Steelers Sights & Sounds: Harris, Warren Work Inside Zone

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers scored a big play in the running game in their Week 2 preseason game against the Buffalo Bills when Jaylen Warren took off for a 62-yard score through the Buffalo defense.

The play Warren scored on was a simple inside zone handoff, one that the Steelers have run repeatedly throughout this training camp and preseason. The keys to the play are the jet sweep fake holding the backside linebacker, solid second-level blocking by the offensive line, and the running back having the vision to pick the correct hole to explode through.

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At practice on Monday, running backs coach Eddie Faulkner put his backs through a vision drill, having one back simulate a linebacker to force the ballcarrier to pick between a front-side run and a cutback, and then Faulkner himself closing off other rushing lanes.

The play and overall success of Warren in his second season with the Steelers has sparked conversation that he may overtake Harris as the team’s top running back, but offensive coordinator Matt Canada threw cold water on that debate on Monday, saying the Harris is clearly the team’s starter.

“Well, Najee is our 1, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Canada said. “ We are fortunate. We’re excited about Jaylen and Najee. [Warren] finishes a lot of runs in practice. … That was big to see that. Jaylen is a guy who on third down and all of the things he did as a rookie, we’ll use him a lot.”

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