Old school fans love smash mouth football in Pittsburgh. The dynasty in the 1970s would have never been born without Franco Harris. The younger Gen Xs and older Millennials probably had a Jerome Bettis poster on their wall as a kid. And, Le'Veon Bell helped carry on the tradition in his own way last decade.
If there's one thing you can confidently know going into the 2023 season, know this: The Steelers are going to run the football.
Welcome to the second edition of our 2023 Steelers positional preview, in which we will break down and preview each position on the roster to get you ready for that wonderful first training camp practice at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
Throughout this series, we'll take a look back at how each position fared in 2022, how that position was addressed in the offseason and wrap up with how it looks heading into 2023. Of course, the roster can still go through some changes between now and when the roster is cut down to 53 players. But, this will help give you a better understanding of how the team is shaping up heading into the season and how realistic it is for them to get back to a playoff chase or maybe even a division title.
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.
2022 IN REVIEW
The 2022 Steelers was really a tale of two seasons, and the running back position was no different. As the offensive line was trying to gel in the early stages of the season, Najee Harris' second year got off to a slow start.
While he maintains a foot injury suffered in training camp didn't hamper him early on, one that required a steel plate in his shoe through the first five games of the season, Harris still seemed to lack the same explosiveness and violence with which he ran during his rookie campaign. Of course, the reason for any hesitation could have been a combination of other things as well, most notably the shift to more of a zone-running scheme.
Zone schemes rely a lot on cohesion, and the Steelers had very little of it in the first half of the season. The offensive line had two new members at center and right guard, and it took that unit nearly half the season to get their feet under them. In turn, Harris had to adjust to the zone-heavy scheme at the same pace as the offensive line.
Harris knew this, and even went the extra mile and spent time in offensive line meetings to better understand what they had to do because it ultimately impacted how effective Harris -- or any other running back -- could be on the ground.
The struggles on the ground were blatantly obvious as the team averaged only 94.9 yards per game before the bye in Week 9. That's even including a 144-yard performance against the NFC Champion Eagles. Harris' stats were affected because of the team's struggles on the ground, as he recorded only 361 yards on 108 carries (3.3 yards per carry) in the first eight games.
However, the bye week gave the Steelers an opportunity to look in the mirror and hone in on what they knew they could do well, despite the results: Run the football. And, it was almost as if a switch magically flipped. All of a sudden, Harris looked much more like the rookie version of himself, and the offensive line began opening hole after hole after hole. This couldn't be better exemplified than in Harris' longest run of the season in the first game after the bye:
As Harris looked much more formidable, the offense's overall production on the ground spiked and stayed hot for all but one game for the rest of the season. The Steelers averaged 146 yards per game on the ground during their final nine games. In turn, that allowed them to control the clock much better, which played a critical role in why the Steelers went 7-2 during that stretch.
After the abysmal start to the season, Harris averaged 4.1 yards per carry over the final nine games and recorded his second 1,000-yard season, joining Bell as the second player in Steelers' history to record at least 2,200 yards and 650 receiving yards in his first two seasons.
What really stood out about the running back position in 2022 was the emergence of a legitimate No. 2 running back. The Steelers wanted to find a back that could complement Harris and spell him often enough to preserve Harris' health, but without sacrificing too much production. That came in the form of undrafted free agent Jaylen Warren.
Among a group of incumbents Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland, along with training camp invitees such as Master Teague III, Warren turned heads throughout training camp and quickly emerged as a favorite to not only make the roster, but earn the No. 2 role behind Harris.
Ultimately, he won the job and never surrendered it. In fact, as he grew more and more comfortable in the offense, Warren's production increased as the season progressed. Warren finished the season with 379 yards on 77 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per attempt. He also caught 28 passes for 214 yards, with half of those receptions converting first downs.
Warren's effectiveness behind Harris finally gave the Steelers the first formidable 1-2 punch at running back since DeAngelo Williams backed up Bell.
