Najee Harris is an interesting name going into Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers. He’s a talented RB capable of handling a significant workload for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but a brutal matchup right out of the gate has some fantasy football managers questioning whether or not he should be in starting lineups.
With Jaylen Warren also in this backfield, does Harris offer much upside against one of the best defenses in the NFL? Should you consider benching him for another player?
Najee Harris’ Fantasy Outlook Against the 49ers
You drafted Harris as a starter, so I understand why benching him, or even considering it, is tough to wrap your mind around. But it might well be the play against the top run defense from a season ago (league-low 3.3 yards per carry allowed to the position) and a team that held onto the ball for nearly 32 minutes per game (third-highest).
Najee Harris on the Steelers offense being more “vertical” this season and how that would help him and the running game pic.twitter.com/eTh3D5AXND
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 6, 2023
Harris’ next run of more than 20 yards in September will be his first as a pro, and his 80 career carries during the month have yielded just 251 yards (3.1 yards per pop) and one score.
That said, the Steelers play three below-average run defenses after this (including two of the five worst in terms of RB yards per carry from 2022), so sending a trade offer to a frustrated Harris manager could be in play. Harris isn’t a top-24 RB to open the season.
Should You Start Harris in Week 1?
Our Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network offers incredible insight into the projections for a player every single week. These projections are generated from our PFN Consensus Rankings, which are updated with the latest news and information to help you set the best lineup to dominate your league this season.
For Week 1, the Start/Sit Optimizer has Harris projected for 9.9 half-PPR points. This puts him behind players like Alexander Mattison, Raheem Mostert, Miles Sanders, and J.K. Dobbins. If you have any of these other players, you may be best suited looking their way over Harris against a stout 49ers defense that just got Nick Bosa back.