The Pittsburgh Steelers have rushed from anywhere between 1,445 yards to 2,073 yards in a season in the past decade. They have put up their best numbers, however, in the past two years, hitting the 2,000-yard mark in both years. Even adjusting for the 17th game, they’ve clearly been more productive—but also more committed to running.
Prior to the past two seasons, the Steelers had never rushed for more than 1,752 yards in a season since 2014. They also never recorded more than 437 rushing attempts in that time. Yet the past two years, they have averaged more than 490 attempts per season. Again, those totals can’t fully be accounted for by a 1/16th increase in opportunity.
Not having a franchise quarterback has a lot to do with all of this, but so does having a running back tandem like Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Add in a, hopefully, complete offensive line and a run-first offensive coordinator, and the Steelers can do some real damage on the ground. Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thinks they can even do something that the league hasn’t seen in 15 years.
“Could we see two 1,000-yard rushers on the Steelers?”, he posited on 93.7 The Fan last week. “It hasn’t happened with a running back tandem since 2009. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. But they weren’t that far off last year. And if they can just run the ball a little bit better early in the season, I think that’s within reach. And that’ll be something to watch here as we gear up toward the season”.
Last season, Najee Harris rushed for 1,035 yards on 255 carries in 17 games. Jaylen Warren rushed for 784 yards, but he only got 149 carries in 17 games. At that pace, the Steelers would need to get Warren 191 carries to hit 1,000 rushing yards. I believe they can manage an extra 42 carries if they can get the running game going at the start of the year.
The big issue with the running game the past two seasons is that it’s taken about half a season to get things going. They’ve been among the hottest teams in the league in the second half of each of the past two years. Conversely, they’ve been among the worst in the first halves. Warren rushed for 521 yards in his final nine games, for example, almost on pace for 1,000. Harris rushed for 653 yards, on pace for 1,233. If you simply redistribute those workloads to a slightly more balanced level and do that for a full season, then two 1,000-yard seasons are clearly within reach.
Back in 2009, DeAngelo Williams rushed for 1,117 yards on 216 carries. Jonathan Stewart contributed 1,113 yards on 221 carries. I see no reason why the Steelers can’t get both of their backs 200-plus carries in 2024. The only concern is if Harris can take a reduction in workload while running slightly more efficiently.
Of course, it doesn’t actually matter if the Steelers have two running backs who rush for 1,000 yards. If they have one back who rushes for 1,300 and one for 900, it’s not going to make a difference. It’s the success of the running game as a collective that matters.
But it’s rare to have two backs capable of doing that on the same team in the same year. That’s why it’s only happened five times in NFL history (twice more, including quarterbacks). The Steelers did it back in 1976 with Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. Can Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren join them?
