The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? How will they tackle the 2023 NFL Draft? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: How many touches will Jaylen Warren get in year two?
The Steelers under head coach Mike Tomlin historically are not a team that gives a lot of work to backup running backs. Barring injury, or in the absence of a clear starter, the second- and third-string guys may find it difficult to see the field.
That was very true during Najee Harris’ rookie season in 2021 when he seemed never to leave the field, but even before his training camp foot injury, he and the coaches were already talking about wanting to find more ways to get him off the field.
The biggest way proved to be Jaylen Warren, at the time an undrafted rookie, who emerged as a reliable contributor. He ended up with 105 touches during his rookie season, distributed between 77 rushing attempts for 379 yards and a touchdown as well as 28 receptions for 214 more yards.
So the question is, what will his workload look like in 2023? Let’s start by considering how the year ended. After returning from an injury and getting his feet back under him, he recorded four straight games to end the season with six or more carries, twice in double digits. He also averaged two receptions per game at that time. With 43 touches in that span, he averaged about 11 touches per game.
If he averages even 10 touches per game, that would translate to 170 touches, which would be a significant uptick in usage. But we shouldn’t assume that it’s that simple, either. We don’t know how the carry distribution will work out, and with more options at tight end, for example, we may see fewer targets for the running back position.
Harris, by the way, had 313 touches last year, almost 70 fewer than in 2021. But things did pick up after the bye with 164 carries and 17 receptions in the final nine games. That’s 181 touches, averaging just over 20 touches per game. Can Pittsburgh sustain 30-plus touches from the running back position per game?
