Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers’ mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.
To your questions!
falconsaftey43:
Hey Alex, some talk recently about Warren potentially surpassing or outright replacing Harris at some point. Too early for that discussion in my opinion, but I was looking at some splits with that in mind and there was an interesting one.
1st & 10
Najee was much better.
151 for 606 yards, 4.0 y/a, 14 1st downs.
Warren struggled in comparison
36 for 119 yards, 3.3 y/a, 0 1st downs.
2nd & 4+
Najee struggled with this
82 for 311 yards, 3.8 y/a, 11 1st downs.
Warren was great
31 for 213 yards, 6.9 y/a, 14 1st downs.
That’s the vast majority of their carries. As a team they ran it 54.0% on 1st and 10, 44.7% on 2nd & 4+.
Any thoughts on why Harris Warren faired so differently in these two splits?
Alex: It’s hard to say. There’s a potential sample size issue. Only 31 carries for Warren. One or two runs could skew that, though you’re seeing him register more first downs on less than half the carries compared to Harris. Warren is definitely a more straight-line, downhill runner and that helps, especially behind an o-line that wasn’t excellent at run blocking for much of last season. Though it doesn’t explain why he was worse on 1st and 10.
I’d have to comb through our charting and see more of the details. Is it a game situation thing? Where Warren saw some of those 1st and 10 carries later in the game when teams were expecting the run? I’d have to see how much “noise” there might be with those stats. It’s an interesting question but I don’t know what conclusions I could even make.
Will: Do you think Christian Kuntz or Pressley Harvin have a good shot at getting replaced? I like both of them but both have competition this summer.
Alex: Sure. I don’t consider either of them safe and both should have competition. So I’m all for it. Now we’ll just let them battle it out this summer. It would not be a shock to see one or both get replaced. It’s a fairly big change but they changed their operation out in 2021 when Kuntz beat out Kameron Canaday and Harvin edged out Jordan Berry. So it’s been done recently before.
hdogg48:
Hi Alex…
What is your prediction for the biggest training camp
battle for a starting position?
Alex: Left tackle is an easy answer to give but I’ll give it all the same. Two humble but hard-working dudes battling it out. I think it’s going to be really fun to watch Dan Moore and Broderick Jones compete. And the winner right now is a toss-up.
But the #3 RB spot should be sneaky fun. McFarland vs Graham vs Hagans. That’s not going to carry a ton of weight for the team’s outcome but it should be intense. Hyped for that one.
Ray Istenes:
What’s your thoughts on how long it will take the defense to gel in 2023. Depending on how you count it up we will have 5 or 6 new starters week 1.
I anticipate some growing pains with the secondary and ILB’s.
Your thoughts?
Alex: I anticipate the same. How long will it take? I’m not sure. It shouldn’t be like the offense last year because these defensive unit, even with its several new pieces, are a veteran group of guys. That should speed things up. But sure, there’s a lot of turnover at those “hubs of communication” and there’s probably going to be some pain that comes alongside that. It’s an underrated concern.
Make My Day: Planning on attending Friday Night Lights and am trying to assure my wife there is no danger of not being able to get tickets that day. Can you help me? lol
Alex: You should be fine. Get there early, it’s going to be crowded, but I’m not aware of anyone ever having an issue. Just show up 60-90 minutes before practice (parking can be a mess so build in time for that) and you’ll be good.
J Alexander Wright:
Hey Alex
Let’s say Pickett doesn’t make the jump everyone expects. How long would it take you to panic and what do you think the next offseason would look like?
Alex: It’s a fair question but I don’t have much of an answer. Not something I’m thinking much about right now. We’ll just have to see how he plays, what the issue is, how correctable it is, etc. But obviously if Pickett doesn’t look like the guy after Year Two, there’s going to be some questions. But unless he totally tanks, I’d still expect him to be the team’s starter for 2024.
