It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jaylen Warren has been Pittsburgh’s best running back this season. All you have to do is watch the games and see the 5-8, 215-pound former undrafted free agent maximize every carry he gets. He is the most efficient back in the game right now by leading the league with 6.2 yards per carry while ripping off big runs like the 74-yarder he broke off for a score last weekend against the Cleveland Browns.
Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis took to his X account on Saturday to do a side-by-side comparison between Warren and fellow Steelers RB Najee Harris, listing both players’ yards per carry, explosive run rate, rushing success rate, and rushing attempts of both runners. Based on the data, Sharp is quite clear that Pittsburgh needs to look themselves in the mirror and utilize their explosive runner more in order to expect their offense to improve.
“If the Steelers just played the more productive player, the offense would improve substantially,” Sharp said. “There is no justification for Najee Harris getting substantially more work than Jaylen Warren other than he was drafted in the 1st round a few years ago. Time to let Jaylen eat.”
As you can see from the charts above, Warren has been better or the same as Harris in every category except rushing attempts. From Week Five to Week 11, Warren has been by far the better runner when it comes to yards per carry (7.4) explosive run rate (22%), and rushing success rate (51%) than Harris. Despite being the more productive runner, Warren has been out-carried by Harris 55-to-79, receiving 24 fewer totes than the former first-round pick out of Alabama.
The Steelers have stated time and again that Harris is their guy, being their starter and the guy to see the bulk of the carries. However, with Matt Canada now out of time, it may be time to reverse those roles with Warren receiving more of the work over Pittsburgh’s former first-round pick. He’s clearly earned more opportunities, being one of the most efficient runners in the game right now while playing just under 50% of the offensive snaps in nearly every game this season. Harris has his role in the offense as a bruising back who can wear down defenses and pick up the tough yards in between the tackles. But Warren is a strong runner himself, showing that he can handle a bigger workload if given the opportunity to receive one.
Sharp’s argument is sound, and both the stats and film back it up. We’ll see how Pittsburgh handles their backfield distribution going forward starting this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals who currently have the NFL’s second-worst rush defense.
