Dolphins’ Senior Bowl roster gets boost with Alabama RB Najee Harris

The Miami Dolphins’ bid to upgrade their running game just got a bit of a boost — as the Dolphins look to vet through all of the running back prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft, there will only be a handful they will come to know as well as Alabama’s Najee Harris. Because not only is Harris a former teammate of Dolphins passer Tua Tagovailoa, but he’s also become the latest college prospect committed to playing for the Dolphins coaching staff in the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl next week. The news came through yesterday that Harris was being added to the Senior Bowl event and that he, along with Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith, would be under the direction of the Dolphins’ staff.

There are plenty of Dolphins fans who would be perfectly content with a 1-2 punch in the first round of this year’s draft that includes both of Alabama’s Senior Bowl participants in Smith and Harris. And if the team is going to ambitiously build around quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, what better way to do so than by pulling the same talents that made him so successful with the Crimson Tide?

Harris is, however, not a complete lock to play in the event. Smith has already been confirmed to be sitting out due to a thumb injury — and Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy relayed that Harris is undergoing treatment for an ankle injury suffered against Notre Dame and will need to be evaluated prior to the event.

Whether he plays or not, Harris will spend the next week with the Dolphins coaching staff. And Miami will get a front row seat into one of the most talented backs in this year’s class. And if the Dolphins like what they see, the temptation may prove to be too much and we may need to start calling the Dolphins the Miami Crimson Tide. If their build around Tagovailoa is going to be successful, you can certainly think of a lot of worse routes to take.