{"id":39929,"date":"2025-04-10T07:51:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=39929"},"modified":"2025-04-10T07:51:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T07:51:32","slug":"breaking-steelers-linked-to-3-new-rbs-as-search-for-najee-harris-replacement-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=39929","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers Linked to 3 New RBs as Search for Najee Harris Replacement Continues.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Omarion-Hampton-e1744260839628.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Omarion-Hampton-e1744260839628.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Omarion-Hampton-e1744260839628.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Omarion-Hampton-e1744260839628.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Steelers host Omarion Hampton, Ollie Gordon and RJ Harvey on draft visits.\" width=\"780\" height=\"434\" data-dom-ready-time=\"303\" data-img-load-time=\"581\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">The Pittsburgh Steelers officially hosted North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton, among others, ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In the absence of four-year starter\u00a0Najee Harris, the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019\u00a0running back search added three new names \u2014 officially \u2014 to the growing list of candidates on April 9, with the headliner being potential first-round draft talent Omarion Hampton.<\/p>\n<p>Along with Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, the Steelers hosted Hampton (North Carolina) and Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II on Wednesday, according\u00a0to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Ray Fittipaldo.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of hours later on April 9, The Draft Network\u2019s\u00a0Justin Melo also reported\u00a0that UCF ball carrier RJ Harvey told him he has a pre-draft visit scheduled with the Steelers too. Melo revealed this bit of information after\u00a0interviewing Harvey exclusively.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Where Do Potential Steelers Draft Targets Omarion Hampton, Ollie Gordon &amp; RJ Harvey Rank Within 2025 RB Class?<\/h2>\n<p>The Athletic\u2019s NFL draft expert\u00a0Dane Brugler released his comprehensive prospect guide, \u201cThe Beast,\u201d\u00a0on April 9. Within it, he included his\u00a0full 2025 running back ranking.<\/p>\n<p>No matter who you ask, Hampton seems to be the consensus RB2 of this draft class behind Ashton Jeanty. Brugler did not disagree, ranking the 6-foot North Carolina product 29th overall in his top 100.<\/p>\n<p>Harvey, standing at 5-foot-8, made Brugler\u2019s top 10 running back ranking as well, at No. 8. He placed 93rd in the top 100 overall.<\/p>\n<p>Out of the three, Gordon (6-foot-1) was the only one to rank outside of Brugler\u2019s top 100. He\u2019s currently the 14th RB on Brugler\u2019s board.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Omarion Hampton &amp; Ollie Gordon Are Bigger Running Backs With Plus Acceleration &amp; Contact Balance<\/h2>\n<p>In terms of skillset, Hampton and Gordon are much more similar than Harvey. As you\u2019d expect, the potential first rounder is the most well-rounded of the three.<\/p>\n<p>At 22 years of age, Hampton is a former two-year starter and two-time 1,500-yard rusher. He can also catch the football well with just under 600 receiving yards over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Brugler describes Hampton\u00a0as a \u201cproven\u201d durable workhorse with an \u201cNFL-ready frame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHampton quickly reads the blocking scheme and collects his feet to accelerate through congestion or press and cut toward slivers of daylight,\u201d Brugler noted. \u201cOnce he gets north-south, he will mash the gas pedal into second-level defenders, but sometimes does so at the expense of his balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where Hampton and Gordon are similar is in their \u201cbruising\u201d style that relies on power and contact balance.<\/p>\n<p>At Oklahoma State, Gordon (21 years old) ran for over 1,700 yards in 2023, earning unanimous All-America honors. With less help around him in 2024, however, he struggled with just 880 rushing yards.<\/p>\n<p>Brugler explained why, in his opinion, stating that Gordon \u201chas somewhat of an identity crisis as a runner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has a wide, balanced gait and the acceleration to make defenders miss. But what he faced in the Big 12 wasn\u2019t close to the NFL pursuit he\u2019ll see, and he must embrace his size to be more of a banger through contact,\u201d the draft expert wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon is one of the bigger backs in the draft, but Brugler expressed throughout that he needs to display even more physicality. As a positive, he also said that Gordon\u2019s \u201cpromise as a blocker and pass catcher will help his chances on an NFL depth chart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Hampton and Gordon could have what it takes to lead a backfield \u2014 although Hampton is more \u201ccan\u2019t miss.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>RJ Harvey Is Former Quarterback With \u2018Dynamic Make-You-Miss\u2019 Elusiveness<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot to like about Harvey as a runner too, but he\u2019s different from Hampton and Gordon. While those two have both been bell-cow RBs for most of their football careers, Harvey is a former quarterback who only switched positions at UCF.<\/p>\n<p>He ended up taking over RB1 duties in his final two seasons, amassing nearly 3,000 rushing yards over the two-year span.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThough he doesn\u2019t have the power to drive through the first level, he is a dynamic make-you-miss runner with his tempo and burst (54 carries of 10 or more yards in 2024), which made him a frequent visitor to the end zone (UCF-record 48 total touchdowns),\u201d\u00a0Brugler scouted.<\/p>\n<p>Continuing: \u201cOverall, Harvey needs to develop better consistency on passing downs, but he is skilled at patiently settling his feet and changing lanes with his instinctive field vision and lateral quickness. Similar in ways to\u00a0Tyjae Spears, he projects best in a timeshare role in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A major strike against Harvey is that he\u2019ll be 24 years old by the time the 2025 campaign begins. In relation to the Steelers, he also might be too similar to current depth chart leaders\u00a0Jaylen Warren\u00a0and\u00a0Kenneth Gainwell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty The Pittsburgh Steelers officially hosted North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton, among others, ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. In the absence of four-year starter\u00a0Najee Harris,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers Linked to 3 New RBs as Search for Najee Harris Replacement Continues.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=39929\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers Linked to 3 New RBs as Search for Najee Harris Replacement Continues.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty The Pittsburgh Steelers officially hosted North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton, among others, ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. 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