Two-year extension for Jaylen Warren

Seriously though. Whether it’s play calling, the O-Line, The offense, Warren himself. How can anyone be satisfied with Warren’s results this season? It may not be at all his fault, but it’s been barely above average. JMO

 

There are 21 running backs with more yards rushing than Warren right now. Only five of those 21 backs have an average per carry lower than Warren's 4.1. Some of the folks looking to tear down Najee Harris wrote about how easy it is to get to 1,000 yards rushing because Harris did it during all four of his seasons in Pittsburgh. I wonder if they realize that Warren is unlikely to get there. His current pace won't get it done.

Some of the guys behind Warren on that season rushing list are TreVeyon Henderson of the Patriots and Kyle Monangai of the Bears, and Blake Corum of the Rams, all of whom are arguably playing better than Warren right now. Two of them aren't even starters.

I'm not even sure you can even say Warren has been above average this season.

 

No fumbles

 

There's plenty of people that were satisfied with Najee and Warren's been better than Najee was. Above average is better than what Najee was. He's simply a better, more well rounded player. 929 total yards in 11 starts. 6 TD's. He already has the same number of scores as Harris did in 2024. he's a very quality player and he splits some time with a good 3rd down back in Gainwell. Our RB room is better with Warren at the helm than with Najee. Our offense can do more with these backs instead of the highly limited Harris. There really isn't a discussion. I'm sorry that you're disappointed, but that is on your own perception. I never expected him to be a top 5 back, and I am a huge Warren supporter. I figured he'd be somewhere between 10th and 15th (above average starter), and would do so while not taking too large of a carry load. He hasn't fumbled (a perceived issue of his prior to the year), he's been largely productive, and when the offense is able to complete a forward pass he's put together really quality football.

 

Funny how the anti-Najee Harris crowd minimized the importance of ball security because that was an area he was always better than Warren, but now they will want to make a big deal out of Warren not fumbling so far this season.

 

Don't jinx.

 

This simply isn't true. Harris was a better blocker. He was more durable. He was capable of carrying the ball more. He was more of a playmaker as a receiver before they passed that role on to Warren, just as Warren was better in that role before they brought in Gainwell. Like many on here, you are blinded by the occasional big play to the point that you ignore the areas where Harris was better. For example, he went over 1,000 yards every year he was a Steeler. Warren isn't going to get there.

Yes, Warren is limited by sharing time with Gainwell, but Harris similarly lost time to Warren. He just didn't lose as many snaps and touches as Warren is doing now, which seems to speak to Warren's relative lack of durability.

Look at the overall production. Warren is 22nd in the league in rushing yards this season. Harris's career low was 15th in 2022. He was 14th last year, seventh in 2023, and fourth in 2021.

 

I will not get into this debate because Najee doesn't play on the team, so f**k him, but anyone that thought it was simple to run for 1000 yards every season, and uses the excuse that..... well Warren has to share the load isn't being truthful to themselves. Najee shared time his last 3 years here with not one , but two other RBs also.
Now with all that said..................................
Go Warren, Gainwell, and KJ, I'm 100% behind yous.

 

Here is a scorching hot take....Harris, Gainwell, Warren, and Johnson are all highly unimpressive and not RBs you spend a great deal of time worrying about. You roster 2 of them until they cost too much or are too broken to justify doing so.

Harris got a bit too pricey and now he is broken.
Warren is fine in a role but he doesn't carry your offense.
Gainwell is fine in a role but he doesn't carry your offense.
Johnson is what he looked like in college - a slow RB who got a ton of chances to compile stats.

 

Was the Ravens game the first time they were on the field together Warren/Gainwell?

 

One year Harris/Warren both had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage IIRC.

 

I guess you missed the part where I said I had no interest in comparing him to Harris. It’s irrelevant. He’s not doing good enough as the lead back plain and simple.

 

Did you see the all 22 from the BAL game? On run plays their defense frequently had 7, 8 and even 9 around the LOS. They were not going to let the Steelers run game loose. Worked out fine because Rodgers had his best passing game.

Warren is 22nd in attempts, 21st in yards. And he shares touches with Gainwell. Not every team has a one two punch.

 

Most of the backs ahead of him also have a better average per carry. Many of them are part of a one-two punch, including Gibbs, Swift, and Kyren Williams.

 

He's 15th in the league in combined rushing/receiving yards among RB's (with a missed game and a half)... So right at about average. On a team that's offense isn't particularly good. I think he's doing just fine? Again... he's been quite productive. We were never going to give him Johnathan Taylor level touches and he isn't Jahmyr Gibbs or James Cook. If you were expecting him to be Le'Veon Bell... then I don't know what to tell you. He's our best offensive player outside DK Metcalf. If you can't see what he brings to the team on the field, IDK what to tell you.

 

Top 15 in rushing/receiving yards combined for RB's. He's an all around good player on a not-so-good offense. Plus we actually have a RB2 to split with (who is a very talented 3rd down back in his own right). He's doing just fine.

 

He is average among NFL running backs. I was hoping for more, but I'm not surprised that this is all he's doing.

 

That's only one metric. A few others:

Warren:

• Broken Tackle rate: 20% [81%tile]
• Avg Yds After Contact: 3.0 [75%tile]
• Avg Yds After Catch: 11.2 [92%tile]
• First down rate (rushing): 25.2% [13th; min 100 atts]
• First down rate (receiving): 36.7% [7th; min. 25 tgts]

Considering the OL issues Warren is doing fine.

 

No, it is two metrics, total yards and average per carry. Those are the two most important metrics, the ones that measure actual production rather than more subjective measures. (What actually constitutes a broken tackle varies, for example.) By those two measures, Warren barely qualifies as an average runner.

Funny how people wanted to dismiss the OL issues when Harris was here, but now it's an excuse for Warren's production being so limited.

Also, where are you getting those numbers? That doesn't line up with what I'm seeing on ProFootballReference.com.

 

Way better blocker too

 

Harris was a way better blocker. He was more consistent in picking up blitzers.