The Steelers haven’t been able to get their running game going, but Najee Harris looks like a good fantasy option anyway. They’ve got him plugged into their passing game, and that makes him a reliable option for fantasy purposes (particularly in PPR formats).
Sunday’s game marked a low-point in recent Steelers history, with it becoming more apparent that the team shouldn’t have brought back Ben Roethlisberger. He’s last-season Eli Manning now – a decrepit veteran who stayed too long. And that’s made worse by one of the league’s leakiest offensive lines.
With that lesser line, the Steelers can’t run the ball. Harris is big and strong, but it doesn’t really matter – he can’t do it on his own.
With the way Harris is catching short passes, however, he looks like a reliable stats producer anyway. He came up with the best receiving game of his career on Sunday, catching 14 passes for 102 yards against the Bengals.
Harris collected those receptions on a mind-numbing 19 targets.
At Pro-Football-Reference.com, they have target data going back 30 years. According to their numbers, only one running back has had more targets in a game (Alvin Kamara, who saw 20 targets in a 2018 game against Atlanta. Four others have had at least 18 targets in a game.
Right now, it’s looking like Harris will fall well short of 1,000 rushing yards, but with the receiving production, he might be a top-10 PPR back anyway.
RUNNING BACKS WITH 15-PLUS TARGETS IN A GAME | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Tm | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 2018 | @ATL | W 43-37 | 20 | 15 | 124 | 0 |
Darren Sproles, N.O. | 2012 | @SFO | L 32-36 | 19 | 15 | 118 | 1 |
Najee Harris, Pitt. | 2021 | CIN | L 10-24 | 19 | 14 | 102 | 0 |
Earnest Graham, T.B. | 2007 | @DET | L 16-23 | 18 | 13 | 99 | 0 |
Brian Westbrook, Phil. | 2007 | DAL | L 17-38 | 18 | 14 | 90 | 0 |
Darren McFadden, Oak. | 2012 | SDG | L 14-22 | 18 | 13 | 86 | 0 |
John Williams, Sea. | 1992 | @NYG | L 10-23 | 17 | 11 | 45 | 0 |
Ricky Watters, Phil. | 1995 | WAS | W 37-34 | 17 | 11 | 90 | 0 |
Ronnie Harmon, S.D. | 1995 | IND | L 20-35 | 17 | 10 | 133 | 0 |
Shane Vereen, N.E. | 2013 | CLE | W 27-26 | 17 | 12 | 153 | 0 |
James White, N.E. | 2019 | LAC | W 41-28 | 17 | 15 | 97 | 0 |
Larry Centers, Ariz. | 1996 | STL | W 31-28 | 16 | 13 | 83 | 1 |
Larry Centers, Ariz. | 1996 | @MIN | L 17-41 | 16 | 10 | 85 | 1 |
Amp Lee, St.L. | 1997 | @OAK | L 17-35 | 16 | 10 | 109 | 1 |
Marshall Faulk, St.L. | 2002 | @DEN | L 16-23 | 16 | 14 | 91 | 0 |
LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D. | 2003 | GNB | L 21-38 | 16 | 11 | 144 | 2 |
Reggie Bush, N.O. | 2007 | @HOU | L 10-23 | 16 | 12 | 70 | 0 |
LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 2010 | WAS | L 12-17 | 16 | 12 | 110 | 0 |
Roy Helu, Was. | 2011 | SFO | L 11-19 | 16 | 14 | 105 | 0 |
James White, N.E. | 2016 | @DEN | L 18-20 | 16 | 5 | 45 | 0 |
James White, N.E. | 2017 | v.ATL | W 34-28 | 16 | 14 | 110 | 1 |
Saquon Barkley, NYG | 2018 | @DAL | L 13-20 | 16 | 14 | 80 | 0 |
Austin Ekeler, LAC | 2019 | DEN | L 13-20 | 16 | 15 | 86 | 0 |
Austin Ekeler, LAC | 2020 | @BUF | L 17-27 | 16 | 11 | 85 | 0 |
Herschel Walker, Phil. | 1993 | BUF | L 7-10 | 15 | 11 | 109 | 0 |
Terry Kirby, Mia. | 1993 | BUF | L 34-47 | 15 | 9 | 148 | 1 |
Priest Holmes, Balt. | 1998 | TEN | L 8-12 | 15 | 13 | 98 | 0 |
Richie Anderson, NYJ | 2000 | @BAL | L 20-34 | 15 | 11 | 139 | 1 |
Duce Staley, Phil. | 2001 | STL | L 17-20 | 15 | 11 | 81 | 0 |
Larry Centers, Buff. | 2001 | NYJ | L 36-42 | 15 | 12 | 75 | 1 |
Kevin Faulk, N.E. | 2002 | MIA | W 27-24 | 15 | 9 | 70 | 0 |
LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D. | 2003 | OAK | W 21-14 | 15 | 8 | 17 | 0 |
Deuce McAllister, N.O. | 2004 | DEN | L 13-34 | 15 | 11 | 87 | 0 |
Jermaine Wiggins, Min. | 2005 | @CHI | L 3-28 | 15 | 10 | 68 | 0 |
Pierre Thomas, N.O. | 2007 | @CHI | L 25-33 | 15 | 12 | 121 | 1 |
Joseph Addai, Ind. | 2008 | SDG | L 24-28 | 15 | 9 | 67 | 0 |
Matt Forte, Chi. | 2011 | GNB | L 14-21 | 15 | 10 | 90 | 0 |
Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 2018 | @ATL | L 24-31 | 15 | 14 | 102 | 0 |
Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 2019 | ATL | L 3-29 | 15 | 11 | 121 | 0 |
Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 2019 | @IND | L 6-38 | 15 | 15 | 119 | 0 |
J.D. McKissic, Was. | 2020 | @DET | L 27-30 | 15 | 7 | 43 | 0 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan