NFL Network’s Peter Schrager Has Steelers Trading Up to Pick Alabama RB Najee Harris in Final Mock Draft

The final mock draft from Peter Schrager of NFL Network has the Steelers doing something general manager Kevin Colbert called unlikely this week.

In his mock draft, Schrager has the Steelers trading up two spots to the No. 22 overall pick to select Alabama running back Najee Harris, sending one of their two fourth-round picks to Tennessee to make sure they got their choice of backs. Schrager has the New York Jets taking Clemson running back Travis Etienne at No. 23.

“With a lot of buzz on the Jets potentially taking a running back, the Steelers give a fourth-round pick to Tennessee to move up two spots and take Harris,” Schrager wrote.

The Steelers have traded up more frequently than they’ve traded down under general manager Kevin Colbert, but Colbert said Monday he doesn’t see the team moving up the board this year.

“I’m very doubtful that we’ll trade up,” Colbert said. “We really value those eight picks that we have, five of which are in the top 140.”

On the other hand, Colbert was expansive about the prospects of trading down from No. 24.

Of course, anything an NFL general manager says publicly less than a week before the draft should be taken with a grain of salt. Schrager apparently did not take Colbert’s comments at face value.

Harris, meanwhile, is a very popular pick for the Steelers, regardless of where they’re picking. According to Steelers Now analyst Nick Farabaugh, Harris is in a class alone at the top of the 2021 running back group. Farabaugh has Harris going to the Steelers at No. 24 in SN’s seven-round Steelers mock draft.