Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris has fired back over reporters over just how much he used to weigh during his rookie season.
Najee Harrisâ first season in the NFL was certainly a learning curve for him, but based on his initial displays, itâs pretty clear to see why the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to spend their first round pick on him.
Despite being new in the league and having to work behind an offensive line that was ranked 26th by PFF last season, he still managed to rank 4th in terms of overall rushing yards with 1,200, which turned into 7 touchdowns along the ground whilst also adding in 467 receiving yards and 3 more touchdowns through the air.
Now moving onto his second season, a year that could prove incredibly beneficial for him, especially if the Steelers look to lean on him whilst the likes of Mitch Trubisky get used to the Steelers offence and Kenny Pickett adjusts to NFL life.Â
Adding more power to the powerhouse
One of the big things that Harris has done in order to get himself ready for this upcoming season is to bulk up, with local reporter Josh Rowntree stating recently on 93.7 The Fan that he has been left âflooredâ by what he has been able to do:
A recent tweet from fellow Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly stated that Harris was coming into OTAs weighing 244lbs, which he saw as a warning to other teams in the NFL:
But just how much weight he put on in the past few months has become a bone of contention.
Weighing things up
Dov Kleinman took to Twitter to discuss Harrisâ new frame, stating that the 24-year-old was listed at 232lbs last year, meaning he put on 12lbs since the start of last season, however Harris took exception to this, claiming that Kleinman, as well as other reporters were just âtweeting s***â (cleaned up by GMS):
Now putting on a few extra pounds for a running back isnât necessarily a bad thing, especially if youâre a more physical one like Harris is, but obviously he feels that he wants to put the record straight form his end, just to maybe provide some extar clarity.
At least now heâs had his own say on things, which might make things a little bit clearer should the same debate need to be had next summer.