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People are freaking out over Kaleb Johnson's slow start

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by steelersrule6, Aug 14, 2025.

  1. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    It’s a bad comparison. Jerome Bettis was a HOF RB. He hit marks of 4.5 and 4.8 against more stacked boxes than Harris ever faced in an era where teams were built to stop the run and still couldn’t stop him.

    Comparing ypc of a 13 year career to a 4 year career is just silly.
     
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  2. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Im a happy camper

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    Oct 26, 2011
    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
     
  3. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
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  4. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    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?
     
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  5. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    Well hopefully that won't be the case. I truly rather be great than be able to say, see I told you.
     
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  6. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
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  7. SGSteeler

    SGSteeler Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
  8. SGSteeler

    SGSteeler Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
  9. SGSteeler

    SGSteeler Well-Known Member

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    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.
     
  10. SGSteeler

    SGSteeler Well-Known Member

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    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.
     

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