When an NFL team selects a player in the first round of the draft, it's not unusual -- in fact, it is expected -- the coaching staff will be excited about what the young man can bring to the table on the field.
But for the Steelers and rookie running back Najee Harris, the platitudes he's getting from the coaching staff go beyond the norms.
The Steelers knew they were getting a good football player when they selected Harris with the 24th pick in the draft. What they couldn't be sure of was how much of a student of the game Harris happens to be.
Ben Roethlisberger said two weeks ago running backs coach Eddie Faulkner had to tell Harris early on at OTAs that it was time to go home.
"It is true. I’m for all the hard work and the extra effort. I’m all for that. I love it," Faulkner said Tuesday as the Steelers kicked off their mandatory minicamp at Heinz Field. "He also has to learn to give himself breaks too. He works his butt off, so there has to be time for reward. Go home. Relax. Watch TV. Do something different than football.
"With him, being a guy who is so engaged, always after it, always wanting to do drills, I’m trying to teach him, sometimes you have to take a deep breath."
But, as Faulkner said, you'd rather pull back the reigns on the young man rather than have to tell him he needs to work harder.
The Steelers won't have that issue with Harris. His high school coaches had to hide his helmet to keep him from overworking himself. That work ethic helped get him onto the field as a true freshman at Alabama in a backfield loaded with future NFL talent.
"It’s crazy because I don’t have to coach any of it with him," Faulkner said. "Most of the time — and I’m going back my entire career — you encourage people to spend extra time, come in and do extra work. I have not had to have one single conversation with Najee in that regard. He’s always soaking it up, always wanting it. That’s a coach’s dream. He’s a tail wagger like a dog. That’s what he is in terms of his ambition and want to learn. That’s fun as a coach."
It should allow first-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada to do a lot of interesting things with Harris, as well.
Mike Tomlin prefers to go with a one-back approach when it comes to his running back usage. And while nobody is ready to say that will be the case with Harris at this point -- it will become obvious -- Canada is dreaming up ways to keep Harris on the field, not just as a runner, but as a receiver, as well.
"Matchups are a big part of football and what Najee can do as a matchup receiver, we’re very excited about," Canada said. "I’m not going to get into how much he’s going to do that and what he’s going to do, but you’re asking about his skillset. His football intelligence is really high. His ability to learn has been awesome. He’s going to have a tremendous season and tremendous career because of his skillset, his work ethic and football intelligence."
"Excited." "Tremendous season." "Tremendous career."
These are the kind of things Steelers fans want to hear about the 6-foot-2, 230-pound running back.
If Harris doesn't reach the kind of heights many expect, it won't be because he hasn't worked at it. He's constantly trying to get better, always asking questions about what he can do to get there.
"He’s hunting those," Faulkner said of ways to improve. "He’s constantly asking, ‘What can I do better? How can I do this better?’ The best part is him not only being thirsty for that, it’s the application. That’s always the hard part, making sure they’re applying what the hear you talking about. He works to apply it."
It all adds up to a player the coaching staff continues to be asked about and can't say enough good things about.
"I’m very excited about his potential. You guys have been out at practice and have seen what he can do, moving around," Faulkner said. "You can see he’s a talented guy. It’s just going to be those little intricacies and running routes and understanding that. The different coverages they can play and how you run your routes based on what they’re giving you. Physically, whether it be the actual running of the route or catching of the ball, he can do it. It’s just how quickly we can get him up to speed. He makes that part easy because he puts the work in."
