Good point. He is good at keeping drives alive and a good finisher in short yardage situations and around the goal line.
Najee Harris Draft Position
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I wish he would stay, though im anxious to see the other running backs getting more opportunities.... k. rob, b rob, t sanders and ford. rtr
Najee is a warrior. A football player. He has confidence in himself. I feel like he has demonstrated that to the scouts even though his resume isn't littered with break-away runs for long TDs. But I am a fan of his so..I hope he stays too. But I think he will not. I think he will work hard for the opportunities to show his wares. Seeing him in person would mean something too.
I think the "long runs" are a bit over played. Yes, every team would love to have a RB with break away speed that at any moment could take one 70+ yards. However, it's like my college baseball coach used to tell us "You're required to make more routine plays during a game than any other." He was saying this because in most cases making or not making the routine plays is what wins and loses most ball games, regardless of the sport.
I think this same concept can be applied to backs like Harris. If he's getting a 5.9 ypc and we're seeing 15-20 2nd 4's and 3rd and 3's per game. I'd take converting 80% of those per game (over the course of a season) than one 80 yard bomb here and there. Yeah, the 80 yard homerun would be nice. But realistically, how many of those actually occur over a season (even with backs that have that type speed) compared to situations where you need 3-5 yards on a crucial 2nd or 3rd down play? Not many.
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Damien Harris stayed for his senior year, shared carries with Najee and Jacobs and was still drafted in the 3rd round, which is almost as good as one can expect unless you are a truly elite NFL RB prospect.
Najee is not an elite NFL RB prospect, but I believe he is an elite college RB that could work on some things to better position himself to be no worse than a 3rd round selection in 2021.
There are at least six RBs that will get drafted in front of him this year, so he is probably at best the 7th RB on the board. The 7th RB was the last pick of the 3rd round in 2019, so that is probably his ceiling for the 2020 draft and his floor could be anything. I realize all drafts are not created equal, and there are probably 2 - 3 RBs that are pretty highly coveted that could make RBs go a little earlier this year versus last year. Regardless, his ceiling could be early 2nd round in 2021 if he can improve some of the aspects of his game.
Najee is not an elite NFL RB prospect, but I believe he is an elite college RB that could work on some things to better position himself to be no worse than a 3rd round selection in 2021.
There are at least six RBs that will get drafted in front of him this year, so he is probably at best the 7th RB on the board. The 7th RB was the last pick of the 3rd round in 2019, so that is probably his ceiling for the 2020 draft and his floor could be anything. I realize all drafts are not created equal, and there are probably 2 - 3 RBs that are pretty highly coveted that could make RBs go a little earlier this year versus last year. Regardless, his ceiling could be early 2nd round in 2021 if he can improve some of the aspects of his game.
Saban gets more information and passes it along. The problem is that those seeds sometimes fall on stony ground, for a variety of reasons...
OOH -- a Biblical reference...I like that...
Not over a 3 year period. Here is the longest run each season for Najee:
2017 - 35 yards (61 carries)
2018 - 32 yards (117 carries)
2019 - 31 yards (209 carries)
So a total of 387 carries over 3 years and a long of 35 yards. That seems almost impossible to do. I mean, K Robinson busted off a 70 yarder this year and we've routinely seen our backups or RBs who split carries break off long runs. The downside to this is even if the play is blocked perfectly you probably aren't getting a long run with Najee. Whereas, almost all the other top prospects, will produce a long run or TD with a well blocked play. I have no idea if long speed is something he can improve upon by shedding some weight. He looks to be in great shape so not sure if that's a possibility..
I don't think another year at Bama would help his draft status, unless he changed positions. Of course, if he does not have his degree, it would be a good idea to get it to have something to fall back on.
I may not have communicated my point very well. I wasn't arguing he doesn't have many "long runs". I was just saying how much importance we put on them may be over valued. I'll take a RB who averages 5.9 YPC and consistently can break off 8-15 yard rushes throughout a game. The long touchdown runs are like home runs in baseball. Everybody loves to watch them, they're the most popular offensive play in the game. But you don't and can't expect to consistently win by them.
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And to add there are not many "long runs" allowed in the NFL.
I get what you're saying but he's not going to average 5.9 ypc in the NFL. Generally speaking, the best runners in the league will average 4.5-5.0 ypc and that includes "long runs" boosting the average up. Without long runs, his YPC in the NFL could be ugly. Like I mentioned, it could be something he develops in the league. Sometimes a player will completely change their body or playing style when they transition from college to the NFL. The most recent example would be Le'veon Bell from Michigan State. He lost 20lbs from the time he was drafted to when he showed up at camp for the Steelers. He was a completely different player and became the best running back in the league for a few years..
Wonder if Jerome Ford entering the portal has to do with anything germane to this specific topic?
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The Defenses are better in the NFL -- but so are the OLs too..... I think he can average 4.8-5.0 -- which makes him in "elite" status.....he's got the power to make that happen..... he seldom goes down on first contact.
I think its vision with Najee and the long runs, not necessarily speed. Although I realize he's not Henry Ruggs when it comes to speed. I think that's one of the things that scouting report had right on him - he seeks out contact and often gets tunnel vision and misses cut backs that would yield longer runs. He also tends to overvalue his array of moves and wastes time and energy with a spin or something like that.
I think this is something he can definitely improve on next year and potentially see his pro value skyrocket.
I think this is something he can definitely improve on next year and potentially see his pro value skyrocket.
I never said he was going to. I was addressing another poster pointing out Najee's lack of "long runs" during his college career and how I think "long runs", though very exciting to watch, are a bit over valued.
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