A strong running game is a staple of Arthur Smith’s offensive system. We saw the merits of that approach at times early in the 2024 season, but it was never terribly efficient, and the Pittsburgh Steelers felt the effects of that late in the season as their offensive production came to a screeching halt. The hope is that a new-look running back room and an improving offensive line can turn that around in 2025, but Pro Football Focus doesn’t seem optimistic for that to happen.
According to Dalton Wasserman, the Steelers have the seventh-worst RB group in the league with a 2025 preseason ranking of No. 26.
“Pittsburgh retained Jaylen Warren despite his career-low 64.3 PFF overall grade last season. He presents a viable option but has never taken on a starting workload in the NFL,” Wasserman wrote. “Former Eagle Kenneth Gainwell also joined the team in free agency, though he’s earned a paltry 54.3 PFF overall grade over the past two seasons.
“The brightest ray of hope may be third-round rookie Kaleb Johnson, who earned an 86.7 PFF rushing grade last season and should be a good fit in Arthur Smith’s zone-run scheme.”
PFF’s grade system paints a grim picture of the group overall, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism. Two of those reasons have nothing to do with the backs themselves. The presence of Aaron Rodgers and the improvement of the offensive line could make them look a lot better by default.
Warren may have had a down year last season, but he was dealing with multiple injuries throughout the summer and the regular season. He looked like his typical explosive and efficient self when he was finally healthy later in the season before the entire offense collapsed over the Steelers’ final five games.
When healthy in 2023, Warren had a much more respectable 78.5 overall offensive grade on PFF. He has been one of the hardest running backs to tackle over the first three seasons of his career with 106 forced missed tackles – 56 of in his last healthy season in 2023.
Warren may start the season as the Steelers’ lead back, but Kaleb Johnson should have a prominent role and could take over as the 1a to Warren’s 1b by the end of the year. OC Arthur Smith called him a perfect fit after he was drafted, and he’s drawn rave reviews throughout spring practices. One beat reporter already called him a star in the making.
Smith admitted he had to pivot from his offensive scheme last year because of the personnel available to him, but Kaleb Johnson’s presence should allow them to get back to his bread and butter with the outside zone runs.
Gainwell has a slightly different skill set as a pass catcher out of the backfield. RB coach Eddie Faulkner is already talking about the ways the Steelers can get him involved with multiple backs on the field at the same time and splitting him outside the formation. He showed how dangerous he can be in that role when he torched the Steelers last season.
It would be a major upset for the Steelers if their running backs finish the season near the bottom of the league as PFF has them ranked right now.
