Steelers' Jaylen Warren Gets Huge Compliment From Hall Of Famer Tony Gonzalez

Jaylen Warren has gone from undrafted free agent to the engine of one of the NFL's best rushing attacks. The Pittsburgh Steelers running back has been piling up honors at the midway point of the season, and the praise keeps coming. Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez joined the list this week, and he did not leave much room for debate about where Warren stands among the league's most overlooked players.

Gonzalez made the comment on Prime Video's Thursday Night Football coverage, and NFL on Prime shared the moment on X, noting that Gonzalez is big on the Steelers this season.

"I think [Jaylen Warren's] probably the most underrated football player in the whole NFL," Gonzalez said.

That is a bold statement, but Warren's numbers make it hard to argue with. According to ESPN, Warren has 704 rushing yards on 119 carries this season. His 5.9 yards per carry ranks first in the league, and his rushing total ranks sixth even though he ranks 15th in carries.

Warren has been more than a runner, too. He has added 25 catches for 294 yards and a touchdown, giving him nearly 1,000 yards from scrimmage through eight games. That puts him on pace to shatter his career highs. Last season, he ran for 958 yards at 4.5 yards per carry over 16 games.

Warren has also shown he can hit the home run. His longest run this season went for 51 yards, and his longest catch went for 80 yards. For a back who is often described as a grinder, that kind of big-play ability is part of what makes him so hard to defend.

Gonzalez is not the first big name to notice. SteelerNation covered how Warren earned a remarkable midseason honor from PFF as the team's highest-graded player, and how Ben Roethlisberger made an MVP push for him. The underrated label may not last much longer if this keeps up.

Part of the reason Warren has flown under the radar is how he got here. He went undrafted out of Oklahoma State in 2022 and spent his first few seasons splitting carries. Even now, he shares the backfield with Rico Dowdle, which keeps his raw totals lower than the league's workhorse backs. 

His efficiency tells a different story. Now 28 years old and in his fifth NFL season, Warren is playing the best football of his career at exactly the right time for a team chasing a division title. He has been the most productive back in football on a per-carry basis, and he does it with a physical style that wears defenses down.

Gonzalez's opinion carries weight. He was a 14-time Pro Bowler and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, so he knows what it looks like when a player does more than his reputation suggests. He also has no ties to Pittsburgh, which makes his endorsement of Warren even more notable.

Head Coach Mike McCarthy has leaned into that identity. The Steelers have used the run game to take pressure off Aaron Rodgers, and a young offensive line has opened big holes. In his Week 10 preview, former head coach Jon Gruden said the Steelers' line has been coming off the ball and physically taking it to people. Warren said this week that he has been surprised by how far ahead McCarthy and Rodgers are schematically, and the results show up every week.

Steelers Need Warren At His Best Against The Bengals

The Bengals know what is coming. Keeping the ball away from Joe Burrow may be the best defense the Steelers have against an offense that has scored at least 31 points in four straight games. A long, grinding drive led by Warren would do more than move the chains. It would keep Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on the sideline.

Sunday night will give Warren his biggest stage of the season. The Steelers and Bengals are both 6-2, and the winner takes sole possession of first place in the AFC North. If Warren puts up another big game in prime time, plenty more people may start agreeing with Gonzalez, and the word underrated may finally stop following him around.

This story was produced with the help of AI and reviewed by SteelerNation editors.

#SteelerNation