Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that RB Jaylen Warren will be sidelined this week but that his hamstring injury is "not anything that's a long-term concern."
Steelers RB Jaylen Warren is expected to miss "multiple weeks" with the hamstring injury he suffered in Saturday's preseason game vs. the Bills, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Pittsburgh's season-opener is three weeks away, and Pelissero confirms that Warren's availability for Week 1 is "in doubt."
Steelers RB Jaylen Warren suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of Saturday night's preseason game vs. the Bills. The team labeled him doubtful to return (which he obviously won't).
Steelers RB Najee Harris has dropped weight this offseason. His trainer estimates that he's at 235 pounds now -- seven pounds lighter than his listed weight. Harris has upped his training time and cleaned up his diet.
The Steelers have declined the fifth-year option on RB Najee Harris' rookie contract. Harris would have counted about $6.8 million vs. the salary cap had the team exercised his option, so it's not a shocking development. But it's notable that Pittsburgh would rather let him hit the open market than pay what would be the No. 12 RB salary in the league by this year's average annual values. Harris has seen his carries per game and receptions per game decline each of the past two years, while also watching Jaylen Warren gain yards at a more efficient pace. It'll be interesting to see whether Pittsburgh plans any further decline for Harris' 2024 workload in the first season under new OC Arthur Smith. As it stands, Harris and Warren both look fine at best ball ADP. Feel free to mix either player (or both) in to your best ball drafting.
The Steelers signed WR Cordarrelle Patterson to a two-year, $6 million deal, NFL Network reports. He's reuniting with OC Arthur Smith, who coached Patterson in Atlanta the past three seasons. Patterson averaged 10.2 carries and 3.4 targets per game across his first two years with Smith but just 3.6 carries and 0.9 targets per game last year. That was largely due to the arrival of RB Bijan Robinson -- but Patterson also struggled to just 3.6 yards per carry and 4.2 yards per catch. He turned 33 earlier this month. Patterson is unlikely to be a fantasy asset this season, although he could siphon some work from RB Najee Harris and especially RB Jaylen Warren in the passing game.
The Steelers are set to hire Arthur Smith as their new OC, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Smith, of course, is coming off a baffling and underwhelming three-year tenure as Falcons HC, compiling a 21-30 record and oftentimes mismanaging his offensive talent. Smith, though, was much more successful as Titans OC in 2019 and 2020. Both of those teams ranked top-12 in both total yards and points, leaning on RB Derrick Henry to finish top-3 in rushing yards both years. We'd expect Smith to bring a run-heavy offense to Pittsburgh -- especially considering the team's questions at QB.
The Steelers-Bills game originally scheduled for 1 pm ET on Sunday has been moved to 4:30 pm ET on Monday. Buffalo is expecting heavy snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph on Sunday. The forecast for Monday calls for light snow, sustained winds around 15 mph, and gusts up to 30 mph. That's still tough weather for the passing and kicking games -- but significantly better than it would have been on Sunday. We're adjusting our projections for this game.
Steelers RB Jaylen Warren saw a diminished workload in Week 18 vs. the Ravens. The second-year back tallied 33 rushing yards on 9 carries, along with 5 catches for 17 yards as a receiver in the contest. Though he played second fiddle on Saturday, Warren posted very solid production this season (nine games of 10+ PPR points) in a near-50/50 workshare with teammate Najee Harris. Warren also logged nearly twice as many targets (74) as Harris (38) in 2023, further solidifying himself as the preferred option in the Pittsburgh backfield for managers in half- or full-PPR formats. Look for him to continue yielding high-end RB3/low-end RB2 level value in 2024.
Steelers RB Najee Harris eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time in 2023 on Sunday vs. the Seahawks. He accumulated 122 rushing yards with 2 TDs on 27 carries. With one more regular-season game remaining, Harris is set to put forth his third-consecutive season of at least 1,000 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs. But he has also continued to see a dropoff in fantasy output (10.4 PPR points per game in 2023 vs. 13.1 in 2022, 17.7 in 2021), which directly correlates to a decrease in his role. Teammate Jaylen Warren has turned the Steelers’ backfield into a near-50/50 split, and Harris went from an average of 5.5 targets per game as a rookie to just 2.1 this season. He’ll enter his age-26 season in 2024, the final year of his rookie contract. We'll find out this spring whether Pittsburgh will exercise Harris' fifth-year option. We'd bet against the team guaranteeing $8.5 million in 2025 salary to do so ($10 million if Harris makes the Pro Bowl this year). For 2024, expect a continued timeshare and RB3-level status in dynasty formats.
Steelers RB Najee Harris tallied 19 carries for 78 rushing yards and a TD in Week 16 vs. the Bengals. His teammate Jaylen Warren also saw a healthy amount of involvement, totaling 8 carries for 24 yards with 5 catches for 30 receiving yards on the contest. He also tied for the team lead in targets (6) on Saturday with WR George Pickens. The Pittsburgh duo will again be worth starting as flex options in Week 16 going up against a fairly neutral Seahawks front (14th-best RB matchup per our adjusted fantasy points allowed).
The Steelers didn’t get much going in their 30-13 loss vs. the Colts in Week 15, but their backfield situation is starting to take an interesting turn. RB Jaylen Warren (10 carries, 40 rushing yards) appeared on a season-high 68.9% of the offensive snaps on Saturday and out-touched teammate Najee Harris 15 to 12. On top of that, the second-year back led the Steelers in receptions (5) and ranked second on the team in targets (6). Warren had appeared on no greater than 52% of the snaps at any point this season before Saturday, so the fact that Pittsburgh went away from the typical 50-50 RB split is highly notable. The Steelers’ remaining schedule ranks 10th-best for RBs per our adjusted fantasy points allowed. Warren stands to be a solid mid-tier RB2 should this trend continue.
Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) is not listed on the final injury report for Saturday’s game vs. the Colts. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. That knee shouldn't limit Harris this weekend.
Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) returned to a full practice on Wednesday. It's confirmation that he'll be ready for his usual role in Saturday's game vs. the Colts' 31st-ranked RB defense.
Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) did not practice on Tuesday. He played through this knee issue in Thursday night's loss to the Patriots and should be available for this Saturday's game vs. the Colts. We'll see if he gets back on the practice field tomorrow.
Steelers RB Najee Harris managed just 48 scoreless yards in Thursday night's loss to the Patriots. The knee issue that had him questionable coming in wasn't a noticeable problem -- and didn't impact Harris' usage. He played 57% of Pittsburgh's offensive snaps and out-carried RB Jaylen Warren 12 to seven. This was simply a case of a solid Patriots run defense showing no respect to QB Mitchell Trubisky and loading up to stop the Steelers' ground game. Harris averaged just 2.4 yards per carry; Warren was even worse at 1.6. The good news is that Harris and Warren get much softer matchups the next three weeks against the Colts, Bengals, and Seahawks, who rank 30th, 17th, and 23rd in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs. The bad news is that Trubisky will likely be under center for at least one and maybe all three of those games.
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