What an insane offseason it has been for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In February the Steelers released Mason Cole and never signed a substitute for the man that played every snap at center in 2023. They would not deal with the position for two months until they picked Zach Frazier in the 2nd round of the draft. They brought in Russell Wilson, traded away Kenny Picket, and after that traded for Justin Fields like it was a pilot episode of a new HGTV show called "Remake Your QB Space in 60 Minutes". The draft brought a couple of solutions and also the winds of pass receiver trade rumors would certainly subside. All that was left on the prompt docket was the choice on the fifth-year option for Najee Harris. There has now been sufficient time to procedure, and every person that had strong sensations one method or the other has had a chance to voice their thoughts on the option being decreased. Yes, the Steelers rejected to totally ensure $6. 79 million to Harris for the 2025 period. He stays under contract for 2024. This will also be the very first year of Arthur Smith's crime for the Steelers, and to this point, Smith has actually shown to be rather of a running back whisperer, if there is something. Consider previous Titans running back Derrick Henry, who spent two years as a back-up and took place to rush for 1,059 lawns and 12 touchdowns in his first year as a starter 2018 ). Smith after that ended up being the offending organizer in 2019, and Henry promptly took off to lead the league in entering back-to-back periods, with 1,540 yards in 2019 and an outrageous 2,027 lawns in 2020. With Atlanta in 2021, Smith would certainly take a 30-year-old broad receiver/kick returner in Cordarrelle Patterson and transform him into a 600-yard running back. Confirming it was no fluke, Patterson would certainly compete one more 695 lawns in 2022. In 2022, Smith would certainly get a 1,035-yard period out of fifth-round rookie Tyler Allgeier Aaron Shampklin Jersey. So normally, the Steelers would certainly get the choice on Harris and reap the benefits of the running back whisperer for next two periods. Except the Steelers didn't select up Narris' fifth-year choice. Gerry Dulac reported the reason that: The Steelers desire to wait and see just how Harris and the team's various other running backs do in brand-new coordinator Arthur Smith's violation prior to making a dedication, sources informed the Post-Gazette. On the surface area, this doesn't show up to make any type of sense. It came off as a reason. The Steelers have had the opportunity to obtain to understand Harris, including what he can and can refrain from doing, for the last three periods. Arthur Smith recognized Harris would be the main running back he would certainly inherit https://www.steelerssportsapparel.com/collections/cory-trice-jr-jersey. Smith has actually functioned with all sort of running backs, also ones that were pass receivers. Exactly how can it be that they do not recognize how Harris will certainly function in this offense?Which Najee Harris will certainly show up to training camp?As a rookie in 2021, Harris would complete 4th in the organization with 1,667 backyards from skirmish. Whether it was stimulated by the retired life of Ben Roethlisberger putting even more of a workload on him or just to be able to stand up to the NFL battering he was taking, Harris showed up at OTAs in May of 2022 looking visibly more powerful. Reports appeared that he evaluated 244 after playing his newbie year at a detailed weight of 232. He was much more effective however had shed a little speed in the change. A staple of Smith's offense is the outdoors zone run and the speed to obtain outdoors is an and also. Harris was never ever considered a burner, however restoring a little giddy-up through offseason conditioning might be the distinction in whether Harris has much advantage for Smith or much of a future with the Steelers. In this highlight from his rookie period, we see Harris with a burst to assault the line of skirmish that appeared to be missing out on in 2023, as well as his dexterity to move far from call from the linebacker and continue his energy towards the end Harris. His sixth overall TD of the period! 
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