Najee Harris outplays Jaylen Warren

For the first time in 2023, Steelers RB Najee Harris out-scored his teammate Jaylen Warren in PPR scoring. Harris ended Week 7 vs. the Rams with 53 rushing yards and a TD on 14 carries to go along with 3 catches and 15 yards as a receiver. Warren also scored on a 13-yard rush in the contest, though he only saw 2 targets on Sunday. His lack of pass-catching involvement hurt him and was rather surprising considering he’d seen at least 4 targets in four of five games prior to their Week 6 bye. Next Sunday, the Steelers will face off against the Jaguars.

The Steelers have declined the fifth-year option on RB Najee Harris' rookie contract. Harris would have counted about $6.8 million vs. the salary cap had the team exercised his option, so it's not a shocking development. But it's notable that Pittsburgh would rather let him hit the open market than pay what would be the No. 12 RB salary in the league by this year's average annual values. Harris has seen his carries per game and receptions per game decline each of the past two years, while also watching Jaylen Warren gain yards at a more efficient pace. It'll be interesting to see whether Pittsburgh plans any further decline for Harris' 2024 workload in the first season under new OC Arthur Smith. As it stands, Harris and Warren both look fine at best ball ADP. Feel free to mix either player (or both) in to your best ball drafting.

The Steelers are set to hire Arthur Smith as their new OC, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Smith, of course, is coming off a baffling and underwhelming three-year tenure as Falcons HC, compiling a 21-30 record and oftentimes mismanaging his offensive talent. Smith, though, was much more successful as Titans OC in 2019 and 2020. Both of those teams ranked top-12 in both total yards and points, leaning on RB Derrick Henry to finish top-3 in rushing yards both years. We'd expect Smith to bring a run-heavy offense to Pittsburgh -- especially considering the team's questions at QB.

Steelers RB Najee Harris eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time in 2023 on Sunday vs. the Seahawks. He accumulated 122 rushing yards with 2 TDs on 27 carries. With one more regular-season game remaining, Harris is set to put forth his third-consecutive season of at least 1,000 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs. But he has also continued to see a dropoff in fantasy output (10.4 PPR points per game in 2023 vs. 13.1 in 2022, 17.7 in 2021), which directly correlates to a decrease in his role. Teammate Jaylen Warren has turned the Steelers’ backfield into a near-50/50 split, and Harris went from an average of 5.5 targets per game as a rookie to just 2.1 this season. He’ll enter his age-26 season in 2024, the final year of his rookie contract. We'll find out this spring whether Pittsburgh will exercise Harris' fifth-year option. We'd bet against the team guaranteeing $8.5 million in 2025 salary to do so ($10 million if Harris makes the Pro Bowl this year). For 2024, expect a continued timeshare and RB3-level status in dynasty formats.

Steelers RB Najee Harris tallied 19 carries for 78 rushing yards and a TD in Week 16 vs. the Bengals. His teammate Jaylen Warren also saw a healthy amount of involvement, totaling 8 carries for 24 yards with 5 catches for 30 receiving yards on the contest. He also tied for the team lead in targets (6) on Saturday with WR George Pickens. The Pittsburgh duo will again be worth starting as flex options in Week 16 going up against a fairly neutral Seahawks front (14th-best RB matchup per our adjusted fantasy points allowed).

Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) is not listed on the final injury report for Saturday’s game vs. the Colts. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. That knee shouldn't limit Harris this weekend.