Pittsburgh Steelers RB Jaylen Warren has rushed for 318 yards over the course of the past three weeks. He never had more than 15 carries in any one of those three games. That’s more than RB Najee Harris has ever run for in any three-game span in his career, and he’s the first Steelers player to do it since James Conner had four consecutive 100-yard games in 2018.
While Harris hasn’t been ineffective during the same span of time, the reality is that Warren has consistently been the more productive, more explosive, and more dynamic player when he has been on the field. This is a discussion that’s been done to death already, but even former Steeler Bryant McFadden is finding it hard to understand how Warren had just nine carries yesterday.
“Jaylen Warren was hot. There’s no reason for him to not see at least 15, 16 carries when he had nine carries for over 120”, he said on the KDKA Extra Point postgame show following the Steelers’ 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
“He was playing against one of the more respectable defenses in the NFL and he was gutting them, stiff-arming players left and right. They didn’t want to tackle him”, he continued. “He is our best runner and out of respect for both players, that’s our written rule: Whoever’s hot will be in there and you come out when you are tired. That’s how I thought it should have been today but for whatever reason, they kind of went back to the rotation”.
That’s actually not entirely fair. Harris did get the next series after Warren broke out for a 74-yard touchdown, but the second-year back got a healthy dose of the work after that. And as was the case the week before, there were times that the Steelers were riding him up until he got a negative play and was either pulled or checked himself out of the game to catch his breath. That’s what happened after back-to-back runs of 21 and 12 yards that he followed up with a loss of two in the fourth quarter.
Could they have used him more than they did? Of course they could have, especially when he appeared to be the lone bright spot for the offense. Should they have? Perhaps. Offensive coordinator Matt Canada talked just a couple weeks ago about how they were more than willing to ride the hot hand, so it’s in their lexicon. But Warren would be getting work if Harris were hot, as well. They like the tandem.
“I think they can co-exist in the same backfield, sharing reps”, McFadden said, but added they need to sit the two of them down and have the discussion. “’We will need you, but you guys determine how much you play. Simple as that. If you’re hot, we’re going to keep riding with you until you tell us you need a breather. If the other guy’s hot the same thing’”, he said.
Through 10 games, Warren leads the team in yards from scrimmage with 727, including 493 rushing yards, surpassing his rushing total from a year ago—he had already surpassed his total for receiving yards a week earlier. The fact is that nobody on the team is producing more when he’s on the field. So why not put him on the field more unless or until that fact changes? It just might be crazy enough to work.
