Linebacker Malik Harrison is the latest Baltimore Ravens player to turn heel and sign with the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, following the footsteps of linebacker Patrick Queen, safety DeShon Elliott and others.
Like those other players, it didn’t take long for Harrison to send a warning shot at his former team.
When asked how he could help stop Derrick Henry and Baltimore’s potent run game, Harrison expressed confidence that he can be a difference-maker for Pittsburgh.
“Going against him in practice, you can’t do too much because you don’t want to mess with the church money,” Harrison told reporters at his introductory press conference on March 13. “Now being on the other side, I can really just unleash and dominate like I know I can do.”
The Steelers did a good job of bottling up Henry in the first matchup of the season in Week 11, limiting him to just 65 yards and one touchdown in an 18-16 home victory. The second and third matchups, in Week 16 and the Wild Card Round respectively, were an entirely different story, though.
In the second meeting, Henry ran for 162 yards and averaged nearly seven yards per carry in a 34-17 Ravens home victory. In the third meeting, he ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 7.2 yards per carry in a 28-14 home victory. The Steelers also ran for just 29 yards in that game, less than a sixth of Henry’s production alone.
To his credit, Harrison is a strong run defender. He’s a big linebacker at 6-3 and 255 pounds, and the Ravens, who had the league’s best rushing defense by a wide margin, used him primarily against the run in the second half of last season.
As many defenders will attest too, though, Henry is very difficult to bring down. Despite that, Harrison feels he’s up to the challenge.
“I’ve always just been the guy that’s very aggressive, I don’t shy away from contact,” Harrison said. “I feed off of contact. If somebody gets me, I’m going to have to get you back.”