Declining Najees 5th looks even better

I was talking about decline, not injuries. The guy had been incredibly durable, but if you want to reach and claim a fluky injury proves something, you are certainly welcome to make that dubious argument.

I can see why you are pushing this so hard, given that Warren is now running into exactly the same issues Harris faced the last four years.

 

Yeah same here. That's awful. Non contact makes it so much worse. Not even sure how long it will be for him to get back to action. This could very well end his career effectively. He will be 28 coming off an injury that will likely hurt his mobility and already limited explosion. Not the way you want to see that happen.... I feel really bad for the kid

 

definitely the season. Potentially into next... On a one year deal this year too.... Really not good for him. Tough to watch.

 

Welp there goes any real hope at a decent comp pick from him this year. I was really hoping he'd take a nice chunk of snaps this year.

 

Instead of wishing the guy a speedy recovery this is your first thought .

 

Fishing for scribbles and occasionally catching a clown fish

 

Suggested reading:

https://www.si.com/nfl/steelers/news/new-study-shows-where-pittsburgh-steelers-run-problems

https://steelersdepot.com/2025/09/o...cal-of-o-line-performance-questions-coaching/

When the OL regresses from even the low it was last season it shouldn't surprise anyone that the run game would suffer.

 

Yeah, but some fans just wanted to blame Najee for the poor running game and not the OL.

 

N. Harris almost blew his eye off this summer. I would say that is well ...

With this recent injury, I think he's done from being a #2 NFL RB. Forget a team's #1 RB. Achilles injuries suffered by running backs are very tough to come back from.

Harris had a very low average per rush and catch RB in the NFL prior to his injury. I wish him and his partner well. And I hope the Steelers get a compensatory pick for losing him in free agency.

Warren is a far more explosive back, pun intended.

 

As they say, man up and do not cry publicly over the cost of a Taylor Swift concert. You have 10? Man -- that is a financial kick in the shorts.

 

very tough, always felt sorry for this kid. drafted onto a SUCK OFFENSE, an OLINE that blew for years, with Tomlin and a directionless offense. poor kid...

 

Sounds like the typical response of someone who isn't doing well in an argument. I'm not sure baiting people into arguments helps with the sort of civil discourse that is supposed to be the goal here, but that's just my opinion.

You are the one changing his story here. When I brought up wear and tear as a reason why the Steelers would have let Harris walk, you insisted that wasn't the reason. You insisted it was only them thinking Warren was better. Now that you think Harris's injury supports the argument you have been making, you suddenly want to make wear and tear out to be a major factor in why the Steelers moved on.

The reason I was more focused on decline than injuries is because I thought both backs carried an injury risk. Harris had a lot of wear on his body, but he had largely been durable. Warren battled injuries much of last season and had missed time before. Smaller backs with his running style can also have trouble staying healthy.

One thing I think we can agree on is that if Warren goes down, the Steelers are royally screwed.

 

The explosive back is averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Harris was averaging 4.1 when he got hurt.

 

That's better

 

I really liked Najee Harris. It stinks that he got injured. Get well soon Najee!

 

Yeah, great guy, just not explosive enough at this level. I wish him a speedy recovery. I really wanted him to be the hammer here, especially as a 'Bama fan, but it was clear very early on that he just didn't have the speed required at, even with all the mitigating crcumsdtances he struggled under here, it could not disguise his limitations.

 

My posts aren't worth your time, yet you keep devoting your time to responding. That certainly seems to call into question who is biting on whose bait.

I get why you don't want to use the accurate comparison and include Patterson and Johnson. You want to manipulate the numbers in your favor, but it is intentionally misleading. The Steelers were sharing the touches among three backs early last season, not two. So we can have my valid comparison or the one you are twisting to fit you inaccurate view of things. I chose the valid one. You chose the misleading one.

Your claim that I moved the goalposts is simply false. Including Patterson and Johnson is valid. You just don't like it that it takes away your misleading statistic. Regarding the wear and tear thing, we had this discussion before. You insisted that the only reason the Steelers moved on was they thought Warren was better. I was the one arguing that wear and tear was likely a factor in the decision. When that didn't suit your argument, you dismissed it. Now that you think you can use it to support your argument, you want to embrace it.

Here is what we know. When the Steelers had Harris and Warren, Harris started every game. He got more snaps. He got more touches.

Warren is facing the exact same problems this season that Harris did the last two years. We are seeing how hard it is to be the lead back for the Steelers because the line isn't doing a good job and teams aren't respecting the passing game enough. The result is Warren averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Harris, on the other hand, seemed to be taking the larger role with the Chargers until he got hurt and he was averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Whether wear and tear contributed to the fluke injury is a matter of opinion.

We also know that the Steelers were splitting reps among three running backs in the first two games last season, not two. If I remember correctly, Warren wasn't entirely healthy. Patterson actually carried the ball more than Warren in the opener. When you compare the all-purpose yardage for all touches by running backs, the Steelers had more last year in the first two games. As I previously illustrated, the running game was far more effective last year even if you leave out Fields.

You are free to ignore this latest bit of bait. I won't make any judgements of you either way.

 

Always has to have the last word

Built from insecurity

 

The OL has been poor for a while, but people were mostly wanting to see more Warren because he tended to do more with what was blocked for him than Najee did. He is also a much better weapon in space (and that has been on display the first 3 games).

Warren's main issue this year is that he has 2.0 yards per carry blocked for him. He's been better after first contact for his whole career than he's been the first three games this year (I expect that will change, since he's had a big year in yards after contact in the receiving category. He's been just as explosive in space this year as he has in years prior). There are guys that are getting 3.5 yards+ blocked for them (There are 14 backs if you take out guys that have less than 10 carries, hell there are 22 backs getting 3.1 YPC or more blocked for them at more than 10 carries).... We just aren't blocking. Shoot, even Najee before his injury had nearly a yard more per attempt blocked for him this year over last year and he's had the same YPC. He's just not the guy that is going to do a lot past the LOS. Warren is... we just gotta give him a couple opportunities to get to the second level untouched. We haven't given him the chance yet. The blocking has been much worse so far this year than it was for the majority of last season.

Najee is always going to be a touch better when we're not blocking just based on his size alone. If you blocked Najee 2 yards, he'd get 3.9. If you block Warren 2 he might get you that 3.2.... so 3/4 of a yard better with poor blocking. The thing is that when you blocked Najee 10 he'd get 12. If you blocked him 6 he'd get 8. That is where Warren will shine. If we block him 6, Jaylen will get more than 10 more often than not. If we block him 10, he might score. I just hope we start to see that "yards blocked" number rise over the course of the season. Our OL is killing more than our running game lol