Pittsburgh Steelers Steelers News
Is Jaylen Warren Unseating Najee Harris as the Steelers RB1?
Steelers running back Jaylen Warren dealt with injuries to begin the season, but he's hitting his stride and making a strong case as RB1.
PITTSBURGH – There weren’t a lot of positives to take away from the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas day, but once again, one of them was running back Jaylen Warren.
Warren rushed for 71 yards on 11 carries (6.5 yards per carry) while also adding five catches for 41 yards.
It’s great to see after the third-year running back dealt with several injuries to begin the season. Last month, Warren suffered a back injury after working through knee and hamstring injuries earlier in the year.
However, Warren seems to finally be healthy and playing some of his best football.
“Yeah, I do feel like I’m back to myself,” Warren said.
Warren isn’t just playing some of the best football of his career, though. He also seems to be outplaying fellow running back Najee Harris for the No. 1 running back spot.
In the first half of the Steelers’ loss, Harris rushed for just 21 yards on seven carries (three yards per carry). Warren, on the other hand, had eight carries for 71 yards (8.9 yards per carry).
Instead of sticking with the hot hand, however, the Steelers turned back to Harris in the second half.
Head coach Mike Tomlin revealed that wasn’t the original plan.
“You know, we had every intention of doing so. Whether you’re talking about those guys or anyone else, the bottom line is when you’re not operating the way that we are, nobody gets to do what it is they desire to do,” Tomlin said. “We need to look at all of those things, because again, we’re not going to continue to go through the same process and hope for a different result.”
The Steelers have long said that they view Warren and Harris as a one-two punch at running back, and rightfully so since they complement one another so well. But for the most part, they have leaned on Harris a little bit more. That seems to be changing.
Last week, Warren played 67 percent of the snaps (40) compared to Harris’ 28 percent (17) and he was much more productive, just as he was this week against the Chiefs.
While that might be the case, Warren is solely focused on getting back in the win column after dropping three straight games.
“You could say it’s working better but we just lost the last three games,” Warren said when asked if his current split with Harris is working better. “So I don’t know.”
Warren makes a good point but he hasn’t been an issue during the Steelers’ three-game losing streak. Sloppy football and turnovers have, and Harris has played a part in that.
In the Steelers Week 15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Harris wasn’t able to secure the football on a toss play late in the third quarter. He wasn’t credited with the fumble, but he took full accountability after learning quarterback Russell Wilson had it added to his stat sheet.
Wilson has had his fair share of turnovers as of late, too. So the Steelers could look to lean on their run game even more with two guaranteed games left on the schedule. It’s safe to expect a heavier dose of Warren if that’s the case.
“Jaylen has been great for us. Obviously, he was kind of injured, dinged up early in the season. He’s been great for us, making some bigtime runs, catches and all that,” Wilson said. “He does some special things. He’s physical. He’s tough to tackle. We’re excited about Jaylen. He’s going to be a big part of us turning this around.”
If Warren continues playing the way he has, it will difficult to argue against him being the Steelers’ new lead back.
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.