There’s a joke about new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith that he’ll find the lowest man on the depth chart to get the football. Last year in Atlanta, one of the chief criticisms was not leaning on his stars enough, chiefly first round rookie Bijan Robinson. There’s debate over how accurate those critiques are, but all good jokes have a nugget of truth.
In evaluating each team’s running back situation, NFL.com analyst Kevin Patra leaned into Smith’s reputation, wondering how the Steelers’ backfield will be divided in 2024.
“New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has two solid backs in Harris and Warren, so he’ll probably call plays for Alfonzo Graham all season — kidding, kidding…the previous staff resisted giving Warren a ton of Harris’ snaps, and it’s anyone’s guess how Smith plans to divvy the carries at this point.”
If you’ve forgotten, Graham was signed out of rookie minicamp and briefly spent time in camp before suffering a season-ending labrum injury.
Emerging as an undrafted free agent in 2022, Jaylen Warren has quickly moved up the ladder and increased his role. By 2023, he and Najee Harris became one of the league’s top tandems. Harris led the way with 255 carries, while Warren recorded 149. A similar split is reasonable to expect in the new year, though things can ebb and flow based on game circumstances.
For years, the Steelers were known as a workhorse running back team. Whether it was Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall, Le’Veon Bell, James Conner, or Harris’ rookie season, Pittsburgh had a clearly defined runner. It’s why they preferred their runners to have the size to handle 300-plus carries. That shifted when Warren came on the scene, and it’s become the best thing for him and Harris. Complementing each other, keeping the other fresh, and if someone were to get injured, the Steelers wouldn’t turn to an unknown or unproven name.
While Smith has a reputation for using a Rolodex of names, he leaned on his prime talent in Tennessee as offensive coordinator, having less control over personnel than he did in Atlanta. In 2019 and 2020, no runner had more carries than Derrick Henry’s 681, nearly 120 more than second-place.
Pittsburgh won’t revert back to that one-runner mentality but there shouldn’t be drastic concern for how the Steelers’ timeshare will function. The concern might be some of the pass game targets where Smith has admitted he likes to spread the ball around, potentially leading to fewer touches for the Steelers’ key players in the backfield and split out wide.
