The New York Giants have officially signed free-agent running back Najee Harris to a one-year deal following a Monday workout, as first reported by Ian Rapoport.
The G-Men have seemingly been floating around the idea of Harris all offseason, but they finally pulled the trigger after Saturday’s ugly preseason-opening stinker against the Minnesota Vikings.
New head coach John Harbaugh is determined to build a tougher, more physical football team, and Saturday’s complete lack of a rushing attack -- and obligatory course-correcting panic -- made an addition to the backfield all but necessary.
The urgency peaked when Tyrone Tracy Jr. completely missed a block, allowing Jaxson Dart to get absolutely lit up on an untouched blitz by Jay Ward. It was a brutal hit that sent New York’s franchise quarterback straight to the blue medical tent to get checked for a concussion. For clarification, Big Blue did not bring Harris in for a visit because of this -- that meeting was scheduled last week.
Compounding the disaster, the team waived last year’s preseason darling Dante “Turbo” Miller with an injury designation after the game. With Miller gone and Tracy proving to be a liability in pass protection, Harbaugh simply couldn’t afford to wait around any longer, prompting the Giants to call Harris and bring some much-needed insurance to the backfield.
Giants found their bruiser in Najee Harris but expectations need a reality check
Harris brings an impressive résumé to East Rutherford, boasting four 1,000-yard rushing seasons over his five-year career and 4,373 career rushing yards. At 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, his frame is purpose-built for punishing defenders, giving Harbs the exact kind of tone-setting back he wants out of his backfield.
Here’s a closer look at those numbers:
- Looks good on paper: Four 1,000-yard campaigns in five years
- Looks good coming out of the backfield: 6-foot-1, 240 pounds of pure downhill power
- Looks like he'll need to do better than that: A career 3.9 yards-per-carry average
Let’s be real about what Harris is at this stage of his career: The 28-year-old is a volume-dependent runner who lacks breakaway speed and has a tendency to dance a little too much behind the line of scrimmage instead of immediately going north-south. Oh, and he's also coming off a torn Achilles.
So, level-set, meet expectations.
His bruising running style comes with plenty of "where are you going", evidenced by his less-than-stellar career average of 3.9 yards per carry. If the offensive line can’t open up running lanes, Harris is going to run directly into a wall of defenders at the line of scrimmage, just like everyone else did on Saturday -- 2.6 yards per carry on the day, yuck.
Still, that doesn’t mean he can’t help.
Harris has an uphill fight to make the roster, with Cam Skattebo, Tracy, and Devin Singletary currently standing in his way. But after what happened against Minnesota, the door is certainly open for someone to force Harbaugh’s hand. New York’s next preseason game against the Miami Dolphins should give fans another clue as to who will stick on the final 53-man roster come September.
It’s a low-risk, high(ish)-floor signing that immediately adds some much-needed physicality to a vulnerable running back room. Harris is here to get back to 100%, grind out short-yardage runs, punish defenders, and, most importantly, help make sure Dart doesn’t get mollywhopped into another universe.
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