Najee Harris Calls for Steelers RBs to be More Involved in Passing Game

PITTSBURGH — Najee Harris wants the ball more. No, not on the ground, but through the air. A year after pulling in 74 passes, Harris has only racked up a little over 110 yards on 24 catches this season. It is a clear downtrend away from when the running back was force-fed many targets in the 2021 offense.

Over the bye week, Harris went to work to try and fix that issue. He met with Matt Canada and lobbied for both he and Jaylen Warren to be more involved in the passing attack underneath. Harris expects it could be something that changes over the next few games for the Steelers offense.

“I talked to them and thought we should run more routes out of the backfield from a running back standpoint,” Harris said. “We haven’t been involved as much as we could have underneath. I think we can look to that more.”

This comes on the heels of fellow running back Warren saying that Pittsburgh is starting to install more of those routes. It could be the change that the Steelers are looking for to give Kenny Pickett a bit more of a blanket underneath. Harris is plenty capable of providing that in an expanded role. He proved it a year ago. Meanwhile, Warren came out of Oklahoma State and is known for his three-down ability and soft hands.

With two capable running backs, it seems that the Steelers are looking to those players to lift the offense a bit. Harris took the blame for his struggles and the rushing attack falling down. While Harris will look to help that improve as well, the Steelers are going to expand his role in the passing game to help launch his performance.