No Running Back Change Coming for Steelers

PITTSBURGH — Think the Steelers will make a change at running back? Don’t think so too soon. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren is a hotly contested debate but in Week 3, they nearly split their snap share down the middle. But still, Harris is known as the lead back in the rotation. Could the Steelers really look to change that and flip Warren to the top back on the team? It seems unlikely to happen.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada shot down the idea that there could be a flipping of those roles. Instead, they embrace Warren as the second back who gets about 40 percent of the snaps, while Harris remains the power, lead back in the rotation. That has not changed since training camp.

“I think we came in — obviously we are looking for a lot of games, a long season, trying to manage touches and do those things,” Canada said. “Not saying it’s exactly balanced. Fair point. The first game is what it was. We didn’t execute early. We got ourselves down by three scores and the game got out of hand. It wasn’t anywhere close to the plan we wanted to run and the things we wanted to do and so we lost the game. I think that’s the biggest thing around here, is that once we’re inside the building all that matters is winning that game at the time. Then you go on to win the next game the next week. So long-term, how that balance plays out, it’s not like a major focus. I think we want to be balanced to a point. Obviously, Najee is our guy. He’s going to have the workload and the majority of carries in a lot of instances. But unbelievable. We think Jaylen is a great talent and does a lot of things, and when he spells Najee good things happen too.”

Their run game has not worked regardless of running back. And when it does work, the Steelers, generally, have a mix of both. That is to say that Warren and Harris each complement one each other well, and the problems with the running game do not come to the running back position. In fact, they mostly go to schematics and blocking up front. The Steelers run out of condensed, heavy personnel so much that they will look to flip that in some aspect. Canada noted that the team could look to spread the offenses out more in the future.

But the bottom line when it comes down to the running back position — both players are vastly different and each is getting a lot of run. Warren has played on 43% of the snaps so far this season, that’s up from just 25% last season. So, it seems pretty simple. The Steelers have made a tweak already in their rotation. It’s just not going to flip the other way.