Steelers' Kenny Pickett, Matt Canada address the RB situation in Pittsburgh
For whatever reason, there is a growing narrative that the Pittsburgh Steelers may be starting the wrong running back. A backfield that contains a first-round pick in Najee Harris and UDFA in Jaylen Warren, the two couldn't be more different in draft status, personality, and playstyle. But that's for good reason according to Kenny Pickett […]
For whatever reason, there is a growing narrative that the Pittsburgh Steelers may be starting the wrong running back.
A backfield that contains a first-round pick in Najee Harris and UDFA in Jaylen Warren, the two couldn't be more different in draft status, personality, and playstyle.
But that's for good reason according to Kenny Pickett and Matt Canada, with the two of them shutting down any notion of a running back controversy:
Pickett: "It's like Thunder & Lightning"
"There's some guys just have a knack for making plays and Jaylen is one of them," said Pickett on behalf of Warren's 62-yard TD. "I think his toughness, his speed, the different aspect he brings. It's kind of like thunder and lightning with him and Najee. I think those two have a really good bounce off each other. They both do great things. They both do things differently, and it's great to have that kind of combination in the backfield."
Pickett seemingly got ahead of the storm that was coming, with many in the media questioning whether or not Warren should be taking first-team reps over Najee Harris. As ridiculous as it sounds, even Matt Canada was asked about it yesterday:
"I think that Najee's our one. There's no doubt about that," Canada told reporters yesterday. "And I mean, I think we're protecting him to get him to that point. … I'm never going to lock ourselves into any kind of what it's going to be or how it's going to go. I don't think that's fair to anybody. But that's certainly, we're planning on Najee being Najee, you know, when we start the regular season."
And I get it from a fan's perspective. You see Najee get two carries that go for a combined six yards, on Saturday and then on the very next play, Warren bounces a 60+ yarder for a touchdown.
But that not's Najee's game, just like being a workhorse back is not Warren's game.
As Kenny stated, the two feed off each other, keeping defense's on their toes and making defenders take a second to think, allocating them an advantage to strike.
So let's stop the notion that Warren is better than Najee. Is he good? Yes. Has he outperformed his draft status? Obviously. But Najee is going for three straight 1000-yard rushing seasons, something that hasn't been achieved in nearly a decade in the NFL.
So let's put some respect on his name, and remember how valuable he is.
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