The definition of insanity states… oh forget it. You know damn well what the definition of insanity is because you’ve likely been a football fan long enough to know exactly what it is. For Steelers’ fans, our current ‘insanity causing issue’ is the toss sweep to Najee Harris. But is it really something to get bent out of shape about? I could easily accept arguments on both sides so let me take a look.
The Najee Harris that many fans knew from Alabama is not the same Najee Harris of today. That’s not a knock on Harris by any stretch. We have to recognize that while Harris played in the SEC, he was still able to take toss sweeps and make big plays out of them. But in the NFL, it’s just not that easy.
Harris lacks the speed and ‘wiggle’ necessary to find consistent success when running wide. I could also state that the blocking isn’t always up to snuff – from wide receivers to O-Linemen – either and that’s fair. This isn’t to suggest that Harris hasn’t had positive plays when Arthur Smith sends him wide but more often than not he isn’t finding much success.
So Why Does Smith Keep Calling It?
Yeah, here’s the insanity part. If I had a dime for every time a fan tweets about the toss sweep I’d have a mountain of dimes. I feel the pain of those tweets. It’s frustrating to see the QB open and toss the ball to Harris. You can literally see the play happening before it actually does.
Before he gets to the line of scrimmage, Harris will already have been contacted by a defender. Assuming he gets past him, then a massive blob of humanity awaits. Getting through this has been like trying to get a butter knife through a frozen steak. Sometimes he makes some progress while most of the time not so much.
I cannot get into the mind of Smith to tell you exactly why he calls this so much with Harris but I do have some theories. First, I don’t think any of us will argue that Harris is much better between the tackles than outside of them. In order for Harris to be perceived as more than just a 1980’s style thumper, Smith needs to give opposing defenses something else to think about.
There was a time, back into the 1940s, when Army used ‘Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside’ to win a National Championship. One guy always got the ball on wide plays while one guy always got the ball between the tackles. That concept doesn’t work any longer. Smith knows he can’t put Jaylen Warren in there for “wide” plays only and use Harris for the inside yards only. That’s too easy to defend.
Therefore, Smith has to utilize both guys in ways that may not be to their strengths. This, in theory, should keep the defense honest. But the question remains, why do it so much? How many times do you call it before you realize it just isn’t going to happen? Is it being called often just in the hopes that Harris may break one?
I’m sure the answer lies somewhere but I can also tell you that this receiving corps is not great at blocking either and that’s been an issue. If you can’t establish a wall then you aren’t going to get far and no one is questioning the effort of Harris either. This is simply about why the same play gets used so often with so little results.
So it is really insanity? Not quite but it sure feels like it.
