OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: Whats a Running Back? Does it make the Steel Steeler?

[CheckingLineCenter]

Oh man, when does the Kenny Pickett statue go up?!

Btw for you PITT fans here, that Warren TD was Dane Jackson’s fault. That dude is the worst CB in the league. And nice story with Hamlin and all, but he should be cut too. They have 3 safeties miles ahead of him. Sorry, just saying.

Holy loser lmao

 

[JTG]

LB Myles Jack informs Eagles he plans to retire after seven NFL seasons

Yeah, he's toast. Both he and Schobert were the same. Great in their prime. By time they landed here, the wheels were clean off.

Watching that Warren long TD run again, and I’m about 99% sure Harris gets tackled at about the Bills 40.

Not sure where I stand on the Harris/Warren debate that has been popping up lately, but that Warren run does give me some pause.

Without a doubt. He doesn't break that run. Instead of trying to run around the last DB he would have tried to run him over. I need to see Najee in the regular season, but his leash is short with me. His vision is noticeably bad and has been for the better part of 2 years.

 

[td_ice]

Yeah, he's toast. Both he and Schobert were the same. Great in their prime. By time they landed here, the wheels were clean off.



Without a doubt. He doesn't break that run. Instead of trying to run around the last DB he would have tried to run him over. I need to see Najee in the regular season, but his leash is short with me. His vision is noticeably bad and has been for the better part of 2 years.

Yeah, I think Najee better start worrying less about a RB's union, and more about his no. 1 status on the team. (which is probably secure, but Warren might be knocking on that door.)

 

[Empoleon8771]

Holy loser lmao

I'm pretty indifferent on Penn State football but that poster makes me want to see them lose

Like I understand hating Pitt or Penn State if there is a Pitt vs PSU game, but hating/praising the teams randomly because NFLers used to play there is just weird as hell.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I'm pretty indifferent on Penn State football but that poster makes me want to see them lose

Like I understand hating Pitt or Penn State if there is a Pitt vs PSU game, but hating/praising the teams randomly because NFLers used to play there is just weird as hell.

Yeah the funny part is that I actually went to PSU myself lol. Freshman year was when they renewed the rivalry and Pitt won. Great game.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah the funny part is that I actually went to PSU myself lol. Freshman year was when they renewed the rivalry and Pitt won. Great game.

Yeah I went to Pitt at the same time, I was at both the 2016 game (Pitt won 42-39) and the 2018 game (the rain game where PSU just demolished Pitt 51-6).

It's just a weird mindset to have to cheer against NFLers who played for your college rivals or cheer for NFLers who played for your favorite college team. Do you think I don't like Freiermuth because he went to PSU? Of course not because I love Muth as a Steeler because he's amazing

 

[JTG]

Yeah, I think Najee better start worrying less about a RB's union, and more about his no. 1 status on the team. (which is probably secure, but Warren might be knocking on that door.)

Warren just has to keep doing what he's doing and they won't have a choice. Najee made a comment last year along the lines of, "Don't work like you're a backup. Work to take my job." Warren currently is. I wasn't opposed to taking Najee - I get the point of what they were doing, but how this is tracking right now, the "never spend a 1 on a RB" are feeling pretty vindicated, IMO.

 

[JTG]

I was just curious how Warren did at the combine -

Overview
Wrecking ball on wheels who plays with the type of pace and power that makes tape study a lot of fun. Warren is a self-assured competitor who proved he could handle the workload and spotlight of the Big 12. He's decisive, with an ability to cut at full speed. However, he lacks burst and agility to expand his runs too far outside. He's a momentum runner who is much tougher to tackle with every step he takes, but he needs it blocked up, as he lacks the ability to create for himself early in the run. He's talented in the screen game and has a chance to compete for a backup role.
Strengths

• Compact, burly and ready to collide.
• Highly self-confident and competitive.
• Almost no dancing when the ball is in his hands.
• Guides blockers into linebackers on second level.
• Gets harder to handle once he's up to second level.
• Makes cuts without losing his speed.
• Big chunk of his yardage comes after contact.
• Bounces off bodies and crashes through arm tackles.
• Talented catching and creating in screen game.

Weaknesses

• One-speed running style lacks unpredictability.
• Tight hips with restricted strides.
• Linear attack forces him to cut prematurely.
• Lacks lateral burst for side-door escapes.
• Below-average speed to widen the field.
• Unreliable option in third-down pass protection.

I don't think he lacks burst whatsoever. He's an OUTSTANDING pass blocker. It really seems to me Warren is a guy who maybe had some flaws from bouncing around during college, and finding a home and being able to hone his craft, he has turned into a legit NFL RB.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I'm pretty indifferent on Penn State football but that poster makes me want to see them lose

Like I understand hating Pitt or Penn State if there is a Pitt vs PSU game, but hating/praising the teams randomly because NFLers used to play there is just weird as hell.

I haven’t followed college ball in maybe 15 years, but I was a big PSU fan and a massive Pitt hater.

