'He's exactly what we're looking for:' Warren's emergence a bright spot

Jaylen Warren didn't know about his long lost cousin until after he had signed with the Steelers.

It probably would have been advantageous to talk to Willie Parker before he had signed.

Warren had just signed when he facetimed the two-time Super Bowl champion. If there was anyone who knew about the challenges of trying to make the leap from undrafted free agent to a NFL player, it was Parker, who played for the Steelers from 2004-2009. While Parker is remembered for his speed, it was a blocking drill at a night practice in Latrobe that helped him make the team as a rookie.

So that was Parker's advice to the cousin he had never spoken to before.

"That's the drill that gets you on the team," Parker told Warren.

It turned out that drill never happened. Rain cancelled the annual night practice this year, but Warren didn't need it. He turned heads in spring training to make the team, and as the year has progressed, Warren has become a larger part of the Steelers offense.

And after five years of needing to lean on one running back, Warren has emerged as someone that can be an honest third-down back and relief for Najee Harris.

"I've got a role on the team," Warren was telling me. "I'm just trying to do the best I can with the opportunities that I get."

That role has been growing in past weeks. After showing early that he can block...

Warren has become more involved in the offense, averaging 5.3 yards a carry and 7.3 yards an attempt. Those numbers can be inflated a bit due to a small sample size and picking up yards on third down, but Warren describes himself as a downhill runner, and he has showed that whenever he gets the ball.

"He comes in and he works," Mason Cole said. "He runs hard. He blocks hard. He's exactly what we're looking for."

"He's just a fired up guy that comes in and works really, really hard and does the things you want him to do," Matt Canada said. "He's a football player."

Colleges found out he was a football player. Eventually, anyway. After failing to draw much attention out of East high school in Salt Lake City, Utah, he turned to Snow College, where he ran for over 2,300 yards and 23 touchdowns over 18 games, trying to draw attention from larger programs.

That is far easier said than done. It's one thing to run a 4.55 40 at the Combine. It's another to justify he is not just a product of his competition.

"When you do that in JUCO [junior college], they can look at like, 'ok, he's doing it because he's doing it against JUCO people," Warren said. "I love playing against that better competition. Something that gets you frustrated. That's how you get better. That adversity."

The transfer portal was kind to Warren, who made the jump to Utah State and then Oklahoma State, getting an honorable mention as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year at the latter.

Making the leap to the NFL is just another challenge. He's always had the confidence in himself to play, though he didn't want to put expectations on himself. He just wanted to perform.

"I always had faith in myself, but I never told myself, 'oh, I'm going to be in the NFL' because there are a lot of great players that never made it," Warren said. "I just rolled with the flow, and whatever happens happens. I didn't have expectations because that's how you get disappointed."

So what's it like now once again rising to the level of the competition?

"Livin' the dream," he said with a smile.