The Pittsburgh Steelers boast two talented running backs in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, and up to this point, Harris, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, has gotten the majority of the workload. Harris has out-touched Warren 38 to 29, and has gotten the bulk of the carries with 35 compared to Warren’s 17. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada touched on the balance and workload between the two of them in his press conference today.
“It’s a long season. Trying to manage touches and do those things, we’re not saying it’s exactly balanced,” Canada said via audio from 93.7 The Fan. “I think we wanted to be balanced to a point, but obviously Najee’s our guy and he’s gonna have the workload and majority of carries in a lot of instances. But we think Jaylen’s a great talent, does a lot of things, and when he spells Najee, good things happen too.”
The disparity in touches between the two isn’t huge, with Harris having just nine more touches than Warren, which tracks given that Warren is the team’s third-down back. He has 12 receptions through three games, which is much more than Harris’ three receptions. But when it comes to running the football, Harris has gotten the bulk of the workload despite reports that the team wants to feature Warren more.
On a yards-per-carry basis, Harris is having the best year of his career thus far, at a 4.0 number he’s hovered just below in his first two seasons. Obviously, the sample size is small, and that number will increase or drop as the season goes on. Warren hasn’t been as effective as a runner at just 3.2 yards per carry this season, but he offers value as a blocker and pass-catcher out of the backfield.
Despite some frustration among fans regarding Harris, as the Steelers have struggled to gain momentum on the ground, it doesn’t sound as if Warren is going to eat into his carries anytime soon. The Steelers like what Harris offers, and he’s also had to deal with poor offensive line play throughout the season. He just hasn’t had much room to run, and despite his best efforts to make something out of nothing, it hasn’t translated to consistent success.
But Harris is also a proven talent, a Pro Bowler his rookie season and someone who the Steelers know can handle a bigger workload. While there might be games where Warren gets more work, the Steelers are sticking with Harris as their guy and banking on him to get the run game back into shape.
