Gainwell

I give up. After reading that article I still don't know.

 

The problem the Steelers have is that they drafted Johnson but didn't play him. So now you have a completely new staff that has not seen him in practices and only some tape of the few snaps he took during the season. Do you trust Johnson to emerge this year or sign the known player in Gainwell? I'm thinking McCarthy sticks with what is known rather than the unknown. Steelers can easily afford to pay him what Warren is making.

 

In a vaccuum, yes. Warren is best utilized in a tandem, and Gainwell proved to be a really nice #2. I just mean that anyone that doesn't have a Saquon, CMC, Taylor, Henry, James Cook, etc. There's so few elite backs but so many good backs. You have to be smart with who you pay and how their skillset fits with their team.

 

Warren will likely be the RB1. Johnson is cheap and under contract.

If Gainwell is cheap you bring him back. And probably use a 6th / 7th / UDFA to bring in another RB.

If someone else wants to pay more for Gainwell, bring in another cheap UFA (e.g., we signed Gainwell for $2MM last year), then a late pick / UDFA.

Or use one of our 3rd / 4th picks and a UDFA.

Or just bring in like 3 UDFAs and hope one plays well enough to be at least an OK backup. Honestly, I'd like to bring in 2 or 3 UDFAs at RB no matter what. Because I think it's the easiest position to get a contributor at from late picks / UDFAs. And RBs are good for teams too.

In retrospect, it's too bad we couldn't get Gainwell on the classic Colbert 2 year scrap heap deal.

 

bring in a bunch of UFDA’s?

Okay.. so you don’t want to win next year. Why the hell would white Mike grab scraps for his first year as HC? The guy wants timo win now. Johnson is going to get a lot more touches unless he is a complete bust. I think fresh eyes are going to work wonders for the kid.

but if we do grab another RB. I think it will be a proven RB in FA and not some UFDA we never heard of.

 

depends on a couple of things i believe. heyward, nichols, johnson. nichols played well enough to make the team last preseason. catches, runs. heyward, is he a FB, TE gadget player? mccarthy may not have quite the same loyalty to the heywards as MT did. johnson has a lot of makeup to do. smarts to adjust to. pro game to adjust to. the new coaches know nothing about him really and owe him nothing. whole different outlook. gainwell is proven and on tape performing.

 

I hope the Steelers resign Gainwell, with him and
Warren splitting duties along with Johnson and backs already on practice squad
There is no need to waste time at the RB room.

 

KG has to want to come back. The Steelers have to offer a competitive contract. What is the better situation for the player.


There's more to re-signing any player than just fans want him back. Khan, Weidl, and McCarthy are going to have to get on the same page with how they want to build this next roster. How much emphasis to building the trenches vs adding weapons vs strengthening the defense vs QB direction. All will have to be addressed and improved.


KG is a good football player and last season was his career best. I felt like we had similar to what the Seahawks have with Walker and Charbonnet(sp). I would love for him to return and pick up where he left off. We had an actual run game with him and Warren. I'm one that likes what Heyward brings to the room also. They made a pretty good 3-headed monster for our offense, IMO. Unfortunately, they were the run game and passing game which limited their effectiveness at times.


As for the rookie KJ, I have no thoughts or feelings. If he announced his retirement from football I would think that's weird, but not much else about it.

 

We had an actual run game?

We were 26th last year in total yards and ypg on the ground.

 

Who's talking about rankings?

We did when you consider those passes to the RBs as an extension to the run game.

Repeating this once again, but I care so little for what stats and rankings say. Our offense lived and died by the success of the RB room. You must watch the actual games.

 

Steelers averaged a tick over a 100 yds/gm rushing this season. This is the lowest since 2021 season but not quite the doldrums of the late 20 teens. Probably mostly due to a pass happy QB

Welp, it was better than the Conner years.

 

I don’t think you actually watched the games if you think our “running game” was good.

Especially if the first thing you talk about are swing passes

 

You're probably right. Let's go with your assessment. My bad.

 

Back to Kenneth Gainwell, he gained over 500 'ground yards' with 5 TDs and almost another 500 yards receiving with 3TDs. Add in over 600 yards in kick returns, and he was responsible for over 1600 all purpose yards and 8 TDs for the 2025 season.


I have no idea what those stats translate to as far as what his future contract would look like. I don't know how that compares to other RBs used in a similar fashion as KG. And, maybe just my opinion, I would like to watch that RB tandem in a second season together.


Does anyone have any info or knowledge on how the new OC likes to use his RBs? Until last season really, it seemed like we always used the workhorse RB with a change of pace guy for a breather here and there. Last season was more of RB by committee approach.

 

The running game was inconsistent they found something using Spencer Anderson and Washington as blockers.

 

I agree with you that our offense lived, and died by the success of the RB room, but not in the actual running game. We were never able to establish a true running game.

 

That’s all I was trying to say. I would like to see us have more success on the ground next year.

 

This is why Gainwell was team MVP. And should be a priority signing.

 

He wasn't ready to play. Needed development.

 

Based on Born2Steel’s information I retract my post

He is definitely more valuable than Najee was

 

Harsh grader.

They had 100 yards or more rushing in over half their games.

 

I do not see the Steelers putting many resources into the RB position moving forward. In the X Years he coached GB, McCarthy never ranked higher than 12th in rush attempts. That was the outlier. Majority were 15 or lower with several seasons in the 20's.

It was not ever a focal point of his attack. Now...McCarthy had incredible QB play so that could have tilted his approach. But...with such a pass heavy approach traditionally in his play-calling....not sure he is going to want to focus cap resources on a position that is not an emphasis in the offense.

In contrast, Arthur Smith would have been happy with an offense of all RBs and TEs.

I could see Gainwell coming back as a bridge to a more pass heavy offense as he excels there. But I would be surprised if the team made an expensive and/or long term commitment to him.

 

Baltimore had a great running game. What did it get them?

Steelers were top 10 in rush EPA so they were doing something right. And just maybe opponents were comfortable focusing on stopping the run because the pass game was so weak. Warren was top 10 in heavy boxes faced by RBs. I mean the Steelers receivers scared no one for the most part. DK is mostly handled by CB1s, and the rest of the receiving core was #3s and #4s.

The Steelers were 2nd in 12 personnel usage in the NFL. But they were 2nd in % passing out of that formation. The problem was they were horrible in pass efficiency when doing it but rushing was actually mildly successful. I have to wonder how often Rodgers was checking out of run plays and going with short dumps. That would play a part in this as well.