Najee Harris Fantasy Football Outlook 2022 (Expect an Encore Performance)

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave Najee Harris the keys to the backfield last year and he did not disappoint. The former Alabama rusher ended his rookie NFL campaign as the RB3 in PPR fantasy football formats, averaging 17.7 points per game.

With Ben Roethlisberger enjoying retirement, fantasy players are wondering if Harris can still be an effective force on the ground. Fortunately, all signs point to him, once again, being one of the top running backs in football this fall.

Najee Harris Fantasy Football Outlook

Nobody in the NFL touched the football more than Harris last year, resulting in a league-leading 381 total touches. A total of 307 of those touches came from rushing attempts, which he turned into 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns. He also tallied 74 receptions for 467 receiving yards and another three TDs.

Once again, Harris will be the Steelers' No. 1 option out of the backfield. Considering that Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett aren't the strongest players under center, it wouldn't be shocking to see a lot of short passes and rushing opportunities in Harris' future.

The volume will certainly be there for Harris, but the only question is whether or not he can stay healthy. He didn't miss a single start as a rookie, but it's always important for teams to try and not run young RBs into the ground.

Najee Harris Projections

Projections from the NFL odds on FanDuel Sportsbook are aren't as high as they could be on Harris. Despite finishing fourth in the league in rushing yards, he only has the seventh-best odds (+1800) to lead the NFL in that category in 2022.

Harris is also fourth (+1400) when it comes to being the NFL's rushing touchdown leader. FanDuel Sportsbook is listing his projected rushing yard total at 1,120.5, with -112 odds to hit both the over and under.

The 24-year-old ground threat proved that he could handle a big workload last year, averaging 22.4 touches and 98.1 yards from scrimmage per game in 2021. Assuming he sees 350-plus opportunities again, Harris should end up near the top of most rushing categories.

Is Najee Harris a Good Fantasy Football Pick?

It's hard not to view Najee Harris as a good fantasy pick. You'd obviously want to draft someone like Jonathan Taylor or Austin Ekeler over him if you can, but there's nothing wrong if he's the top RB available when you're on the clock.

Harris currently clocks in at No. 4 on The Duel's PPR RB rankings ahead of the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Fantasy Pros has him ranked as RB5 with an average draft position of 6.8.

Oh, and if you drafted Harris with your first-round pick then you might want to check out the best Najee Harris fantasy football team names for your squad too.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.