Jaylen Warren bursted onto the scene last year in Pittsburgh and provided the running back tandem the Steelers didn’t know they needed. In his second year having a prominent role in the Steelers run game, what should be expected of Warren in fantasy?
2024 Fantasy Football Profile: Jaylen Warren
2023 in Review
Warren finished 2023 with 784 rushing yards and just four touchdowns. However, he posted those numbers on 149 carries which is about half of what a workhorse running back truly gets in a season. With receiving that few carries, his 5.3 yards per carry is a pretty solid number and one that takes a hard, downhill runner like Derrick Henry to beat.
The reason Warren didn’t get to punch the ball in the endzone as much as he or his fantasy owners would’ve wanted to see is because of Najee Harris. Like it or not, he’s the feature back for the Steelers and gets the goal line work. This means Warren has to creative in finding the endzone especially since he didn’t catch any touchdown passes last year.
2024 Projection
Just like it was mentioned in Harris’ preview, Warren is in a great spot for 2024 with Arthur Smith calling the plays. Smith’s run-heavy offense benefits both Warren in fantasy. He can only do so much to increase his snap count, but there are two things Warren can improve upon this year that are solely up to him.
The biggest thing is protecting the football. Warren fumbled four times last year which put him on pace for eight if he was the main back. Eight fumbles in a season isn’t going to cut it in the NFL. The other area is consistency as he his yards per carry varied drastically.
However, an area Warren was really useful for the Steelers was in the pass game both blocking and catching passes. Warren’s versatility made him a player Pittsburgh could use on passing downs. There were just three games last season where Warren caught less than three passes in a game. That number is only going to increase this year with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.
DAMN. #STEELERS RB JAYLEN WARREN DOMINATING DEFENDERS IN PASS BLOCKING DRILLS AT CAMP
😳
(Via @matthewluciow92)
pic.twitter.com/KNsdDCRdbr— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) July 23, 2024
Expect the Steelers to continue their tandem at running back this year as Harris plays out the final year of his rookie contract.
Jaylen Warren Fantasy Football ADP
Warren’s ADP sits at 86 with a range of 74-147. His current position has him going in Rounds 8-9 depending upon the number of teams in the league. For context, this is about 20 picks later than Harris gets drafted. Given they both have RB2 value, there’s reasonable justifications to just wait for Warren and strengthen other positions.
Jaylen Warren 🏥
– Injured his hamstring last night vs the Bills
– Hate seeing good players getting injured in the preseasonBut here’s some Warren highlights to cheer you up. pic.twitter.com/K3RMsIHIqF
— PPRFantasyTips (@PPRFantasyTips) August 18, 2024
Wherever you draft Warren, he should provide good value for the pick. Obviously, the later you can go without him coming off the board then the pick has more value. PPR leagues especially benefit from Warren’s game, and you have to wonder if it’s standard leagues where he’s not being drafted as early as you’d expect.
Warren is going to have to be patient again this year and take his opportunities when they come. However, he’s still a player that should be drafted in every league even with his minor preseason injury.
Main Photo Courtesy of Mark Konezny – USA Today Sports
