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Will probably come down to landing spots.
Won 1.1 in two leagues draft playoffs. Najee has played two games since I knew I won 1.1 and I've pretty much been watching those games with the mindset that I'm watching my new player to those teams. Landing spot matters of course so I'm not running to the virtual podium right now but it's going to take a lot to knock him off that perch.
That is the debate that will go back and forth for awhile. Both are capable receivers, so the added value in the receiving game depends mostly on the teams that draft them. Najee Harris is the better pure runner; he is a rare blend of power, vision and speed. Etienne, on the other hand, is capable of ripping off a big play any time he touches the ball; he has more speed, agility and explosiveness. I would personally be happy with either. I think you are really splitting hairs to rank one ahead of the other.
I think Harris will be the more consistent high scorer but Etienne will have more blow up games.
100% Harris for me...he's not only a three down back but he's very big man who runs extremely hard...during the Ohio State game some of his best runs were small gains where his footwork was fantastic.
Just curious, what do you not see Harris as a three down back? I am impressed with his receiving skills, does he struggle in pass pro?
Either dreaming or got bad info. He's very much an everydown back.
I had said in the post above this as of now Harris is my guy at 1.1, landing spot matters, I can certainly see Etieene or Jovante at least being in consideration and maybe more. I can certainly recall RB's over the years that this time of year were not in a lot of people's top 5 or even sometimes top 10 RB's that emerge as 1.1 candidates.
Yeah, I thought it was sarcasm and then thought it was dreaming. Or I could have read it wrong. He had five touchdowns on third down this year. And I checked his feed. He had written nothing of the sort. Oh my. What was I looking at and thinking?
Normally I'd agree with this but I would explain this away by him only being a two year starter. So he still only has the usage of a guy that is 21 or so.
I think this year's version of Najee was different. His pass catching, jump cuts, and open field juice weren't there before. Not like this. And he added them without the other attributes of his game (vision, balance, and finish) suffering. That's the subtle difference between a lead back and a good back and that line is thin in our game.
People say things like this every season and every season I'll point out how that rule can't apply to these factory schools like Alabama, Ohio State, et. al. where they just line up talent year after year and players have to wait their turn or be worked into committees with their other heavily recruited studs.
There are 4 factory RB's that have been drafted in the first 2 rounds in the last 5 years. Zeke broke out as a sophomore at age 19. Derrick Henry did it as a junior age 21. JK Dobbins as a true freshman at age 18. Josh Jacobs as a junior age 20. Those last 2 are actually younger than Najee right now.
Fully agree...his first two years he shared with Jacobs and Harris so there really doesn't need to be another explanation...also, last year he went for 1,224-5.9-13 rushing and 27-236-7 receiving so I think using the term breakout to apply to this year is not true (and being in a RBBC his sophomore year he was 783-6.7-4 so it's not like he was riding pine)...this year he took his game to another level and became far more refined which is different than breaking out...also, he was the #1 RB recruit in the nation so this is not a guy who came out of nowhere...IMO the fact he came back for his senior year was a big plus for him because he is now entering the NFL as a far more complete RB than he was.
Not really - not to mention, he really broke-out last season not this season. I do think his current age needs to be considered since RBs have shorter shelf lives but how was he really supposed to breakout when Jacobs and the other Harris were still in the mix? They weren't slouches.
I'm curious (but not enough to do it myself) what the names were of the guys they started ahead of. Were they any good?
We don't agree about 2019.
I think he was a good, productive RB in 2019. I do not think he was the head-turner that he was this year.
Najee and Josh Jacobs are identical age, so why was it Jacobs got work and Najee had to wait until the rest of his class had moved on?
Ummmm... Jacobs not getting a huge share of the backfield was a knock on him that was repeated over and over on these boards.
2014 Bama - Yeldon-Henry
The last year they played together here are the rushing totals:
Interesting. I didn't realize that was the 2018 split. He must really not want that juicy 2nd RB contract
I didn't understand his decision to return at the time, but he bet on himself and was right. He was likely a 3rd round pick had he declared last season. Now he may get drafted round 1.
Najee did make himself more money on his rookie contract. Career wise money, it's debatable. What was puzzling was Etienne going back and going from a borderline 1st/2nd rounder to... a borderline 1st/2nd rounder. Chuba going back was a mistake. Bryce Love says hi. Going back is a gamble, but Najee definitely made himself more 1st contract money.
Agree with all that you wrote but we are probably going to hear a lot these next few months about the "great" decision Najee made so I absolutely appreciate you pointing out the difference between making himself more on his rookie contract vs his career.Edgar said:
The Falcons have the third pick in the second round...whether they pick there or trade up a few spots I would not be surprised at all if Harris, Etienne or Williams ends up there and gets the fantasy community very excited about their potential.
Says the guy with 1.1 and 1.2. Hopefully you get a better drafting team than I did when I was temporarily (for literally a minute) thinking Swift was going to KC. Good luck!
I haven't watched any of his 2020 games yet so maybe he has improved a lot from what I saw of him in 2018-19 where I did not think he demonstrated more skill and abilities than Damien Harris who was a 3rd round pick. Now he is being talked about as the best RB of the 2021 class?MAC_32 said:
The breakout is legitimate. His breakout age is also legitimate. Both need to be considered when it's time to draft.
Well after I watch some 2020 games maybe I will agree with MAC32 about his improvement. I am not sure yet.
