In the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft earlier this year, there was a lot of talk about how running backs aren't a good value to take in the first round. After all, running backs can be found anywhere in the draft.
While typically that might be the case, five games into the 2021 season, that theory hasn't really held up.
A quick look at the top 20 rushers thus far this season, the only rookie among that group is Najee Harris. After a slow start, the Steelers' first-round pick -- 24th overall -- ranks 14th in the league with 307 yards heading into the team's Week 6 game against the Seahawks Sunday at Heinz Field.
The only other rookie in the top 25 is the Broncos' Javonte Williams, who ranks 24th. Williams was the 35th pick in this year's draft.
Trey Sermon, the next running back selected after Williams by the 49ers with the 88th selection, has 135 rushing yards and was inactive for San Francisco's opening game.
Michael Carter, a fourth-round pick of the Jets, has 165 rushing yards. Chuba Hubbard of the Panthers, another fourth-round pick, has 220 yards. Elijah Mitchell, a sixth-round pick, has 189 yards and has played ahead of Sermon, but has missed two games because of injury.
The Eagles' Kenneth Gainwell, a fifth-round pick, is the only other rookie running back who has 100 rushing yards through five games, having gained exactly that amount.
Harris leads all rookies, regardless of position, in yards from scrimmage with 505, which also ranks 10th in the NFL. To say the former Alabama star wasn't worthy of being the 24th pick in the draft seems folly. That doesn't mean none of those other running backs might not someday be good. But they've made nowhere near the impact of that of Harris.
That 505 yards is two fewer than the Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott.
"He’s got the total package," said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "Now, it’s just getting comfortable, getting used to playing in the NFL. You’ve seen steps every week. Last week was the first 100-yard game, catching the ball out of the backfield, understanding what it takes in the NFL.
"I’ve joked with him that in college it was probably easy a lot of the time. He was playing on a semi-pro team in college. It’s different. To have to come to the NFL after having so much success in college, it’s understanding that it’s not always going to be that easy. It takes some getting used to. I think we saw last week some really hard runs, some good catches."
Former Steelers running back Merril Hoge often spoke of "factor backs" -- players who a deciding factors in winning or losing games on a weekly basis -- during his time on ESPN as an NFL analyst. He might have been describing Harris to a T.
Harris had his first career 100-yard rushing game in last week's 27-19 win over the Broncos, gaining 122 yards on 23 carries. That came two weeks after Harris had 14 receptions for 102 yards in a loss to the Bengals. That made him the first rookie running back since the Saints' All-Pro Alvin Kamara in 2017 to have both a 100-yard rushing and receiving day in the same season.
And to Roethlisberger's point, Harris is only going to continue to get better as the season goes on and he continues to gain an understanding of what it takes to be successful on a weekly basis in the NFL. The Steelers accelerated that process last week by having Harris sit in on offensive line meetings, learning what the blocking schemes are trying to accomplish and with him also communicating what he's looking for in situations, as well.
For the Steelers, who needed a feature runner in their offense, taking Harris in the first round was a necessity.
What kind of difference can the runner make?
Witness that while Harris has averaged 3.9 yards per carry this season, the other Steelers running backs -- Benny Snell and Kalen Ballage -- have gained 21 yards on 14 carries, an average of 1.5 yards per attempt. Harris' eight broken tackles this season in the running game are tied with the Titans' Derrick Henry, Ravens' Lamar Jackson and Seahawks' Chris Carson for fourth-most in the league. And that doesn't include the seven tackles he's broken as a receiver, giving him 15 overall .
There wasn't a running back available in free agency who could do what the Steelers are asking of Harris. James Conner, for example, was the team's starter the previous three seasons, but never handled more than 270 touches in a season because of injuries. Harris is on pace to have 360 touches this season, a number that would be the most for a Steelers running back since Le'Veon Bell had 407 to lead the NFL in 2017.
Conner has been a fine addition to the backfield of the Cardinals, who signed him to a 1-year, $1.75-million contract to supplement the work of Chase Edmunds, scoring five touchdowns already this season. But he's also averaging just 3.2 yards per carry on his 63 rushing attempts and is only playing 43 percent of the snaps.
The Steelers wanted a feature runner. And they knew Conner couldn't hold up in that role based on what had happened the previous three seasons.
That doesn't mean Harris can't or won't break down under his heavy workload -- he's played 87 percent of the team's offensive snaps this season -- but he's also shown himself to be a tough player. In the win over the Broncos, he was suffering from his calf cramping up in the fourth quarter, but refused to come out of the game until the coaching staff called him to the sideline after Roethlisberger missed him on a pass play when Harris fell down on a pass pattern because he couldn't get out of a cut due to the issue.
"It affected him. He told me when we got to the sideline," Roethlisberger said. "I told him that’s OK, you can have those issues, but you need to tell me so I don’t throw you the ball."
That's another one of those learning situations involving a young player and new team.
"We're developing skills associated with that day-to-day with our young guys, particularly in our individual work and the runner getting used to NFL football," Tomlin said.
But it's easy to see what had the Steelers so excited about the 6-foot-2, 230-pound running back. He's not only a solid runner and receiver, he also excels in pass protection and in short-yardage situations, which allows the Steelers to keep him on the field.
That that latter point, the Steelers are tied with the Titans for fourth-best power run percentage by FootballOutsiders.com. That metric measures the percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. It also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer.
Last season, the Steelers were 30th in the NFL in that metric, with a success rate of just 53 percent.
Running backs do, indeed, matter.
And the Steelers feel they got a good one.
He’s growing, and I think he’s just going to continue to get better," Roethlisberger said.