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Najee Harris Had Honest Take on Steelers’ Struggles After Ben Roethlisberger Retired

Andy Nesbitt

Najee Harris played one season with Ben Roethlisberger before the QB retired.
Najee Harris played one season with Ben Roethlisberger before the QB retired. / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
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Najee Harris's time with the Pittsburgh Steelers came to an end last week when he signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. Now he's opening up about his time with his former team and how they struggled after Ben Roethlisberger retired.

Harris only played one year with Roethlisberger before the QB called it quits after the 2021 season. The Steelers' offense struggled the following season with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett starting 12 games.

Harris spoke about how the lack of experience on that team made things tough for him:

"We just didn't know anything on offense really," Harris said during an interview with KCAL9 News. "We didn't have any identity. We had a young guy coming in at QB. I really didn't have nobody to almost learn from on the offensive side. I think the veteran guy on that team was a two, three year vet. He’s still learning himself. I’m coming in and I’m just trying to look for people to pick their brain and it was just defensive guys. So I’d go to the defensive guys and talk to them but there wasn’t much they could tell me about offense."

The Steelers went 9-8 in 2022 but didn't make the playoffs. The franchise has struggled to find a replacement for Roethlisberger and hasn't won a postseason game since 2016.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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