Jérémie: the Steelers have the 2nd best RB room in the AFC North

The Pittsburgh Steelers love to run the ball. It’s part of their DNA, and they’ve had phenomenal running backs throughout their history. But where does the room with Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren and even Cordarrelle Patterson stack up against the rest of the AFC North?

“I had the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the Browns just because of Nick Chubb’s health and the concerns there,” Daniel Jeremiah said on Wednesday’s episode of the Move The Sticks podcast. “I think that double, I actually like Jaylen Warren a little better than Najee Harris. But I think the combination of those two and then, speaking of veterans, being able to sprinkle in Cordarrelle Patterson. Just give him some touches, be creative with him, someone over there in Arthur Smith who knows what he has with Cordarrelle Patterson so he can use him a little bit. So I had them in front of the Cleveland Browns then the Cincinnati Bengals.

It’s hard to argue with the rankings based on the position of each of the four teams in the AFC North. Jeremiah and co-host Bucky Brooks had the Baltimore Ravens as number one, unsurprisingly. Adding Derrick Henry this offseason would propel just about any NFL team to the top of their respective divisional standings.

The Steelers still have one of the best running back tandems in the league. Harris had his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season and averaged 4.1 yards per carry in 2023. Warren continues to prove he is a threat on the ground and through the air out of the backfield with more of 1,000 combined rushing and receiving yards. This is a very good combination that could be at the top of several divisions in the league.

And as Jeremiah noted, Chubb’s injury clouds the Browns’ outlook. Until Chubb returns to the field fully healthy and proves he can still play at an elite level, the Browns won’t be as strong as the Ravens or Steelers. That’s not to say the Browns have bad running backs, they just aren’t as good without Chubb healthy.

And then the Bengals come in fourth thanks to Zack Moss and no one else with a proven track record in the league.

It will be interesting to see what the Steelers running game looks like in 2024 with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and a youth-oriented offensive line. Could this AFC North ranking be different once the season ends? And will Harris earn a new contract after the Steelers declined his fifth-year option this offseason?