PITTSBURGH — Neither Le’Veon Bell nor Eddie Lacy are on an NFL team at the moment, but eight years after they were drafted, it’s clear which running back had the better pro career. The one who went to the Steelers at 48th overall made two All-Pro first teams and two Pro Bowls, while the one chosen by the Packers 13 picks later in the second round was out of the league in five years.

At the time, it was a hot debate around whom the Steelers should’ve taken to bolster their running game. Lacy was the bruising, bowling ball of a rusher coming off an MVP performance in the national championship for title-winning Alabama. Bell was the tall, pass-catching back who racked up prolific numbers at Michigan State but was widely viewed as a lesser prospect than Lacy.

To their surprise, both were on the board midway through Round 2 — plus Wisconsin’s tough-running Montee Ball — and they had a major decision to make. Mike Tomlin later called it an “easy” choice to make Bell the second-highest back drafted that year behind Giovani Bernard, and eventually it emerged that the Steelers — like other teams — were concerned about Lacy’s injury history. Still, there was no doubt they’d be compared for years to come, especially since the Steelers had their pick of the litter.

Ball flamed out after 21 games, battling alcoholism and weight gain, but Lacy and Bell were trains on parallel tracks. Lacy got off to a hot start, winning offensive rookie of the year in Green Bay, but never hit 1,000 yards again after his first two seasons. Bell got better with age, leading the NFL in carries while Lacy was struggling to make an impact with his new team, the Seahawks.

Look to the 2021 draft, and the Steelers had another tough call to make on the top running backs. Najee Harris and Travis Etienne always were going to be measured against one another after playing for powerhouse programs Alabama and Clemson, electing to return to school and staying in the same class, then being chosen back-to-back last week by the Steelers and Jaguars.

Of course, this time around, the Steelers went with the Alabama workhorse. The irony is that Harris is much more Bell than Lacy, with his size and receiving ability making him the longtime target in Pittsburgh. But Etienne also had Tomlin and Kevin Colbert at his pro day, so he seemed to think he was in play for the Steelers when they grabbed Harris.

“When that 24th pick was there, I was nervous,” Etienne told Jaguars reporters on draft night. “I didn’t know where they were going to go with it. ... I was secretly rooting for Jacksonville.”

It’s easy for Etienne to say that now, given that the Steelers passed on him, the Jaguars snagged him, and he’s reunited with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Harris appears to be thrilled with his destination, too.

But that won’t stop them from being tied together, especially since they were the only two running backs to go in the first round, and draft analysts were nearly split on the Harris-Etienne quandary. Among the heavy hitters, Harris got the nod from ESPN’s Mel Kiper, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, Pro Football Focus and NFL Network’s Gil Brandt, Bucky Brooks and Maurice Jones-Drew. Etienne was the No. 1 back for ESPN’s Todd McShay, NBC’s Chris Simms and NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah and Lance Zierlein.

“I feel like I can do all of that stuff [Bell did], if not better,” Harris said the day after he was drafted. “I’m excited to learn more.”

Obviously, Harris and Etienne are headed to vastly different situations, one with a future Hall of Fame quarterback and the other with a rookie, albeit the No. 1 pick. They’re also different players, with Harris a big-bodied back who rarely fumbles, and Etienne a smaller-but-faster, huge-play threat who had problems with ball security.