WATCH: Najee Harris delivers nasty stiff arm in first quarter vs. Raiders
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Najee Harris in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft hoping to add life into the running back room. Harris showed off his athleticism and strength in the first quarter of the Steelers’ week two game against the Las Vegas Raiders. He caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage and delivered a massive stiff arm on the Raiders’ defender before fighting his way to nine yards.
Harris was able to send the defender into the air, showing off his strength.
Harris rushed for 14 yards on five carries in the first quarter for the Steelers along with the reception. In Pittsburgh’s week one victory over the Buffalo Bills, Harris rushed for 45 yards on 16 carries. He also had one catch for four yards.
Harris is looking to add life into the Steelers offense
In his four seasons at Alabama, Harris had 638 rushing attempts and 80 receptions. He took over true lead back duties over the last two seasons. In 2019, Harris accounted for 1,528 yards and 20 touchdowns. Last season, he had 1,891 total yards with 30 touchdowns. Harris finished fifth in Heisman voting last year.
The Steelers selected Harris 24th overall in this summer’s NFL Draft. In his regular season NFL debut last week, Harris started slow but earned valuable experience in the NFL.
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“I think we knew as a team we’re just trying to get our identity so we knew we were going to start off kind of slow,” Harris said after Pittsburgh’s win over Buffalo.. “It was not what we were hoping for but that’s just part of building, but the same token, the Buffalo Bills is a really good team. It’s a great learning experience really because it was a lot of rookies playing. It was a good learning experience for us to play against a really good team and finish the way we did.”
“There’s only some stuff you can learn as a rookie in the game and that’s what happened today. There was certain pressures that we talked about in meetings but when it’s out on the field, they did a completely different thing, so adjusting to that in the game. Learning to take what you can. The speed of the game. Lot of personal things that a rookie running back only can learn in the game.”