The Pittsburgh Steelers have the opportunity to reshape their running back room, if they so choose. Najee Harris is an unrestricted free agent, Jaylen Warren is restricted, and Cordarrelle Patterson is a potential salary cap casualty. Perhaps they hoped Patterson could add some speed to the backfield in 2024, but that was not the case.
Yet that is what the Steelers’ backfield needs this offseason, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette argues. “I want a guy who could break some long runs. There’s a bunch of guys who could do that in this draft,” he said on 93.7 The Fan.
Because what the Steelers have been doing hasn’t been working.
“For the last three years [the Steelers] tried this Harris and Warren combination,” he said. “For me, you just didn’t see enough improvement in the running game to go forward with that ‘thunder-and lightning’ approach. So for me, give me that home-run hitter who could, that guy who could add some juice to your offense. I’ll take that over a power guy like Najee Harris every day.”
Part of the problem with that approach is that Harris isn’t all that thunder and Warren isn’t lightning. Just because the latter had a 74-yard run two years ago doesn’t mean he is some speedster. He may be somewhat quick in comparison to Harris, but the Steelers haven’t had a genuine ‘lightning’ runner for some time.
Fittipaldo doesn’t want to see the Steelers use another first-round pick on a running back, though. He offers some names on Day 2, like TreVeyon Henderson and Kaleb Johnson, both of whom we have already profiled. Alex Kozora projected Henderson as a Day-2 selection, and Jonathan Heitritter did the same with Johnson.
The 2025 NFL Draft is regarded as a particularly deep one for running backs, and the Steelers will likely want to take advantage of that. Typically, they attack in free agency at the positions that are weak in the draft.
This year is also a weaker class of veteran running backs on the free agent market. That has led some to speculate that some teams may overvalue Najee Harris. If the Steelers don’t re-sign Harris or add another veteran, it’s almost a foregone conclusion they will have to address the position in the draft.
That doesn’t necessarily specify the type of running back they’re looking for, though. Traditionally, the Steelers under Mike Tomlin have preferred a bigger-bodied back. But since 2022, he has adapted to a two-back system, which puts less strain on a single runner. If they are willing to do that with Jaylen Warren and a rookie, the rookie could be a speedier player.