I still hate Pitt, it never goes away, but that never stopped me from simping for KP last spring.

Who gives a f*** when they turn pro?

Shit, I even rooted for Pitt to win the ACC championship because I knew by then I wanted the Steelers to take KP.

So I wanted to see if he could win in a big game and didn’t give a damn about Pitt losing.

Yeah, I think Najee better start worrying less about a RB's union, and more about his no. 1 status on the team. (which is probably secure, but Warren might be knocking on that door.)

Would Tomlin give Warren the big hat over a first rounder?

Even if it’s clear he was out playing him?

I have my doubts… serious doubts.

 

[td_ice]

I haven’t followed college ball in maybe 15 years, but I was a big PSU fan and a massive Pitt hater.

I still hate Pitt, it never goes away, but that never stopped me from simping for KP last spring.

Who gives a f*** when they turn pro?

Shit, I even rooted for Pitt to win the ACC championship because I knew by then I wanted the Steelers to take KP.

So I wanted to see if he could win in a big game and didn’t give a damn about Pitt losing.



Would Tomlin give Warren the big hat over a first rounder?

Even if it’s clear he was out playing him?

I have my doubts… serious doubts.

Yeah, you're probably right Jiggy. He's gonna ride that horse until it carries him to water or dies.

 

[td_ice]

Warren just has to keep doing what he's doing and they won't have a choice. Najee made a comment last year along the lines of, "Don't work like you're a backup. Work to take my job." Warren currently is. I wasn't opposed to taking Najee - I get the point of what they were doing, but how this is tracking right now, the "never spend a 1 on a RB" are feeling pretty vindicated, IMO.

Yeah, I was in the camp of taking Najee. I was wrong.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Yeah, you're probably right Jiggy. He's gonna ride that horse until it carries him to water or dies.

Harris will put up stats because they will feed him the ball like they did Bell.

Which will make it hard to lose his spot because Tomlin can point to the stats sheet right?

I’m not against Harris, I’m neutral and some on here have made me think about the Harris/Warren hierarchy.

Harris absolutely has to get his YPC above 4 though, because I’ve never heard of a top back putting up three years of consecutive sub 4 seasons.

Yeah, I was in the camp of taking Najee. I was wrong.

Me to. Oh well, some how I’ll live through the shame.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Warren just has to keep doing what he's doing and they won't have a choice. Najee made a comment last year along the lines of, "Don't work like you're a backup. Work to take my job." Warren currently is. I wasn't opposed to taking Najee - I get the point of what they were doing, but how this is tracking right now, the "never spend a 1 on a RB" are feeling pretty vindicated, IMO.

I was opposed to taking Najee. It was a meme pick to act like:
1) All Big Ben needed was a running game
2) A running game was more predicated on a RB than on the OL

It was a narrative/emotion-driven pick.
That said Najee looked better by the second half last year. I still want him to do well. But I'd be miffed if we picked up the 5th year option.

 

[xlm34]

I'm pretty indifferent on Penn State football but that poster makes me want to see them lose

Like I understand hating Pitt or Penn State if there is a Pitt vs PSU game, but hating/praising the teams randomly because NFLers used to play there is just weird as hell.

I have family that went Penn State that now just refuse to watch the Steelers because Pickett is the QB. They’ll also insist they don’t care about Pitt at all.

Every fan base has its crazies, but some of these cult like college teams are on another level.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Yeah I went to Pitt at the same time, I was at both the 2016 game (Pitt won 42-39) and the 2018 game (the rain game where PSU just demolished Pitt 51-6).

It's just a weird mindset to have to cheer against NFLers who played for your college rivals or cheer for NFLers who played for your favorite college team. Do you think I don't like Freiermuth because he went to PSU? Of course not because I love Muth as a Steeler because he's amazing

Not from PA/Pittsburgh so maybe there’s a local dynamic I fail to understand; but I think it takes real effort to be a negative nancy and predict someone’s downfall because of where they went to school in hopes of saying “I told you so” one day. Just not the right lens to view life on IMO.

 

[wheelz87]

Huge Pitt/OSU fan. Penn St hater. Second you put on a steeler uni idc. Weird a** s*** to act otherwise. Love Muth, Kenny all the same.

Hell I take more pot shots at Xichigan players like Bush.

 

[OnMyOwn]

Najee has flashes that show why he was a first rounder. I just want more consistency.

 

[Peat]

Last game didn't really change how I feel about Warren/Harris.

Warren does great stuff working outside the tackles, on third downs, and so on. Keep giving him work there. I don't think Harris is incompetent there or anything, but you don't want to pile everything on one guy.

For Warren to really eat into Harris' workload he needs to either

a) Show he can run just as well between the tackles, into the heavy traffic, do all that tone setting, attritional stuff that Tomlin loves so much

or

b) Somehow persuade Tomlin they shouldn't be doing that so much and should be running the sort of offence where it makes more sense to give him early down work.

And for all that this offence is looking best when they lean on Pickett right now, good luck with B and maybe that's how it should be. You don't want to super lean on Pickett if you can help it until he demands it.

