The number one job of any head coach is to do what’s best for his team. This coach, in particular, happens to be Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, and what may be best for his team could very well come via the ground game.
The Steelers drafted Najee Harris in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft to revive a last-ranked run game. Now entering his 18th season, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is in the twilight of his career and needs a run game to be successful season-long.
Why doesn’t Tomlin care about Harris? Tomlin, who signed a three-year contract extension in April, keeps him in Pittsburgh through the 2024 season. In all likelihood, Tomlin won’t be around to see the end of Harris’ career or need him to be productive.
Tomlin ran Le’Veon Bell until his wheels fell off. Bell hasn’t been productive since he left Pittsburgh in a greedy tizzy. You can’t blame Tomlin — the organization and its fans tend to not care about a player once he’s no longer in the Black and Gold, anyway.
If history repeats itself with Tomlin and his star running back, Najee Harris will get the ball early and often. And it won’t be long until we’re saying Harris isn’t the same back he was early in his career.
And that career — especially for NFL running backs — isn’t long. According to Statista, the life of a running back is 2.57 years. For example, Bell had three seasons over 1,000 yards in the five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Mike Tomlin will want to squeeze as much juice out of the Najee Harris lemon that he can. And when Tomlin retires, Harris will seemingly be a shadow of what he once was.
