If the Pittsburgh Steelers understand the grass isn’t always greener when it comes to acquiring new running backs, why is the team about to make another James Conner-sized mistake?
Conner spent four years with the Black and Gold—but only three years as a starter—and during this time, he accumulated 3,265 all-purpose yards. The Steelers allowed him to hit free agency in favor of drafting RB Najee Harris out of Alabama with the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Conner then signed with the Arizona Cardinals and proved the Steelers wrong for letting him go—producing 4,922 total yards. He was also slightly more efficient with each rushing attempt in Arizona, averaging 4.4 ypc compared to his 4.3 ypc with Pittsburgh.
Similar to Conner, Harris is seemingly on his way out of Pittsburgh once the 2024 postseason concludes. He will have accumulated 4,312 rushing yards on 1,097 attempts—resulting in 3.9 ypc.
Harris’ rushing inefficiencies can easily be blamed on having an incompetent offensive coordinator for four years—but just like with Conner, the Steelers organization would rather start fresh than look themselves in the mirror.