The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense may never improve before the end of the season, but the running game has certainly been in sync of late. The Steelers have averaged 165.2 rush YPG over their last five games, with two solid contributing running backs.
But between Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, who should you start? We’ll give you the fantasy outlook for each player heading into Thursday’s matchup with the New England Patriots.
Should You Start Najee Harris or Jaylen Warren This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, our Consensus Rankings say that Warren is the player to start. His projected 10.4 points include 35 rushing yards, four receptions, and 27 receiving yards. That projected stat line narrowly outperforms the consensus projection of Harris’ 9.8 points.
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However, when you isolate my rankings, I see Harris outperforming Warren this week. Harris seemed to respond to the change in the offensive coordinator position two weeks ago, and I expect more good things from him this week.
However, it should be noted that Harris was a non-participant in practice on Tuesday due to a knee injury. Any injury that would leave him inactive for Thursday would make this an easy decision, but since there was no news of Harris coming out of last week’s game injured, I’m inclined to treat this as a precautionary decision.
Fantasy Outlook for Harris This Week
Harris continues to get a consistent number of carries and time on the field. So, even if his numbers didn’t match his previous week — rushing yards dropped from 99 to 63 last week — there’s still reason to feel optimistic about Harris this week.
After being on the field for a season-high 38 offensive snaps two weeks ago, Harris was on the field for 59% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps last week. That was his season-high for percentage of snaps played in a game.
It was disappointing to see him not get in the end zone last week, with his closest chance coming when he was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. Still, for the fourth time in five weeks, Harris had at least 15 carries in a game. So, even if he is sharing time with Warren, he is going to get the majority of touches.
He is also getting looked at as a receiver out of the backfield. He was targeted three times, catching two passes for 14 yards. With the Steelers forced to go with their backup Mitch Trubisky as the starting quarterback Thursday, I’d expect running backs to be prime candidates to catch short, safe passes.
The PFN Start/Sit Optimizer projects Harris to finish with 40 yards with two receptions for 12 yards.
Fantasy Outlook for Warren This Week
The reality with Warren is that he hasn’t done anything wrong except not get on the field as often as Harris. Last week, he averaged 6.6 yards a carry and nearly matched Harris in rushing yards, finishing with 59. He was also targeted three times, just like Harris, although he did finish with just one catch on which he lost four yards.
He has been targeted at least three times in all but one game this season, so when he’s in there, he’s a definite threat as a receiver.
But the key is “when he’s in there.” Warren was only on the field for 26 offensive snaps, tying his fewest over the last 10 games. He also only carried the ball nine times.
If Harris is healthy, there’s no reason to think he won’t be the Steelers’ main running back option.
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