Hello, welcome to PFF Fancy football podcast. I'm your host, Ian Hartitz. And today we continue our fancy files series with a look at Steelers rookie running back nausea hairs. Look, I understand if you didn't like to stealers drafting nausea.

They objectively had far more pressing needs and to take a running back that they probably could have gotten 80 90% of in a later round. Like I get it. I wish there was an NFL salary cap I've talked about this before I wish that you know Christian McCann if you can make as much money as anyone wants to give to him, but in the salary cap format.

I does make sense that running back, which is more, you know, their production is more contingent on the offensive line and quarterback than anyone like they just they need their teammates to be better in order for them to do anything more than any other position on the field.

I realize and when that's in mind like yeah, you probably should put a lower percentage of your salary cap to running back compared to other positions on the field.

It's not that they don't matter, but relative to the salary cap and when we need to place certain importance on replace more importance on some positions versus others, I get why teams generally shouldn't put a lot of resources to running backs with that said.

It's a fantasy football podcast. We love when teams put first round resources to running backs in fancy land because that guarantees doesn't guarantee, but it's a very good sign that just like money talks draft capital talks.

It's a great sign that this running back is going to have a good chance to thrive sooner rather than later in the NFL and that's what we have to the Steelers taking not she hairs with number 25 overall picks.

So first we just got to realize everyone not she the one kind of critique with him is his straight line speed is not you know a burner is not going to fly by people probably a little bit overstate.

I mean, he didn't run as pro day and when you don't run your pro day that means you weren't going to be happy with the time that you would have run your pro day with that said, I mean, just how thank you someone that would have gone out there and run a four or anything like that four or five four six range again not exactly jets, but it's not like Harris is just slow

and slow is running back to ever make the NFL. This was our 2021 NFL draft guide breakdown on Harris courtesy of the always great Mike runner the common rule of done for running backs is usually declared as students possible.

But this is a real chance Harris made himself some money with his play this year. He doubles touchdown total from 13 on the ground 2019 to 26 this season and maintain his efficiency despite a massive workload.

Harris's ball skills keep him inside our top three backs despite not being much of a home run threat his catch radius is one of the biggest you'll ever see from running back he should feature in any past game.

And that past game stuff is what's really notable because you know we've seen the London for net even Ronald Jones at times like you don't need to be a good receiving running back to rack up receiving fancy points.

And you need to find an offensive coaching staff in the quarterback willing to throw you the ball. Harris looks like someone that's almost going to demand that because he's that good of a receiver. I mean you go back to that 2019 game against LSU where kind of two was started to try to get them back and to come back just try to get back in the game and actually like jumps up over LSU's in a future first round linebacker on like a lovely back shoulder fade comes out the ball in the end zone and you just have those examples all over the place.

As a walking talking three down bell call back that he was always viewed in my mind at least as the most three down ready back in the league.

And going through draft we said we had three teams that we really needed to focus on when it came to running backs to jets the Falcons and the Steelers just waited to around four.

The Falcons didn't do anything the Steelers got their guy in round one so Harris PF as number five ranked running back in 2018 and colors number 11 2019 number 12 and 2020.

And we didn't really see him fall off as his career went on I'm not here to hate on the TN I know the clubs in O line was worse in 2020 but Harris to me coming out even though he's 23 a little bit older than we would expect from someone the top players out there is a proven runner proven receiver only three drops and on 83 career catchable targets like.

And I think we've seen in recent years and I think with Pittsburgh we're just over reacting a little bit to our perceived notion of what this offense line and what the team is going to look like.

I get it this offense line suck last year they ranked 31st in our PFF run blocking grade i'm just not all that convinced it matters because if the Steelers just get back to giving Harris the role that we used to see the students running backs have year and a year out it's going to be you know great for fancy business from 2014 and 2018 we had a love young bell getting 25.6

touches per start the angel of Williams that 22.8 James Conner is at 20.8 dealing sandals that 18 how even Stefan Ridley in some week 17 games man is to get 17 touches per start and Ben Rossberger through his R.B.s at least a hundred targets during the latter three years of that stretch I mean the Steelers R.B.

One role from 2014 2018 was arguably the single most fancy friendly role in the entire league at that time so hey if you think big Ben's washed and it gets a new dorm I don't necessarily agree with either of those notions that should be good for Harris that's going to mean more dumb down more rest of times again and fancy land we want to chase volume not so much talent not so much

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