but there's something to be said for the fact that he had four 1,000-yard season with 28 total touchdowns in his four years with the team
There certainly is: He's one of the league's most inefficient runners. What production he's had is predicated on his riduculous volume, and not much else. No explosion or burst to any part of his game. Yeah, he'll run mean at times, but turtle ball is turtle ball. No juice. Limited vision. Really bad fit for Smith's "wide zone" running scheme too.
His attitude is perfect, by all accounts he is a "plus teammate", and he doesnt put the ball on the ground (which essentially elevates anyone to sainthood with Mike Tomlin), buuuut he is just a very, very pedestrian/fungible runner. When your job is running, that is a problem. Particularly when the guy backing you up comes in, behind the same OLs/OCs, and shows twice the vision and juice and is a better weapon in the passing game.
It would be just about the most "Tomlin" thing ever to bring Naj back and let an obviously superior actual runner leave town because he fumbles it a few more times a year.
The Steelers would be loads better off paying Warren, drafting a true burner with vision to work in behind him, and then throw three UDRFA darts at the position than they would be tripling down on "stegosaurus ball" again. Naj wasnt a good pick. Time to let go of it.