Najee Harris is a valuable fantasy asset. However, I am seeing him drafted and ranked over Joe Mixon far too often. You should draft Joe Mixon over Najee Harris in 2022 Fantasy Football Leagues.
Here’s Why:
In 2021, both Najee and Mixon ran around 4.0 yards per carry, and had 1200 rushing yards. The differences were in touchdowns for Mixon and receptions for Harris.
Najee Harris had 94 receiving targets in 2021 from an aging Ben Roethlisberger who was unable to scramble and hyper-fixated on Najee and Diontae Johnson when he got under pressure in the pocket.
The Steelers have traded for Mitchell Trubisky to be their new starting QB. He is 27 and in his previous tenure as a starter with the Chicago Bears, he was quite mobile averaging 47.5 rushing attempts per year from 2017-2020.
Moreover, Najee Harris has said in an interview with Chris Adamski, “I will not be on the field for certain plays”. If they start limiting the snap count for a volume-based running back it could hurt his fantasy value.
Joe Mixon had a career high 16 touchdowns in 2021. 13 of those touchdowns were rushing touchdowns behind a Bengals offensive line that struggled.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Steelers 2021 offensive line 26th in the NFL. They have since downgraded their projected 2022 ranking to 30th. Meanwhile, Cincinnati had a great off-season, with acquisitions of players like, Alex Cappa, La’el Collins, and Ted Karras. The Bengals have jumped from PFF’s 20th ranked offensive line in 2021, all the way to the 8th.
The Cincinnati Bengals offense should be improved in both the passing and rushing game with the better offensive line play. This should result in both a better ypc for Mixon in 2022 and an increase in rushing attempts with the Bengals playing from ahead more often.
Now you know why you should Draft Joe Mixon over Najee Harris in your 2022 Fantasy Football Leagues.
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2 Comments
So where are you ranking Mixon and Najee among rbs for drafting?
Mixon is my RB 6 and Najee is lower, but how low depends on if Kamara gets suspended.