Positional preview: One of the best running back duos

Omar Khan has been working his magic over the past two offseasons to improve the roster and get the Steelers back into contention. One area Khan hasn't had to worry much about is the running back position, which not only is one of Pittsburgh's biggest strengths, but also one of the best across the NFL.

Welcome to the second edition of our 2024 positional preview, in which we will break down the roster to get you ready for that wonderful first training camp practice at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.

Throughout this series, we'll take a look back at how each position fared in 2023, how that position was addressed in the offseason and wrap up with how it looks heading into 2024. Of course, the roster can still go through changes between now and when it's cut to 53 players. But, this will offer an understanding of how the team is shaping up.

Last time around, we did a deep dive on the quarterbacks. Now, we take a look at a position that is a focal point of the 2023 Steelers.

2023 IN REVIEW

The expectation in 2023 was for Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to become a legitimate 1-2 punch out of the backfield. Warren had gone from an undrafted free agent who earned a job out of training camp to earning a prominent role alongside Harris during the 2022 season. Mike Tomlin and Matt Canada wanted the offense to be built on the running game, and the duo of Harris and Warren gave them the ability to do that.

However, as they did in 2022, the Steelers got off to a slow start on the ground. They fell behind early in the season opener against the 49ers, forcing an already predictable offense to become one-dimensional and throw their way back into the game. But over the first seven games of the season, this team averaged a measly 79.7 rushing yards per game. That wasn't going to cut it, especially with Kenny Pickett struggling to grow and Canada's offense remaining as stagnant and lifeless as ever.

While it wasn't enough to save Canada's job, the running game took off in a Thursday night win over the Titans in Week 9 as Harris and Warren combined for 157 rushing yards. After Canada was fired four weeks later, Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan took over the coordinator and playcalling duties and gave the running game a bit of a makeover. They strayed a bit from Canada's predominant outside zone concepts in favor of more gap/man concepts. Both Harris and Warren thrived during this change, as the offense produced at least 113 yards on the ground in eight of the final 10 games of the season, two of which they eclipsed 200 yards.

The highlight of the season for the running game came in a huge Week 17 win over the Seahawks on the road. The offense put up a season-high 468 yards, with Harris and Warren contributing 197 yards on the ground. Both running backs set the tone for the rest of the offense, tearing through the heart of the Seattle defense time and time again:

The Steelers wound up ranking 13th in the NFL with 118.2 rushing yards per game. But over those final 10 games, the running game produced 145.2 yards per game, nearly doubling their per game numbers over the first seven games of the season.

While the team's rushing attack finished outside the top 10, Harris and Warren still earned their place among the best running back duos in the NFL. Both Harris and Warren eclipsed 1,000 yards from scrimmage in 2023, joining Detroit's David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs as the only two duos in the league to accomplish that feat.

Harris rushed for 1,035 yards and eight touchdowns, making it three straight seasons of at least 1,000 yards to begin his NFL career. Harris also had his most efficient season, rushing for 4.1 yards per carry. Warren nearly doubled his rookie numbers, carrying the ball 149 times for 784 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Only Lamar Jackson and Christian McCaffrey had better averages.

All of this is impressive, especially for Harris, because Canada's system telegraphed a lot of plays. Of Harris' 2023 snaps, 52% were on running plays. Conversely, only 35.1% of Warren's snaps were on running plays. And, according to Pro Football Focus, 37.5% of Harris' rushing attempts in 2023 were against a stacked box (8-plus defenders). Only 23.6% of Warren's rushing attempts were against stacked boxes.

In other words, if Harris was on the field, it was a good chance the Steelers were running. If Warren was on the field, there was an even better chance the Steelers were throwing the ball.

Despite the disadvantage they had, Harris and Warren were still one of the most productive running back tandems in 2023.

THE OFFSEASON

Before making any changes to the running back position, Mike Tomlin had to hire an offensive coordinator that could execute the Steelers' vision of being a run-first team, capitalizing on having a formidable duo in Harris and Warren. Tomlin hired Arthur Smith, who was fired after three seasons as head coach in Atlanta, but had two very successful seasons as offensive coordinator in Tennessee. 

Tomlin managed to keep Faulkner as running backs coach and also brought back offensive line coach Pat Meyer, maintaining some level of continuity for the running backs and offensive line.

Khan made only two notable additions to the running back room in the offseason. First, Cordarrelle Patterson was signed the day after NFL owners voted to implement a new rule to revive the kickoff into a play that actually means something. Obviously, the timing of the signing told us everything we needed to know about why Patterson was signed, which was to primarily return kicks under the new rule. But, Patterson has experience in Smith's offense and can serve as a No. 3 option.

