People are freaking out over Kaleb Johnson's slow start

Current score

31 NFL GM ‘s who did not think enough of Harris to give him a contract including the team who knew him best

2 Harris supporters

One who thinks he should have been over paid and given a guaranteed contract for two years

Im going with the 31

 

I don't think Harris was awesome, but I do think he was better than most on this board do, and He was definitely the best RB we had on the team since Bell. Problem is many believe Warren is better because of higher YPG which many many many backups have, and so they down Harris. I myself hope everyone of our backs do better than Harris, but I will wait, and see, and not argue about it.

 

Who are fans going to blame when the RB doesn't have any holes to run through, or when there's a defender in the backfield as soon as the RB gets ball now?

 

Well hopefully that won't be the case. I truly rather be great than be able to say, see I told you.

 

I agree with this podcaster who said maybe they should've gotten Warren more work this preseason, that was a rough game against the Panthers.

 

It wasn't a dig, it was just a statement of fact?

You said Kaleb struggled in the preseason. I took his second game YPC and said that it was more efficient in YPC than 73% of Najee's starts. It was just to point out that you can't say that Kaleb "struggled" without conceding that Najee struggled in 3/4's of his starts as a Steeler.

Like I've said before, none of it matters until the games are for real, but nobody should be missing Najee right now. He's a solid RB2 and will be for another year or two before his game falls off. We drafted Johnson with the hopes that he eventually becomes the RB1. We can only wait and see, but he's looked considerably better in the last two preseason games than he did in the first. It will be interesting to see how he looks on the field in real games.

 

Nobody is getting that volume, that is why. Literally any decent NFL RB can turn 1100 carries over 4 years into 4,000 yards. Teams generally don't force feed guys who can't average 4ypc over their career. We held onto hope for Najee for a pretty long time. But, he's just a guy. A durable guy for sure, but just a guy.

 

The info I saw was that Warren faced 8 man boxes like 8% less than Najee. He faced 7 man boxes about the same, and 6 (or less) man boxes slightly more... Which makes sense since Warren would play more 3rd down roles than Harris, though they did sub them for entire series quite often. I've mentioned numerous times that Warren's best plays aren't 12 yard draws on 3rd and 15 over and over again. He did nearly all his big play damage on first and second down.

People didn't load the box against Najee because they were scared of him, its because they disrespected him. They knew that the only time Najee got going was when he would hit the second level without getting touched. If he did that, he was tough to bring down. If they mudded up the line, then Najee would be neutralized entirely. They figured the extra man would make the running lanes smaller, which Najee often missed with poor vision (and runner's instinct), AND they also assumed that even if he did break free that the LB would just run him down 20 yards downfield and then they'd line up and try again. Explosive backs can still be held in check with 8 man boxes, but it is WAY riskier to do so. If they wiggle through a lane, they could score. There was no threat of that with Najee, so they could just load the box with impunity. Warren showed the Browns what could happen if he got a lane in a stacked box with a 74 yard TD. Teams were just a little more scared to load the box up against Warren than they were for Naj.

 

I'd be more worried about that if Warren's only usage was as the third down back. Warren and Najee pretty much just switched positions. Warren was used in all situations. He's a much safer bet than other 3rd down backs to retain his efficiency over a larger carry load. I don't necessarily expect him to be a 4.8ypc back this year like he's been for his career... but it wouldn't shock me at all to see him in the 4.5 range. If Warren can stay healthy and not cede too many touches to other backs, I'd be surprised to see him with less than 1,000 yards this year.

 

Anyone who believes KJ is any better than Najee simply does not know football.
End of story.

 

Then how come no other RB has done it last 4 years? There isn't much difference between 3.9 and 4.0 .

 

Instead of trying to bash Najee you should be worried about Warren who you have been hyping up forever, dude averaged 1.5 YPC and fumbled against the Panthers .

 

The only way Warren is getting 1,000 yards is from scrimmage this year.

 

Teams loaded the box against Najee because the passing game has sucked since Ben retired.

 

Teams loaded the box years before Ben retired because his passing game sucked.
Come on man everyone seent it

 

Lol....Warren had only 2 runs vs panthers....Talk about a overreaction....and 7 fumbles in 3 years(in the case of Warren)is not that bad

 

That's true, when the Bus finished his career there were some on various boards pointing out the 3.9 and argued that diminished his career. It's not pretty in comparison with others, but it's what he did during his time. I forget the number, but it's insane the Steelers wins vs losses when the team was up by 10 points and he basically ran the show the final quarter. That .1 YPC pales to what he meant to the teams success.

 

I agree with this...I don't think Warren will have 225-250 runs like Harris has had in every season of his career so far

 

Also,the league average for each year in the Bettis career was between 3.7 to 4.2 at the highest(from 1993 to 2005)....Now in the Harris career,this is at 4.2 to 4.5 since 2021

Bettis was also the best short yard back of his era

 

Stop trying to ruin my fun . Those fumbles will get you benched I remember one game Warren fumbled twice in one half IIRC, I think they recovered one of them.

 

It was in the rain in Baltimore but yes it was a bad game.But overall this is not like Warren has been a fumble machine in his career.7 fumbles in 3 years only

 

They will probably get Kaleb 8-10 rushes a game, and Gainwell will split duties with Warren on third downs most likely.

 

Imagine freaking out about a 3rd round running back not being as good as a first round running back that should have been taken in the 2nd or even 3rd round himself. And after only 3 preseason games.

Holy overreaction, Batman.