On the Move: Breaking Down Najee Harris on the Chargers

There have been a lot of flashy veteran WR names moving around this offseason, but Najee Harris, a polarizing RB for fantasy managers, might be the most impactful player to change teams this offseason. Harris has moved on from the Steelers, but he is joining the Los Angeles Chargers, whose head coach, Jim Harbaugh, is well-known for his affinity toward establishing the run. That mindset fits Harris like a glove.

I felt entering last season that the conventional wisdom of Harbaugh spearheading this overly run-heavy approach was overblown. With a stud QB like Justin Herbert, it’s simply bad coaching to shackle him in favor of pounding away with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Early in the season, it looked like I’d be wrong, but once Herbert was fully healthy this offense became much more balanced and centered on the QB. Still, L.A. finished 2024 with the 11th most rushing attempts on the season, and 11th-most rushing touchdowns. Gus Edwards is gone, and J.K. Dobbins, one of 2024’s biggest surprises (unless, of course, you read this and this) remains a free agent unlikely to return to the Bolts. That duo vacated 296 carries, and the next man up as of this writing is second-year rusher Kimani Vidal, who carried the ball 26 fewer times than Herbert. The NFL Draft could change things, but Harris is in line for a big role here.

Now, Harris isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. He’s not an explosive, big-play back at all. He has thrived on volume, and those aren’t always the most fun players to count on. But he’s built for volume. Here are some things that are true about Najee Harris. He has played four NFL seasons. In each those seasons, he has played in every single game, rushed for 1,000+ yards, amassed 1,200+ yards from scrimmage, caught 29+ passes and averaged between 3.9 and 4.1 yards per carry.

Here are some things Najee Harris has never done. He’s never carried the ball fewer than 255 times in a season or scored fewer than six touchdowns. When it comes to explosiveness, Harris isn’t a big play merchant. He’s only had five career runs of 30+ yards, with his longest being 37 yards. But he’s had 19 rushes of between 20-29 yards. Harris has been a model of consistency since entering the league, and he’s shown that when he’s in a strong offensive environment, he can put up elite numbers. As a rookie, Harris had his best season. He rushed for 1,200 yards (career-high), and he established career-bests in receptions (74) and receiving yards (467). He hasn’t come close to those receiving numbers since, but that’s because the volume changed. He’s got a career 77.3% reception percentage; he was at 78.7% as a rookie on 94 targets, and at 75% last season on 48 targets.

Harris is perpetually undervalued because he is not a flashy player, he doesn’t win you weeks with efficient, long scores, and because he’s spent the last two seasons being the steady Eddie while Jaylen Warren’s explosiveness has piqued all our interest. He ceded significant snap share to Warren last year and still cleared the benchmarks of a solid RB2. Without a Jaylen Warren present, last season represents his absolute floor, which is 1,200 scrimmage yards and six TDs. His ceiling is significantly higher, and I’d bet that his pass game involvement ticks up due to more snaps, and a weak WR corps for the Chargers aside from Ladd McConkey. Harris was the RB23 last offseason at the time of the Steelers team preview’s writing, at No. 69 overall. If he’s there again, and the Chargers don’t add to the RB room from this year’s loaded crop of rookie rushers, Harris will be a steal at that price.