Najee Harris - The Graceful Freight Train
- Harrison Wudel
- Feb 3, 2021
- 10 min read
I know I said I was going to focus on receivers soon, but it felt wrong not addressing my favorite player in the 2021 class first. I feel the need to also clarify that I am not here to decide your draft philosophy. If you are of the mindset that whatever your dynasty team needs should decide your pick, then go for it. If you are taking the best player available, then also go for it. My rankings are not taking team needs into account, and are in a vacuum solely off of talent. If you are sitting at the 1.01 thinking about taking Najee when you don't have viable options at quarterback that might be a mistake depending on where you sit. That being said if you do have the freedom of choice or just want to take the best player on the board, take Harris without hesitation.
Najee finds himself in familiar territory this offseason as he is garnering more and more hype as the best back of this class. This matches the noise surrounding him when he came out of Antioch, California as a 5-star recruit in 2017. After biding time behind the likes of Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs, Najee finally broke out in 2019. Then he took the chance to come back to school in 2020 and in the process established himself atop the 2021 running back class. By the end of this season he was voted a consensus All-American, took home the Doak Walker award, and won a national championship.
At this point I feel like it should be obvious to anyone that watched college football or understands what he accomplished this year why I may be enamored with his game. For those who weren't paying attention or don't care about college football, well simply put this dude was a problem. 30 total touchdowns and almost 1,900 yards from scrimmage worth of a problem. It isn't just the gaudy stats, awards, or the fact he was efficient when he was touching the ball. No it's that Najee Harris is the type of player that makes you fall in love with football for the sole fact you will be asking, "how the hell did he just do that?" as he pulls off something superhuman seemingly once a game.
Exhibit A of said plays:
A little bit of a sidebar, Najee has a four minute compilation of just his hurdles. It's as absurd as it sounds. Saban even admitted that they couldn't make him stop hurdling, so he had to roll with it. Just another reminder this dude is too much fun. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay6fxvfGtZw)
There is so much to talk about when it comes to the details of Najee's game that it is hard to pick where to start. If I had to choose one word to describe him it would be complete. The list of things he can do is much longer than the list of things he can't. As a runner he matches the power you would expect from a 6'2 and 230lb guy. Often needing more than one defender to bring him down or dragging grown men across the field with him. An all too familiar sight for many college football fans watching Alabama over the past decade, as most Bama runners have been absolute wrecking balls. It should come as no surprise that Harris had a nation's best 821 yards after contact this year. In other words, he picked up 56% of his rushing yards AFTER being hit first. That power doesn't come at the cost of speed though, as Harris has shown he is plenty fast even if it isn't breakaway speed. Without a combine it will be hard to put a number to the straight line speed if that even really matters in this case. If I had to hazard a guess it's in the 4.5's. Adding on to this ridiculousness he has only fumbled once in the four years and 718 total times he has touched the ball at Alabama. His vision is great and he seems to always have his next move planned. He is patient and uses blockers to his advantage, it isn't all just overwhelming athleticism. There is real refinement to his game.
The surprising aspect of his game is how fluid he is. Nobody that size should be able to move that well. He shows good burst through holes, and can seemingly stop on a dime. The way Harris uses moves can only be described as pure. His spin move is as graceful as a pirouette, and he just has a way of bouncing around between cuts that looks so natural. This gracefulness leads to tacklers missing. Missing a lot in fact. This isn't just the eye test as stats back this up, showing he forced the most missed tackles in the SEC (59!) in 2019. Upping the ante forcing 78 missed tackles this season, good for the second best in the country. Harris just wins any way possible and he has the physical tools to allow him to choose. He will run you over if you are in his way, or he will juke you out of your shoes. Or both in the same play! He can run it inside or outside. It doesn't seem to matter because he can do everything a team is asking of him. This is why he is the graceful freight train, his game is a mix of violence and deceptively quick feet.
He isn't absolutely perfect as he can get a bit dancy in the backfield coming off the edge, as well as sometimes running into avoidable contact. When you have the potential to break through multiple tacklers and take a DB's soul in the same play this feels forgivable.
Oh yeah and he can catch passes too!
Exhibit B of said plays featuring a nice catch:
Speaking of that pass catching Harris soaked up 13% of Mac Jones's looks this year. I understand it wouldn't be that high if Waddle was playing. I do not care. He was able to handle the 13% that he was given regardless of the circumstances. For context of how impressive commanding a 13% target share is out of the backfield in college: that is higher than CEH, James White, and Austin Ekeler. On par with Aaron Jones, and just barely below Alvin Kamara. Those are all recent backs known for their pass catching at both the college and pro level. He wasn't just a compiler that was just soaking up volume while being inefficient either. Instead he was effective once he had the ball in his hands, averaging 9.9 yards per reception. That mark is not out of this world, but it was efficient enough to make an impact on games and give the staff enough of a reason to get him the ball. On top of being relatively efficient, Najee forced the most missed tackles after the catch. It wasn't close either as Harris posted 22 forced missed tackles after the catch. The next closest was Clemson running back Travis Etienne at 13. Are we seeing a trend here? This guy might be a little elusive. Either way all of this seems kind of good if you ask me! The fact he is a threat out of the backfield means his ceiling is high enough to reach not just RB1 numbers, but become THE RB1 in fantasy.
For anyone that may not know what constitutes an RB1/WR1/QB1 season in fantasy, it just means the player finished within the top 12 scorers at that position for the year.
