Najee Harris says he's glad Deshaun Watson came to the AFC North. 'We embrace all the smoke'

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

With all the movement going on across the league with trades and the talent coming to the AFC, most notably at the quarterback position, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk asked Najee Harris on Friday about the new competition in the AFC and Harris said he's not fazed by it.

"Hell nah, we embrace all the smoke," Harris said. "We want everybody to come here. That's the thing, we want everybody to come here. This is like the most gridiron conference. Not only are all these good players coming here, but it's all good defenses and I got to go up against the defenses. The more good I do against them, the more better I look, you know what I mean? Imagine that, no one can ever say, 'Well, he went up against a weak defense.' You can't say that because we're going up against dawgs every day. So, that's what I like about it best. I am glad that Deshaun Watson came over here."

Florio followed by asking Harris what's the next step in his career. Personally, Harris said that he wants to become a better leader in 2022.

"I think I really got to step into that area of my career right now to become more of a vocal leader since Ben (Roethlisberger) gone. So we need someone on the offensive side to be that," Harris said.

Team-wise, Harris said the first goal is to win the division. The Steelers are currently projected by the oddsmakers to finish last in the AFC North.

"It's a hard division and we like that, we embrace that," Harris said. "So, come in there and win our division, I think that will be one of the first things that we want to knock off on our to-do list. Obviously, to win it all too, but take it step-by-step."

In the interview with Florio, Harris also talked about teaming up with Tony the Tiger, mascot for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal, for Mission Tiger at Pittsburgh Public Greenfield Elementary School. In partnership with Kellog's Frosted Flakes' Mission Tiger, a $44,000 donation was awarded to Pittsburgh Public Schools to support sports programs, helping more than 38,000 students across the district.