Carter's Classroom: O-line makes an inch, Najee takes the mile taken on the South Side (Weekly Features)

MARK ALBERTI / GETTY

Najee Harris runs against the Browns Sunday at Heinz Field.

Ben Roethlisberger had his well-deserved sendoff night at Heinz Field Monday after 18 years of being the focal point of the Steelers' hopes for success as the leader of the offense. It was a great night for him and fans who've enjoyed the past two decades and wanted to honor him.

But while Roethlisberger was throwing 46 passes to gain 123 yards, the Steelers saw Najee Harris be the player they drafted him to be as the focal point of the offense in the next few years. His 206 yards from scrimmage made up 69 percent of the 299 yards on offense in a game that was one of Roethlisberger's lowest outputs in a winning performance.

That kind of production is key to the next stage after Roethlisberger, where Mike Tomlin will work with Harris as the center of offensive production as the franchise searches for its next franchise quarterback.

Harris isn't a long-term solution for the next 18 seasons like Roethlisberger was, but he's the super talented running back who can take pressure off the next Steelers quarterback whether it's a cheap veteran signee like Teddy Bridgewater or Marcus Mariota, or a rookie that is trying to find their feet in the NFL like Kenny Pickett, Carson Strong or Malik Willis.

This was a big reason why I emphasized in Carter's Classroom shortly after the Steelers' playoff exit last season that they needed to find a primary running back who could create on their own and highlighted Harris' skills at Alabama before and after the NFL Draft. He combined the full package of a big, explosive back with receiving skills, vision and character to be a player who stood tall in the biggest moments of games.

As the Steelers prepare for their regular season finale, Harris' 1172 rushing yards set a franchise record for a rookie and sits fourth in the NFL, just as his 1,612 yards from scrimmage is also a rookie franchise record that ranks fourth in the NFL. It's also ninth-most in franchise history with a game still to be played. Harris has achieved all of this while the Steelers' offensive line has been a mess during a complete rebuild.

But Harris showed Monday just how good he could be even when his line played marginally better than it has most of the season. Simply replacing Kendrick Green, whose struggles I highlighted as a major problem last week, with J.C. Hassenauer gave Harris more chances to be the superstar Kevin Colbert and Tomlin foresaw last spring.

Watch how Hassenauer's winning in the A-gap allowed Harris to use his quick footwork to move a defender out of his hole for an eight-yard gain. Because Hassenauer and Trai Turner win their battles, the matchup at the line is between Harris and linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. Harris sees two holes and ducks behind Turner momentarily, forcing Walker to commit to an outside run, and opening up Harris' lane for the easy gain:

Notice how neither Hassenauer nor Turner blew their men off the ball at the snap, but just held their ground and how that was enough for a win of a play from Harris.

The rookie back from Alabama has demonstrated good vision and creativity to capitalize on openings, but this was the most complete performance by him this season of his ability to put it all together.

"Najee was special, to be quite honest," Tomlin said of Harris during his Tuesday press conference. "He got better as the game wore on. The amount of yards that he picked up, the way he confronted would-be tacklers in an aggressive manner and in a complimentary way was helpful and inspiring to all of us."

Harris' quickness, power and vision did indeed wear down the Browns as the game continued. As the Steelers' offensive line would give him a lane, Harris would maximize plays with smart cuts that made it more difficult for defenders to win in the space allotted at the point of attack.

Here's him doing that to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, a key rookie linebacker for the Browns. Notice how Harris starts his off-tackle run by attacking wide, forcing Owusu-Koramoah to honor it, before cutting inside. Once the rookie linebacker from Notre Dame reacted, Harris dragged him for 7 yards for a solid gain:

But 121 of Harris' 188 rushing yards came between the Steelers' guards, per NextGenStats. That's because Harris wasn't doing as much dancing to create yards as he was overpowering defenders.

Pro Football Focus recorded Harris to force eight missed tackles in the game to give him 54 on the season, fourth-most in the NFL by a running back. That effort was praised by Tomlin Tuesday, but also acknowledged as a factor that Harris has carried with him since his days winning national championships with Nick Saban at Alabama.

"I'm appreciative of it," Tomlin said of Harris's ability to make defenders miss tackles. "And we've worked hard in terms of honing his skills, particularly relative to the professional field. But most of the stuff that you mentioned he brought with him. God gave him (talent) and it was on display in the Tuscaloosa tape that we watched as well. So I can't say we're surprised by some of the things that we're getting an opportunity to enjoy."

Once Harris started to show how dangerous he would be, the Browns' defense had to honor him as a real threat and that opened up opportunities for other Steelers. Watch how the play action drew up linebacker Sione TakiTaki. As soon as Roethlisberger's fake handoff presents the threat of run, Takitaki vacates the space where Diontae Johnson attacks on his slant, opening up the short pass chance for Roethlisberger on the touchdown:

That's where Harris will become an even bigger problem if the Steelers invest in their offensive line next year to make a consistently successful group.

NextGenStats recorded Harris to gain 181 of his 188 rushing yards after contact, showing how much he still had to create on his own outside of the Steelers' victories on the offensive line. Harris forces those missed tackles with both his quickness to run around defenders and the power to fight through their contact.

Here's his 30-yard run displaying that combination, where his explosiveness through the hole to beat both Walker and Greg Newsome II, who Chase Claypool completely failed to block. Once Harris got to the second level, he showed M.J. Stewart Jr. his raw power with the mean stiff-arm at the end of the play:

That's a dangerous combination. And when given more openings to put those skills to work, Harris poses a serious offensive threat that can take over a game, just like he did Monday.

Harris' explosiveness is an underrated feature of his game that didn't get nearly as much talk because he's rarely had breakaway opportunities on offense. But Harris does have the raw speed to finish plays, as he hit 4.45 seconds on the 40-yard dash before coming to the NFL. That means if the Steelers can get him in a hole against a defender, Harris can combine his exceptional skills to make the man miss with his ability to finish for a big play.

That's exactly what happened when Harris took a 37-yard counter-trap run for the game-sealing touchdown. Watch how he came down the line behind Derek Watt's trap block that crushed Jadeveon Clowney and kept Newsome out of the play while Harris easily dispatched linebacker Jacob Phillips before hitting the jets and outrunning Newsome, who ran a 4.38 on the 40-yard dash, to the end zone:

That's a game situation where the Browns knew Harris was getting the ball and couldn't do anything to stop him.

Whoever quarterbacks the next Steelers offense will have the advantage of a running back who can win in those situations. Harris' demonstrated leadership qualities while at Alabama could manifest as he proves himself more at the pro level, and could make him a sturdy, reliable teammate for either a limited game manager veteran quarterback or a rookie trying to find his feet. 

Working with such a quarterback would prevent the Steelers from having to spend either the salary cap and/or draft capital to replace Roethlisberger with Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson. That would clear up the team's projected $45 million in cap space, and potentially more with cuts and adjustments, to invest heavily in the offensive line along with other key defensive pieces.

But imagine Harris, with more experience, running behind an offensive line that doesn't rank towards the bottom of the league. If he could drag the Steelers' offense to a win on a night where its aged quarterback could only muster 123 passing yards on 46 attempts in a must-win game with this offensive line, there's a good chance he'll do even more with a tuned up group next year.

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