Rookie minicamps aren't exactly the most telling of situations when it comes to determining if a player has "it" or not.
But it's hard not to look at Najee Harris and come to the conclusion he's a player.
The Steelers' first-round draft pick certainly looks the part. He's chiseled. He's big. He's obviously strong. Harris looks like a slightly smaller version of former Steelers receiver Martavis Bryant. He's got that big, muscled up body with long arms and big hands.
On a field of highly conditioned athletes this weekend, he wasn't hard to pick out. Harris was the only running back the Steelers had at the rookie minicamp. As such, he took every snap.
"It is more noticeable simply because there’s not a lot of people to work with," Mike Tomlin said of his rookie running back's preparedness. "He’s getting an opportunity to work one on one with Coach (Eddie) Faulkner at the running back position that provides plenty of opportunity for him to verbalize his knowledge and things of that nature. I think you teach a little bit differently when you don’t have numbers. You talk as opposed to doing, an effort to preserve. He’s had plenty of opportunities to display what I outlined."
Faulkner and Harris were constantly working, talking and drilling throughout the process. And Harris kept coming back for more.
The Steelers, meanwhile, kept throwing more at him. He lined up all over the formation.
"There are a lot of things that are similar," Harris said when comparing his offense at Alabama to what he's learning with the Steelers. "It’s just different terminology. But it’s the same meaning at the end of the day. A lot of things that are similar is how they’re going to line me up out wide like how I did in college and utilize the running back in the passing game out wide, in the slot, out at the X position. And it’s the schemes of the run, the inside zone, outside zone, power plays, the duo plays."
In other words, they're going to use him -- a lot.
• One thing that was obvious is that the Steelers are going full Matt Canada this season. There is going to be a lot of pre-snap motion and use of misdirection.
The Steelers dabbled with it early last season when Canada was the quarterbacks coach, but with only 14 practices at training camp before they started the regular season, there was nothing close to a full install.
Now, however, with Canada now the offensive coordinator and more on-field workouts coming, you can bet the Steelers will be all-in on it.
Will that and the addition of Harris fix a running game that was dead last in the NFL in 2020?
"We are just beginning to work. We are just beginning the team development process," Tomlin said. "We are just beginning to have an opportunity to work with the men day to day with skills relative to that aspect of plays. We are far from a finished product or even assessing needed improvements in that area."
So, we'll see. But it can't be worse than the 57.3 rushing yards per game the Steelers averaged over their final 10 regular season games of 2020.
• One of the most interesting things to watch at sessions like this is how the coaches work with a bunch of players, knowing that many of them won't be around next week, let alone by September.
The Steelers had 34 players in rookie minicamp. Nine were draft picks. Eight were undrafted rookies. Twelve were first-year players who have had a cup of coffee somewhere in the league. Five players were there on tryouts.
Of that group, let's say 10 make it to the final 53-man roster and another four or five head to the practice squad.
Give the Steelers' coaching staff credit. They were out there coaching each and every one of those guys up like it was the regular season.
Now, for someone like Faulkner, who had just one player he knows is going to be on the roster, it's one thing. For Ike Hilliard, for example, who had five receivers at the camp, all of whom are long shots, it's a little different.
You wouldn't have known that watching the instruction taking place.
• One thing we didn't get to see in person was punter Pressley Harvin kick.
The sessions were largely about instruction and so if the seventh-round draft pick actually kicked the ball, we didn't get to see it. But he looks much different than any punter I've ever seen before.
Harvin is listed at 6-0, 255 pounds, but he didn't look particularly heavy. He carries a lot of his weight in his massive shoulders and legs.
• We obviously didn't get to see any live blocking either, but center Kendrick Green and offensive tackle Dan Moore, who were third- and fourth-round draft picks, respectively, both look light on their feet.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth, the team's second-round pick, looked more than capable of blocking on the move, as well. Now, we'll see how well they pick up locking up a player lined up opposite them when we get to training camp, but these guys can all move.