Halicke: Warren's already become special, despite being held down

There are no two ways around it: The Steelers' offense, as a whole, was atrocious in Sunday's 13-10 loss to the Browns. Many of those struggles came through the passing game, which has put the spotlight more and more on why there's valid concern regarding Kenny Pickett.

However, one player stood out above all others: Jaylen Warren. The manner in which he consistently leaves us struggling to put two words together over highlight after highlight, week after week, should undoubtedly create a similar buzz.

For those who read this and lament over the Steelers' decision to select Najee Harris in the first round, now to be outplayed by an undrafted free agent, I strongly urge those concerns to be directed at the quarterback who was drafted in the first round and regressing in his second season. The reason? Because the Steelers have a legitimate option at running back in Warren, regardless of what happens with Harris from here on out.

The quarterback? Well, that's a different story.

Warren rightfully earned his role as a complement to Harris last year and reprised that role to start this season. However, I am seeing some serious growth in Warren in multiple ways -- growth that has made him much more of a complete running back, and thus warrants more touches.

First and foremost, Warren is a home run hitter. With the right blocking and against the right defense, Warren has everything needed to find the end zone, regardless of whether the offense is eight or 80 yards away:

First off, hats off to the offensive line for superb blocking here, especially Mason Cole who gets to the second level and takes away the play side linebacker for a long time. But, Warren displays a number of things here. He has the ability to make guys miss in space, which he does with that first jump cut. Then, he has an excellent burst to accelerate through the hole and uses his vision to find an alley that leads to the end zone. Then, his 4.55-speed is more than enough to outrun the Cleveland defense for a 74-yard house call.

The ability to pull off a run like this at a moment's notice makes Warren an immediate complementary option. He may not have pulled one off last year, but we saw him do it in the preseason this year, and did it again on Sunday. But now, let's dive into three examples of why Warren has earned a much larger role in the Steelers' offense:

Okay, this run is just ridiculous. First, Warren makes the right read to cut up inside when the cornerback takes away the edge. He uses his smaller stature to fit through the hole, then uses some phenomenal creativity to then cut laterally and turn it outside. Once he's outside, he doesn't turn down the physicality. He throws out a vicious stiff arm and makes sure to finish the run falling forward.

Coming out of the draft, one of Warren's weaknesses was having a "one-speed running style that lacks unpredictability." This run is a great example of the growth we've seen in Warren. After all, these type of runs aren't out of the ordinary. They're more par for the course.

Even the numbers support that Warren is the most explosive running back in the league:

One area I've wanted to see more growth from Warren is his ability as a zone runner. Warren is a considerably better gap runner. For the season, Warren is averaging a whopping 8.52 yards per carry when running gap concepts. And, in Weeks 1-8, Warren had 27 carries for 91 yards on zone concepts. That's only 3.37 yards per carry.

Why bother trying to excel at both? Well, that makes things less predictable on offense. If defenses know Warren is a much better gap runner, they may adjust how they attack each run when he's on the field, expecting more gap concepts over zone. Do well at both, and there's a better chance of catching the defense on their heels more often.

Only two of Warren's nine carries on Sunday were zone concepts, but this run shows great improvement in this area. And, I've slowed it down so you can watch Warren read this to perfection:

This is either outside zone or wide zone, most likely the latter. Either way, both gives the runner an option to cut back up the field should the lane outside not be open. You can see Warren's head go from reading outside and literally go gap to gap until he decides to cut hard upfield, going against the Browns' momentum. In doing so, he gets a nice gain.

The tape has looked much better over the past three weeks when Warren's run zone concepts, and the numbers don't lie either. Over the past three weeks, Warren has 18 carries for 113 yards on zone concepts, a staggering 6.28 yards per carry. That's tremendous growth.

Then, add in Warren's consistent ability to pick up blitzers in pass protection ...

... and you have a running back who is worthy of more than nine carries in a game which the Steelers dominated on the ground.

The Steelers put up 172 rushing yards on the Browns' defense, which is the most Cleveland has given up on the ground this season. It doesn't take a football savant to know that Warren was a big reason for that outburst. The fact that he only had eight touches after his 74-yard touchdown to open the second half is criminal. Mike Tomlin unapologetically standing by that decision during his postgame press conference is ... insane.

The snap count share between Warren and Harris hasn't been as absurd as people may think. Over the past five weeks, Harris has played 172 snaps while Warren has played 145 snaps. On Sunday, Harris played only seven snaps more than Warren. It truly has been a healthy timeshare in the Steelers' backfield.

However, with the way Warren is playing, it would behoove Tomlin to ride the hot hand and play Warren much more, perhaps even start him. It doesn't mean Harris is washed up or that he's not worthy of a healthy workload anymore. It just means Warren is playing out of his mind right now and needs to see the field more often.

It's honestly really refreshing to see a player like Warren grow the way he has since entering the league as an undrafted free agent. There isn't a lot of room for growth in this offense, but Warren has found a way to do it. He's one of the best stories to happen to the franchise in a few years. Now, he should be rewarded for it.