Would You Draft a Running Back in Round 1?

I don't know. At 29 years old, Chubb is hitting the age cliff that hits most running backs with good legs. He may be over that cliff with the severity of the injury he sustained, which wasn't his first serious leg injury. I'd rather see the Steelers pick up a young back with fresh legs in the draft. However, we could use the depth if he came cheaply enough.

 

No one's suggesting forcing anything. I agree with finding a more dynamic back, but it's only practical for a team with a run-orientated OC to ensure the stability of the RB room. Right now they have only Warren, who has shown flashes, but has yet to do so while operating as the featured back.

I don't think you can dismiss Harris as a big-bodied back you find anywhere when he's the only one in the league to rush for over 1,000 yards each of the past four seasons. There's something to be said for that, (especially with all the stacked boxes). And during that time his valuation was ~$7M/yr. So if you want to say he'd have been overpaid by $2.5M this year, the team still comes out ahead by about $13M over the life of the contract.

From a financial standpoint, that's why they could have held onto him this year for depth while drafting another RB and shifting the focus to Warren and him.

 

They created a hole in the roster when it was unnecessary. The fifth-year option cost was reasonable. They could have gotten him for just one more season. When they need to find a quarterback, a wide receiver, at least one cornerback, and upgrade both lines, a little cost certainty and stability at running back would have been a very good thing.

 

Some fans want to get rid of Najee but are willing to sign Chubb, make it make sense .

 

I assume you meant pre-injury Chubb, one of the guys they should have taken instead of Edmunds.

It is very unlikely that we will ever see pre-injury Chubb again.

 

M Tomlin of course would love to have Chubb

It would be Chubb and Chubby on the sidelines.

 

For the first point, maybe I just misunderstood. No worries there. We need a bigger back in the room somewhere, I'd just prefer that to not be our feature back (unless of course we have a Henry or Jacobs type of player in that role).

I am not discounting the fact that Najee's been available (hasn't missed a game) and is capable of shouldering a large number of carries. His ability to take 16 carries and turn it into 63 yards is unquestioned. My issue is less about his cost/evaluation dynamics and more the dynamic of his skillset limiting our offense. We haven't had a good offense while he's been here (some of that is due to poor QB play for sure), but he does limit the offense with what he can't do as well. For a one year deal (on the option) overpaying Najee by a few million is pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. It wouldn't have been the end of the world. The problem is that we would continue to feature Najee if he was still on the roster, and it is time for our offense to feature someone else. It is my belief that there are literally dozens of backs in the league that could put up 1000 yard seasons with Najee's workload. There are probably a good number of them that would out perform Najee in the same opportunity. Lets see if any one of them can be better for us.

I'd be okay with it if you told me that we tagged Najee, but will be giving him the ball 8 times a game and Warren 15... Then it would be a fine situation. But we all know that isn't what was going to happen. This offense is going to get a huge jolt simply from having a threat in the backfield and not 22. What Najee brings to the table should be very easy to replace, and we should be able to do it with a pick or a FA signing that comes in under that 7m tag price.

 

I see this isn't your first rodeo.

 

No

 

Yes, grab Hampton in the 2nd.

 

Newsflash that old Chubb isn't coming back

 

Yeah, they should've drafted an RB in the first round when they already had Bell and Conner on the roster .

 

I know all too well

 

Steelers are meeting with Jeanty. He may not fall to the 20s but it does mean they are kicking the tires at the position.

 

People say Jeanty is too short,

he is taller than Barry Sanders (the Goat in my opinion).

 

I'm wondering when exactly it was that Warren was given a lead backs workload?

In 2022, only twice did he get more than 10 carries in a game, and averaged 5 yards per carry.

In 2023, he got at least 10 carries only 5 times, and averaged 5.66 ypc.

In 2024, he got at least 10 carries 5 times again, and averaged 4.6 ypc. He did miss two games and played with nagging injuries most of the year. Given the injures, and the fact that Smith brought Patterson with him from Atlanta, it's a leap to say that the Steelers gave "Warren's" carries to Patterson because they don't have confidence in him taking on that sort of workload. We have no idea the reason, and when we have seen him get anything approaching a lead back's workload, he excelled.

I used 10 carries as the minimum I would accept as an argument for a starting workload. He's averaged 5.1 ypc in that situation.

 

Warren out-snapped Harris in 4 out of the last 5 weeks of the season.

 

Because he's typically in there on passing plays and we were playing from behind a lot. Harris still out touched him.

Over those five weeks Warren averaged 8 carries per game, with a high of 12 (4.7 YPC}.

 

At least I know Harris will be available every week even the Browns know Chubb is washed.

 

Isn't that just a simple tell for the defense? Harris In=Run. At least Warren offers some uncertainty on whether it will be a rush or pass.

 

And Warren still won't be the feature RB