Can Daijun Edwards be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ next Jaylen Warren? I don’t know, but Warren sees similarities between himself and the college free-agent rookie. The 5-10, 201-pound back out of Georgia is fighting for a roster spot. If he wants to earn a place on the team, Warren provided the blueprint two years ago.
“I was in that same situation”, Warren said of Edwards yesterday, via the team’s website. “We’re gonna come out here and make mistakes. I made my mistakes when I first came. I told him how my first pass to me here, I dropped it in the end zone, and then, I forgot his name, but he told me, ‘Don’t drop passes’, because he was an undrafted free agent, too. And I took that to heart. You really can’t mess up, so I share what I know with him, what I’ve gone through. I do see a lot of me in him”.
Warren’s comment is too vague to guess precisely to whom Warren referred, so I’m not going to bother trying. But whoever it was provided him good advice, and now he is passing it on to Edwards. Warren actually had a fumbling problem his rookie camp, to the point that he had to carry around a football.
By the nature of Warren’s comments, it almost sounds as though Edwards made a notable mistake. It’s okay for a guy like him to make the occasional mistake—as long as he doesn’t do it again. Learning from your mistakes is just as important as avoiding them altogether.
The Steelers signed Daijun Edwards as a rookie college free agent following the 2024 NFL Draft. They retain Najee Harris and Warren, but also added Cordarrelle Patterson as a free agent. The Steelers signed Patterson as their kick returner, but he can also contribute offensively. Because of his specialist-first priority, however, perhaps that opens the door for a player like Edwards to push his way onto the roster.
After all, the Steelers have kept four running backs before. Edwards would need to make himself useful to special teams coordinator Danny Smith, no doubt. Luckily for him, he won’t have to run as far on kick coverage thanks to the new rules.
The Steelers are expected to run the ball a lot under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. It’s never a bad idea for run-heavy teams to stock up on running backs. Even if they have two high-volume backs in Harris and Warren, one injury could change the complexion without quality depth.
Daijun Edwards was not prolific at Georgia, but he was efficient. Over four seasons, he rushed for 2,083 yards on 390 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt. He also caught 37 passes for 343 yards. For his career, he scored 24 rushing touchdowns, 13 of which came last season. He had career highs of 164 carries for 881 yards during his senior season in 2023.
The Steelers already have plenty of his college teammates around him in Broderick Jones, Darnell Washington, and George Pickens. All of them have a similar physical demeanor. I’m sure they are hoping that Edwards brings the same mentality to the running back room. If so, he will fit right in with Harris and Warren.
