Steelers Position Reviews: The running backs
Steelers Position Reviews: The running backs This is the next installment of a position-by-position series about the Steelers as they
enter the NFL free agent period, which begins on
March 13, following the conclusion of the 2023 season.
Running backs (four): Anthony McFarland, Godwin Igwebuike, Jaylen Warren, and Najee Harris
Without a doubt, this squad shone in 2023.
Najee Harris became the only NFL running back to reach 1,000 yards rushing in each of the previous three seasons when he recorded
his third straight 1,000-yard campaign. The only other running backs to score 1,200 yards from scrimmage in each of the last three
seasons are him and Joe Mixon of Cincinnati.
Jaylen Warren also surfaced, giving the squad a potent one-two punch as he ran for 784 yards.
In total, they generated 1,819 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns on the ground, and an additional 540 yards through 90 receptions.
Warren and Harris both played 519 offensive snaps at the end of the season, with Harris having played 569. After spending the season
on the practice squad, Anthony McFarland played six snaps, and Qadree Ollison played just one before being cut. Godwin Igwebuike
played 117 special teams snaps but saw no offensive action.
Harris scored eighteen runs of twenty yards or more and twenty rushes of at least ten yards,
good for 10th and fourth place in the NFL, respectively.
Harris’s unwavering running style sets the tone, but he will never be a game-changing back. Throughout the season, he also grows better.
Four of Harris’ six 100-yard running games—two in 2023—have occurred in December and January. Throughout his three-year
career, he has also never missed a game.
The Steelers’ performance in 2023 was also significantly influenced by Harris’s performance. Harris scored all eight of his touchdowns
and averaged 4.3 yards per rush in the Steelers’ victories. He failed to score and only averaged 3.5 yards in their losses.
Harris’s receiving total dropped to 29, the lowest of his career, as Warren assumed full control as the third-down back.
With 61 receptions, Warren tied for second place on the squad and tied for fifth most among all running backs in the league. Out of all
running backs with at least 100 rushing attempts, his 5.3 yards per carry ranked third.
Warren finished the season with six rushes of ten yards or more, and his long of 74 yards was the fourth-longest in the NFL.
However, this season, all of the Steelers’ running back rushing attempts were handled by Harris and Warren. They also accounted for
90 of the 92 running back receptions the squad had this season; McFarland had the remaining two.
Before suffering a knee injury that kept him out of the game, McFarland averaged 27.3 yards per kick return on six returns. Igwebuike,
on the other hand, averaged 25.6 yards per return and won the position. Together, they only returned 17 kickoffs; throughout the
season, the Steelers had only 24 kickoff returns.
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