Ben Roethlisberger is gone. JuJu Smith-Schuster is gone. Key offensive linemen from recent years (Maurkice Pouncey, Alejandro Villanueva, David DeCastro) are long gone. The Steelers need leaders on offense.
Enter Najee Harris. The talented and engaging running back appeared on Friday’s PFT Live. When asked about what he personally hopes to do in his second season, he didn’t hesitate.
“I want to become a better leader,” Harris said. “I think I gotta really got to step into that area of my career right now is to become more of a vocal leader since Ben’s gone. So we need somebody on the offensive side to be that.”
He’s right, and he has the power to do it. He has the personality for it, along with the accomplishments.
There’s plenty more from Harris in the attached video, including an explanation of his unique relationship with Nick Saban at Alabama and a strong belief that he didn’t face a huge workload in college because most of the Crimson Tide’s games were blowouts by the second half, and he was on the bench.