As for A... I just don't think I've seen Warren do that well. When Harris got hurt, iirc, they gave all that stuff to Benny Snell. Now, you can question how well Harris does it with some validity. You can question whether he should have invested in a RB rather than the OL in terms of trying to do that. But I don't think any of that makes Warren the answer that starts eating Harris' workload in the ground n' pound game.

And maybe I'm wrong, but until I see it, I won't be expecting it.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Najee has flashes that show why he was a first rounder. I just want more consistency.

I feel like he’s consistent, but lacks explosive plays.

He only had one run over 20 yards last season, and Warren had 3… with 200 less carries.

Basically if Warren had the same amount of carries, he would have likely ripped off 10+ 20 yard plays.

That’s pretty eye popping.

It’s why I keep emphasizing that he has to get his YPC up higher, which is basically another way of saying he needs to rip off more explosive runs.

 

[xlm34]

Last game didn't really change how I feel about Warren/Harris.

Warren does great stuff working outside the tackles, on third downs, and so on. Keep giving him work there. I don't think Harris is incompetent there or anything, but you don't want to pile everything on one guy.

For Warren to really eat into Harris' workload he needs to either

a) Show he can run just as well between the tackles, into the heavy traffic, do all that tone setting, attritional stuff that Tomlin loves so much

or

b) Somehow persuade Tomlin they shouldn't be doing that so much and should be running the sort of offence where it makes more sense to give him early down work.

And for all that this offence is looking best when they lean on Pickett right now, good luck with B and maybe that's how it should be. You don't want to super lean on Pickett if you can help it until he demands it.

As for A... I just don't think I've seen Warren do that well. When Harris got hurt, iirc, they gave all that stuff to Benny Snell. Now, you can question how well Harris does it with some validity. You can question whether he should have invested in a RB rather than the OL in terms of trying to do that. But I don't think any of that makes Warren the answer that starts eating Harris' workload in the ground n' pound game.

And maybe I'm wrong, but until I see it, I won't be expecting it.

This is kind of where I’m at on the whole Harris/Warren situation. It was a great run by Warren yesterday but I don’t think it really showed us anything we didn’t already know.

I think chances are good that we’ll never see a run like that from Harris, but that just isn’t who he is as a running back even going back to Alabama. I think best case scenario is that he gives a Leveon Bell type of running performance. Bell rarely ripped off big runs but he always had a decent amount of 10-20 yard plays in him.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

People do realize that players at Pitt, Penn State or wherever come from all over the country, right? Both recruit Florida heavily.

So, they played for one school or another for a couple of years after living their entire lives other than those couple of years most likely in an entirely different state and you hate them?

Rational.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kendrick Green doesn't deserve more chances.

 

[Captain Hook]

I like Warren's game right now more than Najee's but I'm happy to have both. You need depth at RB and both guys are useful and can bring different things to the table.

It's early but this first draft class from Omar looks really good. I don't think he picked a single bad player in that whole draft class. A lot will depend on how the top 2 picks develop and whether Jones really is the LT of the future and JPJ has to develop into a starting CB but Herbig obviously looks great, Benton looks really good and JPJ had a nice debut. We know Washington will at least be a good blocking TE and maybe more. Even Spencer Anderson looks like he'll be a good, versatile backup O-Line guy. Trice also looked good until the injury. His injury is about the only thing that's gone wrong for this class so far.

 

[Deport Ogie]

It's just a weird mindset to have to cheer against NFLers who played for your college rivals or cheer for NFLers who played for your favorite college team. Do you think I don't like Freiermuth because he went to PSU? Of course not because I love Muth as a Steeler because he's amazing

I'm here as well, PSU alum who fully roots for KP because who gives a **** where he went to college, he's a Steeler now. Again speaking as a PSU fan/alumnus, I know all college teams have nutty fans but it certainly feels at times that PSU goes above and beyond. Maybe it's because I'm more sensitive and embarrassed when I see it from my brethren.

Like the whole "we don't NEED to play Pitt because we're above them!" stance. I've always called horse shit on that. They should play every year. I think the Big Ten is a better conference than the ACC of course and I do think PSU is more relevant nationally than Pitt but I 100% want to see them play. Mostly so I can flaunt PSU hopefully kicking their ass but it's a FUN game.

 

[JTG]

I'm here as well, PSU alum who fully roots for KP because who gives a **** where he went to college, he's a Steeler now. Again speaking as a PSU fan/alumnus, I know all college teams have nutty fans but it certainly feels at times that PSU goes above and beyond. Maybe it's because I'm more sensitive and embarrassed when I see it from my brethren.

Like the whole "we don't NEED to play Pitt because we're above them!" stance. I've always called horse shit on that. They should play every year. I think the Big Ten is a better conference than the ACC of course and I do think PSU is more relevant nationally than Pitt but I 100% want to see them play. Mostly so I can flaunt PSU hopefully kicking their ass but it's a FUN game.

PSU fans are infinitely more douchey than OSU fans, and that's really saying something.