The Pittsburgh Steelers unearthed a gem with the pick-up of undrafted running back, Jaylen Warren. As his role grew and his play caught more eyes, he showcased some real talent to be an effective NFL back. He's become a trendy pick as an underrated star player for the team in 2023. Warren figures to play a role in the Steelers' offense, but the question still remains how many carries will he be taking from Najee Harris?
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Steelers running back Jaylen Warren tries to evade an oncoming tackle from a New Orleans Saints defender in a 2023 regular season game.
Steelers insider for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Ray Fittipaldo joined The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller on Thursday afternoon and broke down how he sees things playing out. While the discussion started with a question about Harris' rushing total at the end of the season, it morphed into chatter about the division of carries.
"It was pretty much 70-30 last year in favor of Najee [Harris] and I don’t think that’s going to change all that much, he said. "If people were expecting to see a carry-sharing situation, I don’t see that."
Harris and Warren split 349 of the Steelers' 500 rushing attempts last season. Harris carried the bulk of the work with 272 attempts. Warren only got 77 carries, but he averaged 4.9 yards per attempt compared to only 3.8 for Harris.
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Steelers running back Najee Harris tries to avoid a tackle during a regular season game against the Buffalo Bills.
Harris suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in the 2022 training camp and started the season playing with a steel plate in his cleat. He got noticeably more comfortable as the season went on including games after the bye week against the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons where he averaged over 5 yards per carry. The Steelers are hoping that if he can come in fully healthy, he'll be able to keep up to that level of play.
Steelers Still Committed To Getting Warren The Ball
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris (#22) warms up during a regular season game at Heinz Field in 2021.
Harris was healthy in his rookie season and Head Coach Mike Tomlin fed him a lot. He led the league in total touches and was nominated for the Pro Bowl. It's not surprising that after taking him in the first round, the Steelers wanted to try to get the most out of him. It's exactly that kind of logic and Tomlin's past of loving to have a 'bell-cow' that has co-host Chris Mueller wondering if the team could revert to giving Harris the overwhelming majority of the work.
Fittipaldo doesn't think a move like that is in the cards and largely because of what he's heard from the coaching staff during the Organized Team Activities portion of the offseason.
"They went into last season wanting to take carries off Najee [Harris] and they accomplished that," he said. "Eddie Faulkner [Steelers running back coach] was very vocal about that and I think when he speaks is just parroting what Tomlin wants. They have a good number two [in Jaylen Warren] and there’s no reason to shy away from giving him carries."
Warren and Harris look primed to give the Steelers a one-two punch at running back they haven't had in a long time. There's still competition for the job to back them up with Anthony McFarland Jr. likely in the lead, but plenty of room for others to emerge in training camp.
It may not be an equal partnership between Harris and Warren moving forward, but both should play an important role. Harris is entering a pivotal year in which the Steelers will have to decide if he's part of their long-term future. Reducing his load with a back who is proving he can do it might be the smartest play.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Should Warren's carry percentage trend higher than the almost 30% it was at last year? If Harris is healthy, do you still want carries taken away from him? Comment below!
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