So just to review we have a massive runner who is equal parts slippery and powerful. He can catch passes, protects the ball well, was productive as a starter, consistently played great teams in and out of conference, and he is fun to watch.
There are few real knocks to Najee's game. Although that being said one common concern around the dynasty community is age. Whether you see this as a valid complaint or not is a difference in philosophy for running backs. While 23 is truly on the older side of declares, he is far from doomed because of staying an extra year in college. For reference some notable runners, I personally like and have rostered at some point, that declared at 23 or older are:
Nick Chubb
Chris Johnson
Doug Martin
DeAngelo Williams
Matt Forte
This next tidbit isn't really great process or worth anything outside of purely for funsies stats. Every Saban era Bama running back drafted in the first two rounds has had at least one season with RB1 numbers. Yes even Trent Richardson whose vision was the NFL equivalent of legally blind, and Eddie Lacy who was about two hot pockets away from becoming a lineman.
I'm saying all of this not because anyone needs a reminder of how talented Najee is. This is more being said because his talent will likely equate to good draft capital spent to acquire him, and a role with high volume. He absolutely should and will likely be the first back off the board come April. If at nothing else this means he gets volume and volume is king in fantasy. With a rare combination of physical gifts and volume Najee can carve out a special role with that volume at the next level, and be a swing piece for needy dynasty teams on the rebuild. This is why he is my highest rated player, and also why he will be staying at the top regardless of news, pro day testing, or landing spot.
My comp for Najee Harris is: Demarco Murray with shades of healthy Todd Gurley. The reasoning here is that he is almost the exact same size as Gurley, it's a difference of an inch and 3lbs. Najee also tends to be upright in the open field similar to Gurley's running style. The Demarco Murray part is based on the production and the combination of traits. They produced at about the same rate in both the run game and pass game, while flashing a good blend of power and agility. The difference between the two is that Murray has a little more burst, while Najee has a little more power. That difference could likely be chalked up to size.
Now that I've spoken on the player I want to speak on the best potential landing spots I see for him. We want volume and we want Najee to be able to see the field immediately. Factoring those two needs into the equations leaves us with:
1. The Atlanta Falcons
Two words: Arthur Smith. The scheme Smith ran in Tennessee was incredibly lucrative for Derrick Henry owners the past two years. All thanks to the Titans offense ranking 2nd and 10th for rush attempts under Smith's play calling. With a coach who loves to run the ball, two of the best receivers (so long as they don't trade Julio), and an uncontested backfield. No really are we worried about Ito Smith or Brian Hill stealing touches? This would be a total smash landing spot for Najee. The best part is that Harris wouldn't have to cede the third down work Henry never got because of his questionable hands, so his ceiling may be even higher in this offense. (Don't worry Titans fans I don't think he will be nearly as good as a pure runner, but for fantasy purposes he might score more points if things pan out.)
2. The New York Jets
Normally expressing any faith in the Jets seems like a bad idea, but I weirdly like Joe Douglas and that front office. Saleh should be a breath of fresh air for a team that desperately needed to escape the Adam Gase kiss of death. This is the most open backfield in the NFL on a team that has an upward trajectory. Hiring Mike LaFleur as the OC should be an indication of how they will utilize the run game and operate the offense in general. This seems pretty self explanatory. They want to run the ball a fair amount and they need a runner. They have the picks to take Najee, and not lose out on other needs at the same time.
3. The Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins would be higher, but the team is so uncertain on the offensive side of the ball right now. As someone who has faith Tua will eventually work out, and there are better days ahead I would love to say this would be a great fit. The second factor on why Miami is lower is I am not sure that they would entrust Najee with the entire workload for next year. Their current starter Myles Gaskin looked pretty capable at points this year. Not a world beater, but good enough to take some snaps. Harris would still take a majority of the work (probably 65/35% split) and all of the goal line touches, but his ceiling might not be as high as other landing spots.
4. The Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers' run game was abysmal this year, and the team is likely to move on from James Conner. Moving on from Randy Fitchner should hopefully alleviate some of the scheme related and play calling deficiencies Pittsburgh ran into as well. This really all depends on if the staff's confidence in Benny Snell is real or not. Najee is better, but if they don't think running back is a need this isn't a likely landing spot. Tomlin and the Steelers love to have a featured guy though. Najee would fit in well for a team that needs a little more juice from the backfield, and would be given that true work horse role. Added bonus if Ben comes back, because he can't hold on to the ball for more than .2 seconds before his reconstructed elbow compulsively forces him to check it down or hit shallow routes over the middle.
5. The Seattle Seahawks
Pete Carroll has already spoken about how he wants to run the ball more next season. He can't help himself, it's an addiction. As long as Russ is there though this offense will be functional on some level. The Seahawks are also likely moving on from their current starter, Chris Carson. The man of glass keeps breaking and they need a reliable option. Never rule out Pete Carroll reaching for a running back or even trading up for one when he probably shouldn't. We've seen it before, ahem one Rashaad Penny. On the bright side if he ends up in Seattle the run scheme should be pretty solid as it will likely copy much of what we saw from the Rams this year.
Honorable Mention: The Buffalo Bills
I feel obligated to throw the Bills on this list because they are the only truly great team left that has openings in the backfield in my eyes. Some people have faith in Moss or Singletary, or both. I am not in any of those camps. I think that Najee would be able to take the sole possession of this backfield. The only issue would be volume, and if the Bills front office would even spend a pick on a back that high as it would need to be a first or second rounder. It would be fun, but it is a long shot.
With that I am done with my first prospect. I leave you with a highlight tape because why the hell not...
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