Mike's Beer Bar War Room: New offensive coaches must feature Warren

The Steelers' offense is really bad.

Correction: The Steelers' passing game is really bad. And that passing game was nearly unwatchable on Sunday in Cleveland, even if it was facing the NFL’s best defense in a very tough environment. 

In that game, Jaylen Warren was the Steelers' best offensive player. But you know what? Warren is the Steelers' best offensive player at any position, and it's time to look at him in a new light. Because Warren isn't just a nice story for an undrafted free agent. He isn’t just a nice find on the cheap that can help an offense here and there. He's quickly becoming one of the best running backs in the entire NFL:

Above is the play of the game for what was a mostly frustrating offense Sunday. Warren runs through a huge hole on a very well blocked outside run. What to really note here is Warren’s acceleration and ability to run away from what might be the NFL’s fastest overall defense. 

Pittsburgh has rushed for 172 yards or more in three straight games, and the 172 allowed by Cleveland in Week 11 was the most the Browns have allowed all season. The week before, the Steelers ran for a season-high 205 yards against Green Bay after running for their previous season-high the previous week against Tennessee. Warren was getting an average of just 6.4 rushing attempts per game before the Titans game.

Warren’s 18 runs of 10+ yards is the NFL’s fifth-most despite his ranking 41st in number of carries, and 31.25% of his runs have resulted in a first down.

Over his past three games alone, Warren has 35 carries for 318 yards and two touchdowns, good for 106 rushing yards per game and 9.1 yards per carry. Warren has produced 368 total yards over the past three games on just 43 touches, which is 8.6 yards per touch. Warren accounted for 58% of the Steelers' total offensive yards last week. 

Warren is also an elite pass catching running back. Warren averages 1.9 yards per route run. That is second in the NFL amongst all running backs with at least 100 routes run. He also has the most forced missed tackles of all qualified running backs as a pass catcher. Warren has been targeted on 30.7% of his routes. Only Alvin Kamara is higher amongst running backs with 100 or more routes run. Warren is in the Kamara/Christian McCaffrey tier as a receiver, and that is elite company. 

Not only that, but Warren also excels in pass protection and loves doing it. Step one of being a good pass protector from the running back position is want-to, something Warren has a great deal of. 

Here's an ideal example of Warren’s competitiveness and want to. He simply won’t go to the ground. In fact, Warren relishes in beating up on this Cleveland cornerback. 

Warren has rare desire as a ball carrier as well. Simply put, he is very difficult to tackle. Warren fights for every yard and refuses to go down easily. He runs low to the ground with good power, but exceptional balance and Warren has a fine combination of long speed and acceleration. He has all the traits you look for in a feature back. Take note of the top right corner in this graph below:

For further context, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs are tied for second in explosive run rate at 11.2%. Lamar Jackson and James Cook are tied for third at 10.2%. Warren is first by a wide margin at 16.2%.

Najee Harris saw the field in Cleveland for 33 of a possible 58 snaps, and Warren played 26 snaps. On early downs, Harris out-snapped Warren 26 to 13. On third downs, it favored Warren 7 to 4. Warren needs to be featured more. 

Now that isn’t an indictment on Harris, who frankly, is having his best season in the NFL. Harris is a power back and his ability to wear down a defense has value. He too is difficult to tackle and is an asset as a receiver and pass protector. Harris and Warren complement one another very well in a league that rarely features one player at this position. Harris needs a prominent role, and if you scroll up to the graph, Harris also shows quite well. 

When Warren came out of East High School in Salt Lake City as a recruit, it was him, Harris and DeAndre Swift that were the highest-rated running backs in the entire nation. But Warren had to take the junior college route, attending Snow College instead of a major football factory like Harris who went to Alabama and Swift to Georgia. Warren later landed at Oklahoma State. Warren was extremely productive in high school, junior college and at Oklahoma State. 

Check out Warren’s senior highlights at Oklahoma State:

Serious question: Why wasn’t he drafted? By anyone, including the Steelers?

The Steelers now have an excellent backfield in Warren and Harris. Fans don’t have to pick one or the other. None of this is anything resembling a slight against Harris. Even during the Steelers' early season struggles in the running game, it was not the ball carriers’ faults. Both running backs have done more than their share all season long. 

Folks, contrary to popular belief, you will not see sweeping changes to the offense with Matt Canada being relieved of his duties and replaced by Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan. They would have to go back to minicamp or training camp to install a new offense. The playbook is the playbook.  

Oh, maybe the fat gets trimmed, and it becomes more streamlined. The play sequencing will certainly be different. There should be fewer tendencies for the opponent to tee off on. The way the offense prepares during the week and adjusts in-game will be different, as will the scripted portion of the play sheet. 

The way the coaching staff communicates with the players, first and foremost with Kenny Pickett, won’t be the same as it has been. The offensive personnel is unlikely to be drastically different, but maybe we see more 12 personnel instead such a heavy dose of 11 personnel. But that very well could have been in the cards with Canada as coordinator, anyway, since Pat Freiermuth is now back in the mix. 

A much higher use of play-action would certainly be welcome, as would actually throwing to the middle of the field, but there is a chance that is on the quarterback rather than the coordinator. There will be changes, but they will most likely be subtle. 

All that being said, step one for this offense should be to have it run first and foremost through Warren. But what also needs to change is the public perception of him. He’s quickly becoming one of the best at what he does. And in an offense that needs all the help it can get, he needs to be featured.