I have Jaylen Warren in a dynasty league. I'd like to trade him. Good player -- arguably the better of Pittsburgh's two running backs -- but it doesn't look like this committee will go away anytime soon.
Last year Warren averaged more than a yard per carry better Najee Harris, up at 5.3 per attempt (Harris was at 4.1). Some of that can be chalked up to how they're used, with Warren playing in more passing situations and running out of those sets, and Harris getting more inside, short-yardage work around the goal line. But not all; Warren is a faster player with more likelihood of busting big runs. But the team seems determined to limit his usage, and that was the case with two different offensive coordinators a year ago.
Pittsburgh has another new coordinator in Arthur Smith, but there's no reason to think things will change much with him. He had no problem limiting Bijan Robinson's workload with Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson. Just seems like we'll get at least another year where Warren, thanks to his passing-downs work, will be a decent fantasy choice, but not a great one.
Last year Warren played in all 17 games, but got just over 30 percent of the team's running back carries. That was one of the five lowest percentages of all the running backs with at least 125 carries last year, covering each team's No. 1 and most No. 2 running backs around the league. The other guys in his general area either missed multiple games due to injury (Aaron Jones, Khalil Herbert) or got benched at some point (Dameon Pierce, Miles Sanders).
Table shows all those 124-carry running backs, sorted by percentage of team rushing attempts. Receptions are also shown; Warren catching 61 passes helped make him more appealing in a lineup. But I think he'll be drafted a little earlier in fantasy leagues this year than I'd want to take him, with Harris around to limit his upside.
| RUNNING BACK CARRIES, PERCENT OF TEAM (2023) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Run | No | Rec | TD | Att (team) | % Att |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 257 | 1034 | 52 | 376 | 12 | 383 | 67.1% |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 280 | 1167 | 28 | 214 | 12 | 444 | 63.1% |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 272 | 990 | 64 | 549 | 9 | 439 | 62.0% |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 267 | 1008 | 58 | 476 | 12 | 453 | 58.9% |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 223 | 994 | 76 | 591 | 9 | 388 | 57.5% |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 219 | 905 | 29 | 259 | 9 | 382 | 57.3% |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V. | 233 | 805 | 37 | 296 | 6 | 413 | 56.4% |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 272 | 1459 | 67 | 564 | 21 | 499 | 54.5% |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 247 | 962 | 41 | 280 | 10 | 454 | 54.4% |
| Tony Pollard, Dall. | 252 | 1005 | 55 | 311 | 6 | 468 | 53.8% |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 238 | 902 | 39 | 233 | 5 | 445 | 53.5% |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 255 | 1035 | 29 | 170 | 8 | 487 | 52.4% |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 178 | 733 | 36 | 368 | 9 | 359 | 49.6% |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 205 | 935 | 44 | 244 | 9 | 417 | 49.2% |
| Devin Singletary, Hou. | 216 | 898 | 30 | 193 | 4 | 444 | 48.6% |
| Javonte Williams, Den. | 217 | 774 | 47 | 228 | 5 | 451 | 48.1% |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 228 | 1144 | 32 | 206 | 15 | 477 | 47.8% |
| James Cook, Buff. | 237 | 1122 | 44 | 445 | 6 | 512 | 46.3% |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 209 | 1012 | 25 | 175 | 21 | 456 | 45.8% |
| Alexander Mattison, Min. | 180 | 700 | 30 | 192 | 3 | 393 | 45.8% |
| D'Andre Swift, Phil. | 229 | 1049 | 39 | 214 | 6 | 510 | 44.9% |
| Ezekiel Elliott, N.E. | 184 | 642 | 51 | 313 | 5 | 415 | 44.3% |
| James Conner, Ari. | 208 | 1040 | 27 | 165 | 9 | 471 | 44.2% |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 219 | 1015 | 16 | 117 | 13 | 500 | 43.8% |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 179 | 628 | 51 | 436 | 6 | 431 | 41.5% |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 214 | 976 | 58 | 487 | 8 | 522 | 41.0% |
| AJ Dillon, G.B. | 178 | 613 | 22 | 223 | 2 | 441 | 40.4% |
| Jerome Ford, Cle. | 204 | 813 | 44 | 319 | 9 | 518 | 39.4% |
| Zack Moss, Ind. | 183 | 794 | 27 | 192 | 7 | 479 | 38.2% |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 156 | 619 | 38 | 238 | 4 | 415 | 37.6% |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 180 | 694 | 75 | 466 | 6 | 480 | 37.5% |
| Gus Edwards, Balt. | 198 | 810 | 12 | 180 | 13 | 541 | 36.6% |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 182 | 945 | 52 | 316 | 11 | 500 | 36.4% |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 186 | 683 | 18 | 193 | 5 | 522 | 35.6% |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 169 | 741 | 19 | 153 | 8 | 479 | 35.3% |
| Dameon Pierce, Hou. | 145 | 416 | 13 | 101 | 3 | 444 | 32.7% |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 142 | 656 | 30 | 233 | 3 | 441 | 32.2% |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 149 | 784 | 61 | 370 | 4 | 487 | 30.6% |
| Miles Sanders, Car. | 129 | 432 | 27 | 154 | 1 | 445 | 29.0% |
| Kareem Hunt, Cle. | 135 | 411 | 15 | 84 | 9 | 518 | 26.1% |
| Khalil Herbert, Chi. | 132 | 611 | 20 | 134 | 3 | 534 | 24.7% |
Glimmer of hope is that the Steelers need to decide on Harris' fifth-year option in a couple of months. If they don't pick it up, perhaps Harris will be gone in 2025, with Warren getting more of a leading role. But I'm not sure that chance is worth waiting around for. I'd rather let someone else take him on.
--Andy Richardson