Najee Harris Says Steelers 'Didn’t Know Anything on Offense,' Team Had No 'Identity'

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive struggles and problems have been well-documented over the past few years, and ex-Steelers running back (and current Los Angeles Charger) Najee Harris provided his thoughts on the matters in an interview with KCAL (h/t Matthew Luciow).

“It was just a team where we lost Ben. We lost a lot of O-line,” Harris said (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk). “We just didn’t know anything on offense, really. We didn't have any identity. We had a young guy coming in at quarterback. I was young. The team was young. I really didn’t have nobody to almost learn from on the offensive side. I think the veteran guy on that team was like a two-, three-year vet. He’s still learning himself."

Harris joined the team as a rookie for the 2021 season, which also marked six-time Pro Bowl quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's final NFL campaign.

Pittsburgh was 21st in scoring in 2021 before falling to 26th in 2022 and 28th in 2023. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired in Nov. 2023.

The Steelers' offense certainly made improvements under OC Arthur Smith in 2024 under quarterbacks Justin Fields and then Russell Wilson before finishing 16th in scoring. However, the offense sputtered down the stretch, scoring fewer than 20 points in six of the final eight games, including playoffs (and all of the last four).

It didn't help that the team played quarterback roulette, with five players (Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Fields and Wilson) starting games from 2022-2024.

Harris still plodded along, rushing for 1,000 or more yards in each of his four seasons. Now he'll go to an offense with promise and stability in Los Angeles, which has a star quarterback in Justin Herbert and a smart offensive mind in Jim Harbaugh running the show.