My thoughts on preseason wk 3

Your last argument is pure hindsight. I don't think even the Steelers expected Gainwell to be any more than their third-down back. I think the plan was for Johnson to play a much larger role, but he simply wasn't good enough.

You make up all these counterarguments to try to avoid the simple fact that the Steelers started Harris over Warren every game for three years. Each of those seasons, they gave him more snaps. Each of those seasons, they gave him more touches. They gave the better back at the time the ball. If starting a guy every game, giving him more snaps, and more touches doesn't scream, "We think Harris is better," I don't know what does.

You actually argue that the team liked Warren better even though they never started him and never gave him as many snaps or touches as Harris when they played together. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?

They moved on for reasons beyond performance on the field, which was easy enough to do given that there was not a huge gap between the two backs. My argument was always that they should have kept both for just that one more season, then moved on from Harris and found a new back to share the load with Warren.

 

I agree with Aikman. 1000 yard seasons are not so impressive with a 17 game schedule. Jim Brown would agree

 

I'm sorry the HC turned the ball over in all of those playoff games . In the playoff losses alone to the Browns and Jaguars Ben had six turnovers .

 

People can say it's not impressive but Najee is the only one to stay healthy and play for the Steelers to do it, his stats would've been better if they didn't split the playing time with Warren starting in his second year.

 

They would also be better if he had a competent offensive coordinator, passing game, and offensive line during his career, but the Steelers struggled to put all of those things around him.

 

Nothing like personal attacks against the new coach of the Steelers before he has even coached a single regular season game because you don't like what people say about the last coach that was here for 19 years.

Hypocrite much?

 

Well Charlie Batch played in the NFL, and he said he puts most of the blame on players when they don't get it done because they're the ones on the field.

 

That is a good signature you put up. Bradshaw saying what a lot of us have said for a long time.

What their saying about McCarthy is nice but he had a franchise QB and only won 1 SB as did the franchise QB. This is why they need to redeem themselves and win another SB. That would be so damn ironic for HC and QB win another SB with the team they beat in their only SB and needless to say we all want to see it.

 

I don't just have an argument. I have the winning argument. The point is who they thought was the better back when they had both, and it was clearly the guy who started every game, got more snaps, and more touches. Those are the facts. The rest is you refusing ot accept what those facts tell us.

 

And then 31 other teams had their chance at Harris in FA. Chargers signed him for less than the value of his 5th year option. And this year he is making a whopping $1.2M. He is most certainly not a rising asset. Steelers chose wisely.

 

You equate "better back" with volume. Most teams equate better back with performance.

When Warren played:

• EPA went up
• Explosive plays increased
• Passing efficiency improved
• Defenses had to respect the edge
• Blitz pickup was more reliable

When Najee played:

• Offense slowed down
• Predictability increased
• Explosive plays dropped
• Passing downs became harder

Harris was good for a team without a good passing game, i.e, Steelers post-Roethlisberger. He fit Tomlin's idea of conservative, no-mistake, 'slow the game down, grind out a win' offense. Warren is a modern offense's RB. Warren was about the future direction, Harris was about the past. It really is that simple.

 

Teams give the better back the ball more. Harris played more and got the ball more because the coaches thought that gave the team the best opportunity to win.

Your bullet points are not accurate. Harris actually had a high number of explosive runs. He was better in blitz pickup than Warren. Do you have any statistical evidence for any of t hose bullet points?

 

The draft status had a big part in that...Remember that Jarvis Jones was a starter for a very long time with us despite 6 sacks in 4 years and that James Harrison was better even if he was old

 

Actually, it is the argument and it has been my argument from the beginning, which goes back for years. This began as an argument about who the coaches thought was the better back when they still had both guys. I've been telling you that since around the time they passed on Harris's fifth-year option. I have no idea how anyone could read my posts about this and not realize that's what I've been saying all this time.

 

Draft status doesn't keep you in the starting lineup and get you more playing time and more touches four years later, especially when they had already signaled their willingness to move on by passing on the fifth-year option.

Jones remained a starter because they lacked better options. Harris remained the starter because they still thought he was better than Warren.

 

Simple. This is an extension of an argument that goes back to 2024. That is how long you have been making the nonsensical argument that the Steelers gave every start, a majority of the snaps and a majority of the touches to the guy they thought was the lesser back.

 

I was a Najee fan so I’m bias but I remember folk saying we could easily draft another RB to replace Najee and we did… and he SUCKED!!! lol.

Which is why I always laughed at the argument that you can plug and play a RB because they are “easy” to find.

People actually made predictions of 700 to 900 yards for that dude and he got shipped out after 1 season.