Tag: Jaylen Warren

Steelers 2024 offseason roster – Running back

The Steelers only have 4 running backs on their offseason roster.

One of the main reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers stayed in the mix into the playoffs last season was the late-season surge in rushing offense. This was thanks to the two-headed attack of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Beyond them, there isn’t much to get excited about on the depth chart and the team is likely to add a player or two in the offseason. Here are the running backs currently on the roster.

Steelers RBs Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren open up about OC Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith is going to love having Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris on his offense.

Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers found success running the football in the second half of the season. The offensive line started to gel, Matt Canada was gone and the coaches finally figured out the best way to utilize the running back tandem of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.

Now the Steelers are looking at a brand new offense with Arthur Smith as the offensive coordinator but an offense that has its roots in old-school football. Smith likes to run the football and run play action off of it. Things Harris and Warren are excited about.

“I’m excited,” Warren said. “That’s really all I know about him is that I’ve heard he likes to run the ball. That’s kind of been the identity we’re trying to establish the past couple years, I guess, so I’m excited to see what he brings to the table.”

“I really don’t know about him and what he did in Atlanta,” Harris said. “I know a little bit of when he was in Tennessee with Derrick. Hopefully, he can bring that to the Steelers.”

If you focus on what Smith did in Tennessee, several things stand out. First, Smith ran the entire run game through Derrick Henry. The top two backs in Tennessee in 2020 carried the football 425 times with 378 of those carries going to Henry. Last season, the combo of Harris and Warren carried the football 404 times. So workload won’t be an issue.

The other big thing of note for Harris and Warren is Smith doesn’t use his running backs in the passing game. Henry and Jeremy McNichols only combined for 31 catches in 2020. Harris and Warren combined for 90 catches in 2023.

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Steelers CB Patrick Peterson: Kenny Pickett will ‘reap the fruits’ of Arthur Smith

Patrick Peterson believes that Kenny Pickett will benefit from new OC Arthur Smith.

A solid run game is easily a developing quarterback’s best friend. And that’s what the Pittsburgh Steelers have in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. The two backs, who combined for 1,819 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, will also be best friends with run-loving offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

“I think Kenny Pickett will have the opportunity to really reap the fruits of this labor, having Arthur coming in there, having kind of like the same athletic attributes, a mobile quarterback, a guy who likes to throw the ball on the run, who can throw the ball on the run,” Peterson said on the Feb. 15 episode of All Things Covered.

“But also having a running back and a running committee that’s able to make his game a little bit easier. I’m excited about the hire.”

We only need to look to All-Pro Derrick Henry and two career-best seasons in Tennessee under Smith. In 2019 and 2020, Henry put up a whopping 3,567 yards and 33 touchdowns. There’s no reason to think Harris and Warren combined can’t come close to that in the first two seasons of Smith calling the plays.

Just a fraction of that should increase the chances of success for Pickett, who will undoubtedly be under tremendous pressure to perform at the level of a first-round draftee heading into his third season.

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Giving Steelers RB Najee Harris his fifth-year option is an easy decision

The Steelers must give Najee Harris his fifth-year option.

One of the big financial decisions the Pittsburgh Steelers need to make this offseason is whether or not to exercise the fifth-year option for running back Najee Harris. This would add an extra year to his current contract and pay him something in the neighborhood of $6.6 million in 2025.

The last time the Steelers had to make such a decision, they opted not to exercise the fifth-year option on linebacker Devin Bush. This, after Bush proved to be a wasted pick for the Steelers and a bust. But for Harris, the decision is an easy one as Harris has continued to improve in each of his three NFL seasons.

Harris has rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each season and has evolved in his running style to help keep himself healthy and improve his efficiency running the ball.

The argument against Harris getting the fifth-year option is the existence of Jaylen Warren. We don’t see it that way at all and thanks to the hire of new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the need to two great backs becomes even more important.

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Steelers RBs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris could both break out in 2024

The Steelers run game has the potental to be among the best in the NFL next season.

In 2023, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back tandem of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren combined for 1,819 rushing yards on 404 carries. After the Steelers fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada, Pittsburgh found a renewed energy for running the football.

Now, with the addition of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, there is going to be an even stronger emphasis on the run game. With that comes a scheme that should help Warren and Harris be even better.

In 2020, with Smith running the Tennessee Titans offense, RB Derrick Henry was named Offensive Player of the Year after he rushed for 2,027 yards. There’s reason to believe that Smith will get similar production out of Warren and Harris.

Critics of the hire want to point to this emphasis on the running game as a negative for the passing game. However, look back to that 2020 Titans season. While Henry rushed for over 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns on 378 carries, quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for 3,819 yards and 33 touchdowns.

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Steelers RB Najee Harris says he wants to be an All Elite Wrestling world champion someday

For The Win caught up with Steelers RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren before the Super Bowl.

Ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl when the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas, For The Win caught up with Pittsburgh Steelers running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to discuss a wide variety of topics.

Among them included the time Harris was at an All Elite Wrestling event and maybe found his next career. Back in the 2022 offseason, he attended an AEW event in Pittsburgh and was part of professional wrestler Britt Baker’s entrance, along with tight end Pat Freiermuth.

After Baker won her match and was trash-talking, Harris and Freiermuth joined her in the ring, ESPN reported at the time. When Baker was done, Harris grabbed the mic, which organizers quickly turned off before a commercial break.

“That was smart on their part because I was going to say some stuff,” Harris told For The Win this week. “I was gonna say, ‘Y’all gonna see me in one of these things. I’m gonna be world champion one day of AEW.'”

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Harris and Warren also briefly touched on new Steelers offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, who Warren described as the “perfect” fit for Pittsburgh’s offense because he heard Smith likes to run the ball. They also named Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and Atlanta Falcons’ Desmond Ridder as the most unfairly hated quarterbacks in the NFL this year, and they ranked their top running back duos in the league.

Here’s our full interview with Harris and Warren from the 2024 Super Bowl:

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5 things the hiring of Arthur Smith could mean for the Steelers

The Steelers hired Arthur Smith to help make the offense more dynamic and effecient.

Now that we’ve had a few days to unpack everything that is the hiring of Arthur Smith as the Pittsburgh Steelers new offensive coordinator, we have some thoughts. Not all great but none all that terrible. Here are the five things we think the hiring of Smith could mean for the Steelers.

Steelers final 2024 stats – Offense

The Steelers defensive grades were dominated by its edge rushers.

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense struggled for much of the 2023 season. Why did it struggle? That is a point of debate but it’s safe to say it was a combination of factors that led to the problems. Here’s how the offensive stars finished.

Steelers HC Mike Tomlin hints at 5th-year option for RB Najee Harris

Najee Harris was the Steelers first-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have several big contract decisions to make this offseason. None will be bigger than the decision the front office has to make about whether or not to pick up the fifth-year option on running back Najee Harris.

Harris was the Steelers first-round pick in 2021 out of the University of Alabama. Through his first three seasons, Harris has 3,269 rushing yards, 866 receiving yards and 28 total touchdowns. Harris has topped 1,000 rushing yards every season.

During his final press conference of the season, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about Harris and the fifth-year option and Tomlin didn’t have to say much for it to seem the team is leaning toward giving Harris the option.

“He’s been what we needed him to be,” Tomlin said. In 2023, Harris became part of a two-headed rushing attack with Jaylen Warren. Will the emergence of Warren hurt Harris’ leverage with the fifth-year option and a new contract?

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