Bobby Burack
Videos by OutKick
Draft season sometimes brings out the worst in us.
While Najee Harris is widely viewed as the best RB in the 2021 NFL Draft, don’t be alarmed if he slides on Todd McShay’s next mock. It’s not that Harris’ stock is falling, but the mock drafter may reload the film now that Harris has told him to kiss his ass.
On Adam Schefter’s podcast, Harris took offense when Schefter read Todd McShay’s player profile, which said Harris showed “improvement” as a pass-catcher in 2020.
“I think Todd McShay can kiss my ass,” Harris responded.
Well, there you have it.
“How is he gonna say, ‘He showed better production’? I did not play my freshman or sophomore seasons, rarely, ever,” Harris goes on.
“I didn’t have an opportunity to show I could catch. It’s not ’cause I can’t. It’s ’cause I wasn’t in the game to show people I could catch. So let’s just stop looking at the stat sheet and watch the game.”
If you read between the lines, Harris isn’t buying McShay’s analysis.
This is the problem with making money as a draft expert. You get crushed even when you pay a player a compliment. I haven’t seen McShay fire back yet, but for the sake of content, I remain hopeful.
Long for the day when Mel Kiper Junior would push back on Bill Tobin and the draft would just explode as a result. Guess is that McShay downplays this due to corporate preference to “cool it” and desires to not cause controversy.
What McShay should have said is “Najee Harris can also kiss my a**” but this would result in McShay being labeled as a racist and being cancelled….but that would be the right thing to do though!
Najee better grow tougher skin. The are plenty of “analysts” out there that will state their opinion on one’s skill set. McShay is giving his take on Harris’ improvement, right or wrong. Najee will get criticized at some point going forward. He can’t react like that, pretty immature.
I agree about players needing tougher skin. Most players who don’t do the combine(which I think is a joke. Who gets to run straight 40 yard dashes or throw passes without pads, cleats and defenders), should just respond by saying they appreciate constructive criticism but to just look at the tape.
Best example: Jeff Okudah’s combine interview with that idiot “reporter” who incorrectly accused Okudah of “sloppy” play at OSU his last year there.
Najee Harris is Kevin Durant in the making. I wonder if he has DM’ed Michael Rappaport yet.
Najee
Yikes I like this dude as a player, but I hope he doesn’t end up in a big market where the coverage might actually *gasp* criticize him sometimes.
Harris is a solid player but he would not be above Etienne on my board. Tall RBs not named Derrick Henry usually don’t turn into first round worthy nfl backs. You’re a big target and usually not shifty. Of the top 25 rushers last year two were 6’2” or taller and one was Derrick Henry. Harris is not in Henry’s universe physically. I think he projects as a Latavius Murray type player. A solid back, but I’m not spending a first round pick on him. He just doesn’t have another gear to run away from defenders or ability to make guys miss like Etienne does. It’s like you’re comparing the Saints backs here. You want Kamara or Murray? That’s Etienne and Harris to me.
Draft experts are fools. They get fed by leaks from teams. They have to comb through true and false. They do not have any real knowledge themselves.
Who can forget Mel Kiper having Logan Thomas as the #1 QB on his “big board” entering his final year at VPI. Now Thomas has proven to be a really good maybe potential great TE but there was no planet he was an NFL QB.