Harris’ 1,043 yards in 2024 gave him four consecutive seasons over the 1,000-yard plateau. He is the third player in the last 20 seasons to have 1,000-plus rush yards in each of his first four NFL campaigns (others: Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson).
Yet, those numbers have primarily been gained by the Steelers buying in bulk. Harris has a pedestrian career 3.9 yards per carry average and has never generated a run of 40-plus yards in his career. Harris has never been a big-tackle breaker, generating a career 2.91 yards after contact per carry, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Steelers’ decision to decline a not-outlandish $6.97 million fifth-year option signaled they’d be comfortable moving on from the running back after the season.
Jaylen Warren has sliced into Harris’ carries and been more explosive than the former first-rounder — 3.39 yards after contact over three seasons. Harris has 103 runs of 10-plus yards on 1,121 career carries (one every 10.88 totes), per PFF. Warren has 51 10-plus yard runs on 354 carries (one every 6.94 carries).
In two games versus Baltimore this season, Harris has earned 105 yards on 27 carries (3.89 YPC) with no touchdowns.
Harris has never won a playoff game in a Steelers uniform, going 0-2 in his first three seasons. If this is his last playoff ride in Pittsburgh, Harris wants to go out with a bang and give himself at least one more game wearing black and gold.
“You can’t lose sight of the fact that that’s the main goal at the end of the day,” Harris said of winning in the postseason. “Yeah, you want to have good (individual stats) and everything, but, at the end of the day, it’s about the team win. If the team wins, everybody eats. If the team doesn’t win, it really doesn’t matter.”
Last offseason, headline-making running backs changed squads and smashed, from Saquon Barkley to Derrick Henry to Josh Jacobs. The 2025 crop isn’t as star-studded, with Aaron Jones, Harris, J.K. Dobbins, Javonte Williams, Rico Dowdle and a post-injury Nick Chubb the top options set to be free agency in March.