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90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Jaylen Warren, Darnell Washington, Quez Watkins

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 16, 2024 at 7:15 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players in total during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.

The next set of players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Jaylen Warren, Darnell Washington, and Quez Watkins.

RB Jaylen Warren: 2023 was the second season in the NFL for Warren, an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State in 2022, and he didn’t disappoint. In total, Warren rushed for 784 yards and four touchdowns on 149 regular-season carries. Additionally, he registered 61 receptions for 370 yards last year during the regular season. In the Steeler’s one post-season game, Warren had eight carries for 38 yards and two receptions for 16 yards.

While not the primary kickoff returner for the Steelers last season, Warren did return one for 21 yards. Warren put those stats up in just 519 offensive snaps played during the regular season, with 66 more snaps coming on special teams.

Warren provided quite a few yards after first contact in 2023 and registered 12 runs of 15 yards or longer. In 2023, Warren registered a successful run rate of 49.7 percent, ranking him 12th overall on the list of 41 running backs with 125 or more rushing attempts. Warren’s 61 regular season receptions in 2023 were the second-most on the Steelers behind only WR George Pickens, who had 63.

Outlook: Obviously, Warren will be a member of the 2024 Steelers and will once again have a significant offensive role. The only real question concerning Warren heading into training camp revolves around how much bigger his role will be during the regular season and if said role will come close to equaling that of starting RB Najee Harris.

Warren has more than proven himself to be a reliable running back, not only as a ball carrier but also as a pass catcher. His ability to break off an explosive play or make double- and triple-explosive plays makes him that much more valuable to the Steelers.

Should Warren come close to registering 200 total carries in 2024, he very well might reach 1,000 yards rushing in a season for the first time in his NFL career. Such a scenario is certainly plausible. After registering more than 1,000 total yards from scrimmage in 2023, Warren should be able to reach at least 1,300 in 2024 and maybe even 1,500 if he has a significant increase in playing time.

TE Darnell Washington: Selected by the Steelers in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Georgia, Washington played quite a bit during his rookie season. In total, Washington logged 511 offensive snaps during the 2023 regular season on his way to registering seven receptions for 61 yards.

Washington also logged another 141 snaps during the regular season on special teams but did not register any tackles. While he played in the Steelers’ lone playoff game last season, Washington failed to register any stats in that contest, but he was targeted once.

A fine run blocker during his college career at Georgia, Washington wasn’t as effective in that phase of his game as a rookie. Pro Football Focus even gave Washington a run-blocking grade of just 53.2 for the entire 2023 season. Washington also had two false start penalties in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, his only two penalties of the season.

All told, Washington’s rookie season did not live up to expectations.

Outlook: With Arthur Smith now installed as the new offensive coordinator of the Steelers, we are expecting the unit to utilize personnel groupings that heavily include two tight ends. This should result in a nice chunk of playing time again for Washington, whose playing time was benefited last season by starting TE Pat Freiermuth missing several games due to injury.

Washington must improve as a run blocker in 2024, especially with the running game expected to be a huge part of what the Steelers offense aim will be this coming season. On top of that, it would be nice to see Washington used more in the passing game than he was during his rookie season, especially inside the red zone. Even so, it’s hard to think that Washington will exceed 20 receptions for the 2024 season unless Freiermuth winds up missing games again due to injuries.

As far as Washington’s special teams contributions go in 2024, it would be nice to see him make more of an impact in that phase as well. He will likely be part of the kickoff return unit once again and his blocking on that unit should result in a few impactful plays. Washington should also be on the field goal and extra point units again as well.

WR Quez Watkins: Originally selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Southern Mississippi, Watkins signed a one-year, veteran benefit contract with the Steelers in late March.

In his first four NFL seasons with the Eagles, Watkins registered 98 regular-season receptions for 1,249 yards and six touchdowns. He also recorded four rushing attempts for another 4 yards in the 1,975 total regular season snaps he played on offense.

Last season with the Eagles, Watkins registered just 15 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown in 304 regular season offensive snaps. He played both in the slot and outside with the Eagles last season, something he’s done his entire NFL career.

Watkins has not had much of a special teams resume since entering the NFL, as he has had just 40 regular-season snaps on those units since 2020. He has, however, returned 14 punts for 200 yards during his NFL career. Watkins has not had any special teams tackles for his career.

Outlook: When it comes to Watkins’ outlook for the 2024 season, he must first secure a spot on the Steelers’ 53-man roster this summer in training camp and the preseason. That will be a tall task for him overall, battling several other veteran wide receivers signed to minimum contracts this offseason.

While experienced due to having played four NFL seasons, Watkins has yet to prove himself a reliable passing game threat. Additionally, he’s far from an established blocker in the running game and, quite honestly, is below-average in that phase of his game. It’s important to note that while Watkins has played both outside and in the slot in his first four NFL seasons, most of his playing time has come with the latter.

Watkins’ special teams abilities are yet another area that must be monitored closely once training camp begins. Other than being used as an occasional punt returner, Watkins has never proven to be much of an asset in that phase of the game. Last year with the Eagles, he only logged one special teams snap. It’s a huge red flag.

All told, Watkins is far from being considered a 53-man roster lock ahead of training camp getting underway. He might need help in the form of an unfortunate injury or two to stick. Should Watkins ultimately not make the final round of roster cuts, a practice squad spot could ultimately be in play for him unless another team signs him to their 53-man roster.

Previous Posts In This Series:

Related Items:2024 Training Camp, Darnell Washington, Jaylen Warren, Quez Watkins

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