Over the last several weeks, we have seen RB Jaylen Warren outplay RB Najee Harris despite being recognized as the backup heading into the season. Warren has been the most efficient running back in the league so far in 2023, leading many to question why he continually sees less snaps and carries than Harris who has been fairly average in his third season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bob Pompeani asked head coach Mike Tomlin about the backfield tandem of Harris and Warren in the weekly edition of The Mike Tomlin Show Saturday in lead up to Pittsburgh’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, asking Tomlin if we should expect to see Warren get more usage after a big game last week against the Cleveland Browns.
“That was last week, man,” Tomlin said about Warren on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “You know that we feel really comfortable with him and with Naj. We utilize both guys. We’d like to think that we have the type of run game where there’s room for both. I know both are starter-capable, that’s why I’ve been comfortable introducing them both as starting running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“And so, I don’t expect that to change. You can dissect it week-in and week-out and talk about number of carries and the when they run and number of snaps and all of those things. But just rest assured, we have great confidence in both guys and both guys will be central figures in terms of us moving forward.”
Tomlin said after the game that he didn’t second guess his decision to give Warren only nine carries after Warren finished the game with 129 yards including a 74-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the second half to give Pittsburgh a spark as the offense looked horrendous to start the game. However, it appears that Tomlin is leaving last week in last week and recognizes that Warren must be a key component of this offense moving forward despite having the coaching staff state in the past that Harris was the team’s clear-cut starter to open the season.
Warren has by far ben the more effective runner of the two backs, but that doesn’t mean that Harris should be relegated to the bench. Harris himself has played well in spurts this season, running hard and effectively against the Texans, titans, and Packers, wearing down the opposing defenses while being the ideal short-yardage-goal line back when Pittsburgh needs to get a tough couple of yards between the tackles. The backfield rotation allows both Harris and Warren to stay fresh as both runners tend to lose some juice when out on the field for prolonged periods of time, thus allowing them to maximize each touch they are given both as runners and receivers out of the backfield.
It’s interesting that Tomlin has elected to call both Harris and Warren starters at running back, but it makes sense as the two are nearly at a 50/50 snap share (Harris 54%, Warren 46%). Warren has shown that he deserves more snaps and touches, meaning that his snaps should match Harris moving forward, if not exceed the former first round pick by at least a tad. Either way, Pittsburgh found a gem in their former undrafted free agent running back out of Oklahoma State, pairing him with their workhorse out of Alabama to make one of the best tandems you will see in the league.