THE OFFSEASON
With the top two guys on the depth chart under contract, Omar Khan's work in the offseason was all about how to complement them. Khan quickly signed McFarland to a futures contract after the 2022 season concluded, putting him first in line for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart. The only other incumbent that could push for that spot would have been Snell, but he entered free agency and has yet to sign with a team at the time this article was published.
The Steelers have added Jason Huntley and rookies Alfonzo Graham and Darius Hagans into the fold to breed competition at Saint Vincent College.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023
"You saw who we drafted, who we acquired, and I don't think there's any question of what our identity is going be," Matt Canada said during minicamp. "I think we want to run the football, we want to be physical, we want to be a good team that throws the ball down the field and take advantage of what the defense gives us. So, I think our identity is well known and we'll stay to where we're at."
Yep, the Steelers are going to run the football. But, the question from here on out is how the Steelers can either produce at the same clip they did over the final nine games of the season, or maybe even improve on that mark. If they put up 146 yards on the ground per game throughout all last season, that would have been good enough for seventh in the NFL. A borderline top-five rushing attack is a good foundation for an offense with a second-year quarterback at the helm.
Obviously, the offensive line plays a critical role into the rushing attack as well, and we'll take a closer look at that when we preview the offensive line in this series. Focusing solely the running back position, what has to happen?
First and most ideally, Harris needs to look like this much more often:
Okay, maybe not quite like that every single carry. That's a special kind of run. Running backs can't pull those off every single time, as much as we'd like to think they could.
But, that doesn't mean that the Harris we saw run the ball for a nine-game stretch last season is incapable of sustaining that for 17 games. That version of Harris over a full season would project to rack up 1,271 yards on 310 carries with 11 touchdowns. All of those marks would be career-highs, and more than acceptable production for a third-year running back.
In addition, making Warren a bigger part of the offense will help as well. We saw a bit of a glimpse of what Harris and Warren could do on the field together near the end of last season, and it could be quite dangerous.
Say what you will about Canada's offense, but doing more of this in 2023 can only be a good thing:
It's also worth noting that Warren looked much more ripped during OTAs and minicamp. Him adding size should only help with more wear and tear in an increased role. He's a great story, coming in as an undrafted free agent. And, all it took was one visit to his locker during OTAs to realize that he isn't exactly the same guy that was just happy to earn a roster spot last September. He's on a mission to do more.
If Snell doesn't come back in 2023, McFarland figures to be the first one in line to step into a regular role should either Harris or Warren miss time with injuries. McFarland flashed some of his potential in the Monday night win over the Colts last season when Warren was out and Harris was pulled from the game with an injury. He's a different back than Harris and Warren, but it's a nice change of pace, and he especially fits into what the Steelers do out of the shotgun.
Regarding the fullback position, the Steelers don't really have much use for one anymore. Derek Watt is gone, leaving the only true fullback on the roster being undrafted rookie Monte Pottenaum. The only time a fullback is truly used on offense is in short-yardage situations, and the Steelers can do a number of things well to convert those downs. In all honesty, I'd expect to see more of Connor Heyward in a tight end/fullback hybrid role.
PROJECTED DEPTH CHART
• Najee Harris
• Jaylen Warren
• Anthony McFarland
Regardless of the fans that love Warren, Harris is still the alpha male in the running back room. Not only does he have the higher pedigree as a high-volume runner, he's a leader in the locker room. Harris will get the lion's share of the load. But, Warren should still see an increased usage, perhaps more often in third downs and maybe spelling Harris for an entire series once per half -- game situation pending, of course.
2023 STEELERS POSITIONAL PREVIEW SERIES
• Quarterback
• Running Back (duh, you're here)
• Wide Receiver/Tight End (July 19)
• Offensive Line (July 20)
• Defensive Line/Edge Rusher (July 21)
• Inside Linebacker (July 24)
• Secondary (July 25)
• Special Teams (July 26)
