that has been in flux since Peyton Manning. The Broncos have had 13 starting quarterbacks since Manning retired as a Super Bowl champion after the 2015 season.
Six quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks tied the 1983 draft for the most taken in any first round. Three of those became Hall of Fame quarterbacks – John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly. Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Ken O’Brien also went in the first round in 1983.
The Arizona Cardinals stopped the run of quarterbacks by going for Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4. The Los Angeles Chargers opened the Jim Harbaugh era by taking Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt and the New York Giants picked up explosive LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers with the sixth pick.
After the Tennessee Titans took Alabama offensive tackle J.C. Latham with the seventh pick, the Bears took Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze at No. 9 with their second selection in the top 10.
The Vikings made the biggest move up in terms of spots, going from No. 23 to 17 in a swap with the Jacksonville Jaguars to select Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner.
The Jaguars selected LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. with the 23rd pick as they try to fill the void left by Calvin Ridley signing with division rival Tennessee in free agency.
It was only fitting that the final two picks of the first round were wide receivers. Ricky Pearsall of Florida went 31st to the San Francisco 49ers and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette was the last selection to the Carolina Panthers.
The 23 offensive players picked was easily the most in history, surpassing the previous record of 19 (1968, 2004 and 2009).
The Philadelphia Eagles made the biggest move of the night outside the draft, agreeing to a three-year contract extension with star wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The contract includes $84 million in guaranteed money and will make Brown the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL at $32 million a season. He could earn as much as $96 million over the length of the extension.
Brown had 106 catches for 1,456 yards receiving last season after he had 88 catches for 1,496 yards in 2022, in his first season with the Eagles.
Brown spent his first three seasons with the Tennessee Titans after he was drafted 51st overall in the 2019 draft. He surpassed 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first two seasons in the NFL and had 869 in 13 games in his third season.
Colts make edge rusher Latu first defensive player drafted at No. 15
The first defensive player is finally off the board.
The Indianapolis Colts ended the longest run of consecutive offensive players selected to start a draft by taking UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu with the eighth overall pick in Thursday's draft.
Latu arrives in the NFL after winning last year's Lombardi Award, which is given to the best collegiate lineman in the United States.
As a senior last year, he also won the Ted Hendricks Award, which is given to the nation's top defensive end.
A first-team All-American and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, Latu will continue his football career in the NFL after it appeared his playing days were over just a few years ago.
While playing at Washington in 2020, Latu suffered a neck injury that required surgery and doctors did not clear him for the 2021 season forcing him to medically retire. He ended up transferring to UCLA, where he excelled on the field after being medically cleared.
In his first season with the Bruins in 2022, he was a first-team All-Pac 12 selection after registering the eighth-most sacks in the FBS with 10 ½.
He took a step forward in 2023, as he led the FBS with 21 ½ tackles for loss and his 13 sacks were tied for fourth in the nation.
Latu showed he can beat opposing offensive linemen in multiple ways, either using a quick first step to blow by them or overpowering them with his upper-body strength.
He plays with a high motor and has been playing with a chip on his shoulder for the last two years after being out of football for two years.
The Colts, who finished 9-8 in 2023, are now banking on his mindset and skillset succeeding in the NFL.
Prior to Indianapolis picking Latu, the latest the first defensive player was selected in the common draft era (1967) was in 2021, when the Carolina Panthers drafted South Carolina defensive back with the eighth pick.
Broncos select quarterback Nix at No. 12 as the run on QBs continues
Sean Payton got his man.
Payton has a new quarterback to run his offence after the Denver Broncos selected Oregon's Bo Nix with the 12th pick in NFL draft on Thursday.
In the weeks leading up to the draft, Nix had been linked to Denver, as he had been drawing comparisons to Drew Brees – the quarterback who flourished under Payton with the New Orleans Saints and the two won a Super Bowl together in 2009.
He now will likely get a chance to compete for the starting QB job in Denver after the Broncos released Russell Wilson in early March following an 8-9 finish in 2023.
Nix comes to Denver with plenty of experience of reading defences after starting an NCAA-record 61 games during his five years in college.
As a senior in 2023, Nix put up eye-popping numbers, leading the FBS with 45 touchdowns while throwing just three interceptions to finish third in Heisman Trophy voting.
He set an NCAA-single-season record for completion percentage at 77.4, and his 4,508 passing yards trailed only Michael Penix Jr. for the most in the United States.
Not only does Nix do an excellent job of protecting the football, as his interception rate of 0.6 ranked third out of 119 qualifying FBS quarterbacks, but he also excels in getting rid of the ball quickly and avoiding the sack.
Despite attempting 470 passes, he was sacked just five times – the fewest among the 44 quarterbacks with at least 350 pass attempts.
Showing poise in the pocket, Nix has superb touch on his passes, firing the ball out quickly from a variety of arm platforms.
Nix is the second quarterback acquired by the Broncos this week after the team traded for Zach Wilson from the New York Jets on Monday, and Nix is actually just a few months younger than Wilson, who was the second overall pick of the 2021 draft.
The 24-year-old Nix began his collegiate career at Auburn in 2019 and spent his first three years there before transferring to Oregon prior to the 2022 season.
In his collegiate career, Nix completed 66.4 per cent of his passes for 15,352 yards with 113 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.
With Denver drafting Nix, this marks the first time in the history of the common draft (1967) that half of the first 12 picks were quarterbacks.
The last time six QBs were picked in the first round was the famous 1983 draft, when Hall of Famer and former Bronco John Elway, along with Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Dan Mariano, as well as Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Ken O'Brien were selected in the opening round.
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