Najee says he had nobody to learn from

He had three seasons to unseat him and couldn't do it. He was the cheaper one to keep and Harris got more money elsewhere. That isn't taking the job. That is having it handed to him.

 

Is there even one Warren hater on this board? I'm a fan. I hope he has a monster season. I just don't allow that fandom or that hope to lead me to an unrealistic view of who he is and what he has proven.

 

Except Warren's career YPC is 4.8. He's rushed five times or less in 15 games over that time, where his YPC is 3.7.

In the 24 games he's carried 8 times or more, his YPC is 5.7.

 

He is an explosive back with excellent hands. He is tough and physical. He can also lay some defenders out as a blocker and he has seemingly overcome issues with failing to identify the right person to block, which was a problem earlier in his career. He's a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

He still has to prove he can handle a heavier workload and maintain his effectiveness and health. So far, he has not protected the ball as well as Harris and he hasn't been nearly as durable.

If I am disparaging Warren, what is the word for how you and others are posting about Harris?

 

You act like Najee created all those yards on his own. When you look at the advanced stats for 2021, he was #24 in the league in yards created past what was blocked for him.... Now, that was far and away his best season in that regard (45th, 39th, and 31st in 2022-2024 respectively), but its not like the line blocked him 200 yards for the season and he got 1200. He is outside the top 32 backs (on average) for his career in creating yards for himself. Now, if you were worried about a back that needed to create for himself because the line sucks, you would want a RB that is high on the list for yards created past what was blocked. Lucky for us, the #5, #3 , and #9 back (in 2022, 2023, and 2024 respectively) in yards created is available to us (hint: it's Jaylen Warren). Every argument you make in Harris' defense gets refuted by actual statistics and metrics. Reality isn't what you believe it to be.... However, I do understand not being impressed by a 5 for 25 stat line (its more like 8 for 40 based on Warren's actual usage), but it looks a lot better when you'd expect Najee to get less than 20 yards with those same 5 carries.

The NFL market sees it the same way I (and others) do. Najee Harris just hit FA for the first time and got the 18th highest contract in the league at his position. He's ahead of backs that haven't reached FA too that are clearly better RB's than him (Jahmyr Gibbs, James Cook, Breece Hall, Devon Achane, etc.). He isn't viewed as a top 20 back (correctly so). His market doesn't indicate that teams felt like a good player was getting mismanaged or misused. A team that fit his strengths gave him a short term deal and its pretty clear that Harris' future as a starting RB in the NFL will hinge on his performance this year. If he turns in a good performance, he should get another contract to start somewhere. If not, he's destined to be a #2 tandem guy for a couple years before petering out of the league. I expect him to be what he's always been. He might get a slight ypc tick upwards if the Chargers line blocks him more yards, but that is about it. He will be healthy, safe with the ball, and soak up a pretty high number of touches while turning in another high-volume/low-efficiency 1,000 yard season.

All of this back and forth will be moot anyways. There's a high likelihood that Jaylen Warren is going to get a similar workload to Najee's previous workload here in 2025. If he looks like a Najee level bum, you can make an argument that the Steelers were the problem and not Najee (and you'd have a legitimate point in this regard, unlike the point above). If Warren looks like a quality back and puts a solid and explosive season together, then maybe you'll admit Najee just wasn't that good? Doubt it, but the evidence would be there all the same.

 

Dang, good find and interesting stat. I highly doubt that Jaylen is going to average 5.7 yards for an entire season, but it does show that the increased workload doesn't slow him down... he actually thrives.

The biggest boon from having Warren back there will come in the form of a softer box. Teams have to respect Warren in the passing game and respect him in space. They wont get to be on their toes crashing down on 12 personnel all game. We can be more creative with the formations we use and how we use Warren in general. It should open up the offense for everyone.

EDIT: IT looks like his YPC in games where he carries it 8 times or more is actually 5.2 (assuming my math is correct), which is still very good. Even if you take out the main outlier of his 74 yard TD run in Cleveland in 2023 (which you shouldn't) his YPC is still 4.9 in those games. It just goes to show that an outlier or two isn't making these numbers artificially inflated, and he's actually performed quite well when given a chance to. I am excited to see him take a larger role this year.

 

Are these numbers being interpreted the right way? More attempts lowers the average yards per carry and this signals a back being less productive? Fewer attempts raises the average yards per care and signals a back being more productive? Surely there has to be more to the data than that? God if it's true the Duce Staley had to be the most productive back of all time.

 

Tonlim loved Harris, he had no chance of unseating him.

 

There's a lot to be said about a guy who just takes the ball and runs to daylight. Hard not to like Warren's game and I doubted he would ever see the field initially. I could build a team around those types of guys. Just have to wait and see about his durability.

 

Your are assuming there is a hole.

 

Not really because Najee will have more rushing yards next season.

 

If he loved Harris so much he would still be on the team, weak argument try again.

 

I've actually heard that from multiple reports, how much Tomlin loved Najee.

In fact, DK has reported many times over the years how much he obviously loved Najee as a person. Almost a father/son type relationship. They also invested a lot of time and draft capital on him. And yet, they still didn't even bother to pick up his option. Seriously, that tells me all I need to know. I actually applaud Tomlin, for at least being able to seperate his personal feelings and business decisions.

 

Nope, sounds like Harris was glad to be out. Tomlin routinely favoured slowee over the better back. That's just the facts.

 

Najee was top 10 in explosive plays in 2023, he seemed to do more on his own as a rookie less so in the later years.

 

If he was as good as you guys hype him out to be he would've been the starter .

 

If Tomlin loved him like you claimed they would've picked up his 5th year option, stop making crap up .

 

No RB got paid big money in free agency this year Aaron Jones got a 2 year 10 million deal, most teams know this is a deep RB class. The Steelers overpaid for Warren they could've use the lower tender on him he's not going anywhere.

 

No team is stacking the box on first down for Warren, that avg YPC is boosted by running on third downs I bet.

 

You mean like, "not really because Najee will have more rushing yards next season", or "if he was as good as you guys hype him out to be he would've been the starter?"

Come on, now. You're stating opinion as if it were fact, but if someone else does it to you they have a "weak argument try again." Why? Because their opinion differs from yours?

I'm not "hyping" Warren. I'm simply presenting some stats that suggest something you said was off. That's it. And after some of the more dubious decisions the PTB on this club have made over the past couple of years I don't know that pointing to a particular decision they made is the strongest support for one's viewpoint.