Pittsburgh Steelers RB Jaylen Warren has been the talk of the town for the past year. Warren is a bowling ball when he is on the field and it seems like he is always making a positive impact when playing. Warren has played well in his year and a half in Pittsburgh, and some people are calling for him to start over RB Najee Harris.
While it is clear Warren should get more snaps, having him be the starter over Harris may not make that much of a difference given how poor the Steelers’ offensive line has been. Yesterday on the Cook & Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan, PFF’s Sam Monson said that due to the offensive line’s struggles, Warren getting a massive workload would not result in a much better rushing attack.
“The blocking is not there for Najee Harris to get five yards a carry,” Monson said. “He’s doing a reasonable job with what is there in front of him, which is to say not that much. And Jaylen Warren may be able to turn a crease here or there into a bigger play, and that’s obviously gonna get attention and those are big, but I think if you gave him a massive workload as well behind that offensive line, it would look similar, albeit constructed slightly differently from a production standpoint.”
For the run game to be good there needs to be at least decent offensive line play and that simply is not happening for Pittsburgh this season. After a great back half of last year in the run blocking department and offseason additions like OG Isaac Seumalo, the Steelers run blocking looks like it has taken a step back which in turn makes the run game worse.
While there are many calling for the Steelers to bench Harris for Warren, when looking at the stats it does not really make much sense. Harris has actually been the more effective runner this season, rushing for 247 yards on 3.9 yards per carry while Warren has ran for 124 on 3.6 yards per carry. Harris does have almost double the caries as Warren but he is still averaging more yards per attempt.
There is a lot of vitriol towards Harris given he was a first round pick, but he has not been dealt a very good hand to start his career. Harris has consistently played behind a very bad offensive line, yet he has still produced two 1,000 rushing yard seasons. No, he does not have the same explosiveness as Warren, but the two complement each other very well. Pittsburgh has not had two capable starting running backs in years, and now they do, so why not use both to save the wear and tear on their bodies?
As Monson said, swapping Warren for Harris as the lead back is not going to change much in the run game with how bad the offensive line is. If the line cannot figure it out and play better, running the football is going to continue to feel like slamming your head against a brick wall. The two complement each other very well and if the offensive line does improve and play like they did in the back half of last season, the Steelers could have a strong rushing attack with both Harris and Warren.
Until then, though, the debates over who should start between Harris and Warren are pointless. Neither can or will be able to do much behind the mess that is in front of them. Each of them have their strengths and weaknesses, but no strength can overcome poor offensive line play.
