Carter's Classroom: Harris' vision will be the real game-changer taken on the South Side (Steelers)

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Najee Harris celebrates Alabama's NCAA championship Jan. 11 in Miami.

There are several components needed for a good running game in the NFL, and the Steelers needed to find a bunch of them in the 2021 NFL Draft.

But in one player, several elements were found in Najee Harris with the 24th pick. He's explosive, big and strong at 6-foot-2, 230 lbs., with good footwork, and several moves in his repertoire to make defenders miss in the hole and in space.

The element that might make Harris the most valuable to the Steelers' run game is how his vision takes all the physical and athletic tools that come natural to him and makes him so dangerous out of the backfield. That's why Dejan Kovacevic argued Friday morning just how big Harris' being picked matters to the Steelers.

Being an Alabama running back puts Harris among some great company, and some not-so-great company for recent NFL talents. On one hand you have Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram and Josh Jacobs, while on the other hand you have disappointing early picks like Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy.

What became a major setback for Richardson and Lacy was their inability to capitalize on the holes in front of them, or wait for holes to develop when defenses held an offensive line to a stalemate.

Harris doesn't have that problem, and his college tape more than shows that.

Yes, Alabama offensive lines are usually loaded with talent, and Harris' was with Landon Dickerson and Alex Leatherwood as two major prospects in this class along with Deonte Brown. But Harris' ability to capitalize on the creases his line created is what makes him special.

Watch this touchdown burst against Kentucky, where Harris took the handoff and quickly assessed where he had to explode through to make the play. You can see him diagnose the line and even jump over his own lineman who got blown up in the hole as he shot through the gap, split the defense and stiff-armed a defender on his way to a touchdown:

That's how you take what's given to you as a running back.

That sounds simple, but it's not. The better running backs find ways to create more yards even when defenders are attacking the hole they were supposed to take. Dale Lolley made an excellent point Thursday about how steep the yards per carry dropped simply from James Conner to the rest of the Steelers' running backs:

Harris brings the ability to make something out of nothing with his vision and how quickly he diagnoses defenses even when a designed play might not be there.

Watch this run against Auburn where Alabama's offensive line did generate a push, but Auburn still had a safety charge into the gap Harris was supposed to target. Harris didn't try to just run through the man and accept a three-to-four-yard gain, instead adjusted his path to quickly get going laterally. Doing so allowed him to bounce outside for a path towards the first down marker, making three defenders miss in the process:

That's creating the extra yards that a star running back is supposed to bring to an offense.

And for those who might think that Harris' success was predicated purely on his offensive line winning matchups week in and week out, think again. There were several instances Harris created opportunities for Alabama even when defenses had smothered the Crimson Tide's line and made it look impossible for yards to be gained.

I could show you how Harris did that when his line was crushed on a play against Notre Dame and he bounced it outside before hurdling a defender and turning into a big gain, but Dale Lolley's got that in his write up. Plus, it's the Harris highlight everyone runs to when looking for the guy.

Instead, let me show you a play where he won in spite of his line, and in a situation that was daunting to the Steelers in 2020: short yardage.

Here's a goal line situation where Tennessee sold out to stop Harris and it still didn't work. You can see the Volunteers overload the left side of the line where Harris was supposed to run, and overwhelmed Alabama. Guard Deonte Brown didn't even know who to hit among the three defenders who swarmed the gap.

But somehow, Harris stopped, quickly accelerated and ran through three defenders, and Brown for the score. Notice his footwork and how quickly he went from his lateral approach to the line as he assessed the situation to bursting towards the end zone and scored:

Reminds you of Le'Veon Bell at the buzzer against the Chargers, right?

Harris made it the expectation for him to find the right gaps, and even when they weren't there, he was a threat to make something out of nothing more often than not. His feet are always moving with a purpose, allowing him to react extremely quickly once he's processed how his line is dealing with the defense.

And plenty of times, the special running backs find ways to manipulate defenders with the various threats they represent. Watch how Harris forced this linebacker into a situation that allowed him to bust loose for a long touchdown. Alabama's line was winning the battle and Harris ran behind them, but in doing so he was able to identify the free defender behind the line's blocks.

The closer he got to his blockers, the tougher the decision for the defender to make without overly committing to one side or the other. Once the defender was frozen between the gaps, Harris quickly cut back to explode through the hole and was too fast for both the linebacker and the deep safety who were trying to figure out where he was headed:

Those are the plays the Steelers have been missing since the days of Bell.

Harris' vision is unparalleled in his running back class, with some players maybe coming close like Javonte Williams, but not the same. Combine that with the plethora of moves with his hurdles, stiff arms, spin moves and jukes and you've got an X-factor player in your backfield. And all of that is without mentioning how dangerous he is as a receiving back, even when lining up like a receiver in the slot or outside the numbers.

If the Steelers are to get the run game back on track in 2021, Harris fills several of the missing factors the team has had in the past few years. Now Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin can look to day two of the NFL Draft to improve the offensive line with plenty of talented prospects. Dale Lolley lists some of those guys in his analysis of remaining prospects before the NFL Draft resumes Friday night.

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