Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: RB Jaylen Warren
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The second-year running back did not do a great deal in the preseason, but what little opportunities he got, he showed that he was no one-year wonder. Warren figures to be an increasingly large part of the offense—though perhaps not as large as some would hope.
There is reason to remain skeptical that the Steelers are going to turn to Jaylen Warren over Najee Harris at the running back position. Actually, there are multiple reasons, not all of which exclusively concern matters of an on-field nature. One thing we should keep in mind, however, is that we saw very little of Harris during the preseason.
We didn’t see a great deal more of Warren, by the same token, but we also didn’t have to. No, it wasn’t just his 62-yard touchdown run, on which he actually showed a little more giddy-up in his step than many might have thought he had.
Warren showed this offseason that he is the same player he was last year—only with a year of experience and understanding under his belt. He has a better understanding of what he is doing and what he needs to do, and what defenses are trying to do to him.
While I’m hesitant to buy into chatter about Warren becoming the Steelers’ primary running back at some point in the near future, I am more confident in the notion of a strong rotational approach. And I do believe the coaches this year will be more willing to ride the proverbial hot hand, which at times will be Warren.
One thing fans should bear in mind, however, is that Warren’s opportunities last season typically came in more advantageous situations than Harris, making one-for-one comparisons difficult. By and large, he still made the most of the opportunities he was given, but there’s no harm in taking it with a grain of salt.
With all that being said, there is every reason to be excited about his sophomore season and what might come of it. As long as his rookie training camp fumbling issues don’t begin to crop up again, I would expect to get him a healthy number of snaps on a weekly basis, depending upon what the game plan for that week calls for.
