Signing running back Kenneth Gainwell to a one-year deal in free agency was a good move by the Pittsburgh Steelers, one that added experienced depth to the running back room behind Jaylen Warren and — eventually — rookie Kaleb Johnson.
Coming out of Week 1 though, it’s quite clear that Gainwell isn’t just depth. He’s going to be a big part of the Steelers’ offense moving forward.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, who spoke to reporters Tuesday, that’s what the team expected when they signed him.
“We did, and we did because we had real evidence,” Tomlin said of Gainwell being a big piece of the offense during his weekly press conference, according to vide via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “We’ve played against him, and he’s made some plays against us. We played ’em in Philly a year ago. Man, those third-down conversions that he made were a significant component of the game. They threw the ball to him on swings with very little risk. He won some one-on-one circumstances and converted, allowed drives to stay alive, put points on the board.”
Playing against Gainwell last season in Philadelphia and seeing the success he had in a limited role had the Steelers convinced he was the right guy to go after this offseason as the running back room took on a new look.
While Warren received a two-year extension last week and the Steelers drafted Johnson in the third round of April’s draft, Gainwell has consistently been on the field throughout training camp with the first-team offense.
That carried over into Sunday’s season opener against the Jets as Gainwell played 25 snaps and received 10 touches. Those 10 touches (seven carries for 19 yards, three receptions for four yards), marked the 13th time in his career he’s had double-digit touches, according to Stathead.
Gainwell’s production wasn’t all that good even with the extended playing time. He graded out at just a 51.5 overall from Pro Football Focus and did have a fumble that he recovered on his own. But his best work came on special teams.
Gainwell had the huge forced fumble on Jets kickoff returner Xavier Gipson, leading to a Ben Skowronek recovery. That set up the Aaron Rodgers to Calvin Austin III touchdown to give the Steelers a lead in the fourth quarter.
“He was also a very viable special teams player for them a year ago, I think he had six or so tackles on their kickoff unit. And so I wasn’t surprised by that playmaking component of his game,” Tomlin said of Gainwell. “Maybe his talents were minimized because of the talents of those around him. I mean, he did play with Saquon [Barkley] and so those are some of the things that went into the excitement around his acquisition.”
Having that type of weapon on special teams and on offense is a nice combination for the Steelers. But it still remains surprising that Gainwell played as much as he did Sunday against the Jets.
We’ll see if that continues moving forward. If it does, hopefully Gainwell can start to take advantage of the reps and create more splash for the Steelers’ offense.