The Steelers also signed Daijun Edwards as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia, who played in 51 games for the Bulldogs, carrying the ball 390 times for 2,083 yards and 24 touchdowns. Edwards has an outside shot to make the team, but gives the team some depth options.

The final item on the offseason's agenda came down to a decision whether or not to pick up Harris' fifth-year option. Though the option would have only cost $6.79 million against the salary cap in 2025, Khan made a "business decision" to not pick up the option, making 2024 the final year of Harris' rookie contract.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2024

The No. 1 expectation for this group is plain and clear: The Steelers are going to run the football.

This offense will be built around Harris and Warren running in Smith's wide zone system. While the two running backs had a lot of success running in gap/man concepts down the stretch in 2023, both Harris and Warren have the traits to run in Smith's offense.

In terms of a scheme fit in Smith's wide zone offense, Harris is a much better outside zone runner than most people think. Whether it's because of his size, speed or whatever reason, some fans don't think he can do it. On the contrary, Harris has consistently been a more efficient and consistent runner in outside zone.

Over the past two seasons, Harris has logged 141 carries for 606 yards and three touchdowns when running outside zone, an average of 4.3 yards per carry, according to Sports Info Solutions. In fact, he's averaged exactly 4.3 yards per carry in outside zone over each of the past two seasons, so it's not like he was really good one year and terrible in another.

Harris' run against the Seahawks earlier in this preview shows what he's capable of when running outside zone. Harris knows how make the necessary reads. Should the offensive line improve its run blocking, Harris should get more room to make these reads and get more than the 0.99 yards per carry before contact he had in 2023.

Warren is a more peculiar fit in Smith's offense. Despite being faster and quicker than Harris, Warren's numbers in gap/man concepts are far superior to anything he's ran in zone. Warren averaged a respectable 3.91 yards per carry with a 46.3% success rate in zone concepts last season, according to FantasyPoints.com, but that pales in comparison to his 6.98 yards per carry and 51.5% success rate in gap/man concepts.

But, that doesn't mean Warren is incapable of having sustained success in a wide zone offense.

In this play, Warren shows his ability to make the right reads in an outside zone concept (this is a variation of Zorro, the same concept in the Harris run above). In outside zone, the running back's primary aiming point is the backside of the play side tight end. Warren's head looks there first, but by the time he takes his second step after receiving the toss, he already sees that it's closed off by the Rams. Warren then uses his excellent burst and quickness to cut inside and run through two solid blocks by Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels on the second level.

Harris and Warren are two different types of running backs, but they can both execute the runs in different ways and find similar success. But, based on the talent the Steelers have on the offensive line and the success this rushing attack had with gap/man concepts last season, I'm not convinced that Smith won't make adjustments to his system to add some of the Power and Duo concepts that sprung Harris and Warren for big numbers.

Regardless, Harris and Warren will be the heartbeat of the offense. This is a team that wants to run first, and the Steelers have one of the best rushing duos in the NFL. And the better this team runs the ball, the better they can be in the passing game. Unlike the last coordinator, for whatever reasons we'll never know, Smith actually likes to use play-action. In 2023, the Falcons used play-action 41.9% of the time, the second-highest percentage in the league.

Because of his familiarity under Smith, I'd expect there to be some specialty formations or plays for Patterson every now and then. Yes, Patterson's primary job will be in the return game, but this is still a guy that ran for 1,494 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry in three seasons under Smith in Atlanta. I don't believe Patterson was brought to Pittsburgh to never touch the ball on offense.

At the end of the day, this is still a position dominated by Harris and Warren. And, with Harris now set to become an unrestricted free agent and Warren bound for restricted free agency after the upcoming season, there's every reason to believe these guys will do what they can to ball out and earn a big contract.

PROJECTED DEPTH CHART

• Najee Harris
• Jaylen Warren
• Cordarrelle Patterson

This is a legitimate timeshare between Harris and Warren, with Harris as the de facto starter. Warren will still get plenty of touches as both running backs figure to be essential to Smith's offense. Both will be productive, but because of the split in touches, they're not attractive fantasy football options. And again, I'd expect there to be some plays in which Patterson lines up in the backfield, but his primary role still figures to be in the return game.

2024 STEELERS POSITIONAL PREVIEW SERIES

• Quarterback
• Running back (duh, you're here)

And coming soon ...

• Wide receiver/Tight end (later this week)
• Offensive line 
• Defensive line/Edge rusher 
• Inside linebacker 
• Secondary 
• Special teams