Troy Aikman is not terribly impressed with Najee Harris’ rushing streak.
Early in Saturday night’s 19-17 win by the Cincinnati Bengals over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., ESPN shared a graphic highlighting Harris’ career as a rusher. The former first-round pick has exceeded 1,000 rushing yards in a season in all four of his NFL seasons.
When the graphic was shown on TV by ESPN, Aikman, who was providing analysis during the game, explained why he wasn’t too impressed with the streak.
“I think it’s probably time we raised the bar on 1,000-yard running back seasons. With 17 games … there was a time 1,000 yards was quite an accomplishment. But not so much anymore,” Aikman said.
Aikman on Harris’ 1,000-yard season: “There was a time 1,000 yards was quite an accomplishment. Not so much anymore.” pic.twitter.com/Up1ybC0ucM
— Football Forever (@fballforeverhq) January 5, 2025
Aikman is right in the sense that a player only needs to average 59 yards per game to rush for 1,000 yards in a 17-game season. That’s far less than the 71.4 yards per game needed to rush for 1,000 yards in a 14-game season, which used to be the case.
To balance out Aikman’s argument though, a few things need to be pointed out. For one, the NFL continues to skew more heavily towards the passing game with every year that goes by. The emphasis on passing makes it harder for running backs to make their mark. Two, plenty of teams use multiple running backs, which makes it harder for one single running back to shine over the course of a season. Lastly, running backs face so many injuries, rushing for 1,000 yards signifies a player’s availability. If the player is hurt and unavailable, then they can’t rack up 1,000 yards in a season.
The Steelers may feel similarly to Aikman, because they weren’t impressed enough with Harris to pick up his fifth-year contract option for 2025.
