In 2023, Jaylen Warren outpaced Najee Harris in PPR points despite receiving 50 fewer opportunities than the former first-round pick. Since Warren’s rookie year, it has been evident to most people (at least outside of the Steelers organization) that the former undrafted free agent is — to put it bluntly — just a flat-out better football player than Harris. With the two Steelers running backs’ stocks heading in separate directions, 2024 was lining up to be the year that Warren would outright claim the top spot on Pittsburgh’s RB depth chart.
Then we got hit with the ultimate curveball, as it was announced that the Steelers had hired one of the biggest villains in recent fantasy football lore — Arthur Smith — to be the team’s new offensive coordinator. While one of the redeeming qualities that Smith has as a coach is his ability to design an effective run game, his stubbornness to deviate from his game plans has led to his teams winning in spite of his decision making, not because of it. Add in the differing playing styles of the Steelers’ two potential starting quarterbacks, and what seemed like a fairly straightforward situation at the culmination of last season has become murkier than drafters may be acknowledging at the start of 2024. With plenty of questions looming about the state of the Pittsburgh offense, should we be expecting the Steelers’ RBs to return value at their current ADPs?
