Steelers’ Jaylen Warren Gets Some Revenge As He Flexes On Elandon Roberts After A Savage Backs-On-Backers Drill

The Pittsburgh Steelers began training camp at the end of July to prepare for the 2023 season. As always, fans flocked to St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, hoping to get a glimpse of some action. One of spectator's favorite drills is backs on backers, where the running backs and the linebackers square up against each other one on one.

Backs on backers drills always start on the first day players wear pads and it has become a Steelers staple. This is hardly surprising given how the Steelers pride themselves in being very physical. The drill gives the coaches an opportunity to see just how aggressive players are willing to get. Sometimes the winners are a bit of a surprise. 

Steelers’ Jaylen Warren Gives Elandon Roberts A Taste Of His Own Medicine

Quite often, a favorite emerges during camp, a player who just can't be easily stopped. Last year, then-rookie running back Jaylen Warren outperformed expectations during the backs on backers drill. Head Coach Mike Tomlin pitted him against former Steelers linebacker Robert Spillane and Warren managed to get the best of him. This performance, which was better than most predicted for Warren, surely helped him earn a spot on the final roster. 

This meant there were already high expectations for Warren to excel again in Latrobe in 2023. While he had a solid start to camp, there has been another player blowing fans away during backs on backers. This year that honor goes to newbie Elandon Roberts. 

Roberts is entering his eighth year in the NFL. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2016, he also spent two years with the Miami Dolphins on his way to Pittsburgh. A two-time Super Bowl winner, Roberts has had a solid career and has clearly spent time around championship teams, for this reason, and to provide some veteran depth, the Steelers nabbed him in free agency. 

According to multiple sources, including Chris Adamski of Trib Live, Roberts excelled at backs on backers. Adamski said that Tomlin was very happy with what he saw from Roberts and called them "varsity reps." Apparently, not everyone was thrilled with Roberts' success and one of his teammates sought a little revenge. 

Former Steelers linebacker Arthur Moats is very familiar with the backs on backers drills and was at a recent practice. He said he saw a different side of both Warren and Roberts. On his podcast The Arthur Moats Experience, Moats told his co-host Deke that watching this year has been thoroughly entertaining. 

"Elandon has been dogging folk on backs on backers with his physicality. But he's a bull rush guy, so he ran through Najee [Harris], a couple of these other backs. It got to the point where it's like, alright you versus Jaylen because Jaylen was stonewalling folks."

According to Moats, not only was Roberts impressing at training camp that day, so was Warren. He was looking like the Warren of 2022 and per Moats was "popping folks in the mouth." He said that first rep against each other, Warren had a good stop, but didn't totally kill him. 

But it must have been the first time that Roberts had really been stopped. Moats said on the prior reps, Roberts had been putting opponents down on their backs. If he didn't get them on the ground, he at least drove them back.   

Moats said he was just telling his friend in the booth that Roberts was getting too predictable, doing the same move every time. He said while it was working, he knew the running backs would figure it out. 

"Literally he came back and did that exact same thing and Jaylen loaded up, got up under him, fired on his chin and you see Roberts hit the ground. No exaggeration, Jaylen big boy n*ts on him, flexes like this (mimics a flexing pose with his arms in front of his chest) and everybody lost their mind." 

One of Roberts' best features is his physicality, but Moats said that he really needs to change it up. Of course, it's a drill, not a game, so expectations are not quite as high.     

Both players are exceeding expectations during these drills and bringing the kind of smashmouth football the Steelers are known for to camp. Now it will just be a matter of seeing how it transfers to the preseason and actual games. 

What do you think about Warren? What do you see as Roberts' impact on the team so far? Do you expect him to start? Click to comment below. 

#SteelerNation