Efficient and big plays aren’t three words recently associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running game. Prioritizing backs with great size and power who can consistently push the pile forward, the Steelers haven’t been looking for runners with a ton of juice. But Jaylen Warren arrived on scene in 2022, undrafted out of Oklahoma State, and has slowly – and then quickly – worked his way up the Steelers’ ladder.
Even with just nine carries in Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns, Warren had a statement game. The sole source of Steelers’ offense, he ran with unbelievable power, creating and getting far more than what was blocked. And he headlined the performance with a 74-yard touchdown run to open up the second half, Pittsburgh’s longest rushing score since Willie Parker’s 75-yard dart in Super Bowl XL.
For the season, Warren has 80 carries for 493 yards and three touchdowns. Despite 48 fewer carries, he’s only six yards behind Najee Harris’ total. And Warren’s average is off the charts, a sparkling 6.2 yards per carry. Of NFL qualifiers, that’s easily the top mark in football. Here are the top five of running backs.
Highest Yards Per Carry (2023 NFL RBs)
1. Jaylen Warren – 6.2
2. Raheem Mostert – 5.3
3. Jahmyr Gibbs – 5.2
4. James Conner – 5.1
5. James Cook – 5.0
Warren is nearly a full yard ahead of everyone else. If his average were to hold, though truth be told that’s unlikely, it would be the second-highest season average by a running back since 2011. Only Rashaad Penny’s 6.3 mark in 2021 would be higher.
To bring it back to Pittsburgh, Warren’s average is tracking to set a Steelers record. In team history, of runners who finished with at least 100 carries in a season (and Warren will get there soon enough), the highest average is held by Franco Harris, 5.6 yards per carry during his rookie season in 1972. He had 188 carries that year, a number Warren could come close to by the time 2023 wraps up.
That mark is in addition to what we wrote about earlier in the year, the possibility of Warren leading the team in receptions. If so, he’d become the first Pittsburgh back to do so since John L. Williams in 1994. Currently, he’s just three receptions off the lead, 34 of them to George Pickens’ 37.
Warren may never be a workhorse, full-time back. That’d likely drag his average down, not playing as fresh and with the spark he consistently brings, and his violent running style, while appreciated and a big part of his game, would increase his risk of injury. But he’s done everything asked of him and more in the middle of a breakout season.
A committee approach is sensible but the rest of the season, Warren has to be leading the team’s two-back approach instead of being the Robin to Najee Harris’ Batman role. Harris can still technically start, still be atop the depth chart, but Warren can’t be out-snapped and out-carried the way he was Sunday. If he keeps up his production, he’ll end up with a remarkable year in Steelers’ history.
