Harris in Pittsburgh –

In 2021, the Steelers drafted Harris out of Alabama and he became an immediate sensation, both in real life, and for fantasy owners. He rushed for 1,200 yards and caught 74 balls for 467 yards. Those statistics translated to finishing with the third-most fantasy points at the position and eighth in fantasy points-per-game (17.7). He’s produced at least 1,000 rushing yards in all four seasons, one of just five players since 2000 to accomplish the feat (others were LaDainian Tomlinson, Clinton Portis, Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson). That’s elite company.

But Harris is not elite.

Over the past three seasons, the Steelers have reduced Harris’ role in the passing game, using Jaylen Warren as often as Harris in the shared role. Additionally, Harris has not been explosive (career 3.9 ypc). He’s never had a run over 37 yards in four years and 1,097 attempts. As a comparison, Saquon Barkley had seven 40+ runs in 345 attempts last season and Derrick Henry had five in 325 attempts. OK, you are thinking, Harris obviously isn’t Barkley or Henry. Well, in 2024, J.K. Dobbins had three, Bucky Irving had three and Dameon Pierce had two in just 40 rushing attempts last year for Houston.

Harris finished 26th in FPts/G (12.0) and 21st in total fantasy points (204.6) in 2024. At least he’s always ready to go. Harris has played in 17 games in all four seasons. Also, he doesn’t fumble the ball – just five fumbles in four years and none last season.

Harris with the Los Angeles Chargers –

The good news for Harris – new head coach Jim Harbaugh loves to run the ball. He ran the ball when he was a head coach for the 49ers. He won an NCAA title with Michigan running the ball and in his first season back in the NFL with the Chargers he’s still running the ball. The combination of Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins rushed 363 times even with the talented arm of Justin Herbert under center.

Edwards and his 101 carries in 11 games was recently released and Dobbins, 195 carries in 11 games, is an unrestricted free agent. If both are gone, Harris could once again be a workhorse behind a line that Dobbins averaged 4.6 yards-per-carry and given Harris’ $9.5 million price tag it’s the most likely team strategy. But, he is only signed for one year and the Chargers should be still planning for the future. Neither Vidal (3.6 ypc) nor Haskins (2.6) seem to be the future, so the team is could easily choose to select a running back at some point in this April’s draft.

Bottom line:

With the Chargers running back room likely still incomplete, it’s hard to accurately predict Harris’ workload at this time. If he doesn’t have any significant challenge to 275 rushing attempts and 325 touches, he can easily be a solid RB2 with an offensive line which has two very good tackles (Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt). If everything goes perfectly, he stays healthy, the team adds more talent inside the tackles instead of a highly-drafted RB, Harris has a high-end RB2 or even a low-end RB1 ceiling. If.