Jaylen Warren is looking more and more like the kind of back who needed the right break to show what he can really do.
Through five games, the Steelers running back has piled up 640 yards of total offense, and his current pace points to nearly 2,200 yards by season’s end. With Rico Dowdle out, Warren has been handed the chance to carry the offense, and he has wasted no time making the most of it.
That kind of breakout is unusual for a player at his position and at his age. Running backs don’t usually get their big moment this deep into the timeline, and at 27, Warren is already on the back half of the typical prime. Yet the numbers and the usage say the same thing: Pittsburgh needs him, and he is delivering.
The closest parallel in the source material is Priest Holmes, whose own rise came after years of being stuck in the background. Holmes entered the league with little college production to point to and spent 1997 buried on the Ravens depth chart as a fourth-string back behind players like Bam Morris. He didn’t log a single offensive snap that season.
The following year looked similar at first. Baltimore brought in veterans such as Erricht Rhett, but when that plan fell flat, Holmes got his opening and turned it into nearly 1,300 total yards from scrimmage.
An injury in 1999, along with Jamal Lewis being taken in the first round and taking over in 2000, pushed Holmes out the door and into free agency. He then landed with the Chiefs for about $1.7 million per year.
What happened next was a monster run. Holmes put together one of the most dominant three-year stretches in league history, topping 6,500 total yards and scoring 61 touchdowns.
Warren’s path has its own version of that slow burn. He arrived while Najee Harris was still in Pittsburgh and never got a clean shot as the lead back.
Even after Harris left, the Steelers were still splitting work with Kennith Gainwell. And this offseason, Warren was not even supposed to be the main man; Dowdle was added to at least supplement him, and plenty of people saw the former Cowboys and Panthers back as the favorite to lead the room.
That is no longer the case.
Warren’s build and playing style make the Holmes comparison jump off the page, and the similarities run deeper than appearance. Both were smaller backs who could still run with force, and both were waiting for a real runway. Warren may not match Holmes’ production or the accolades that came with it, but if he keeps producing at this level, he has a real chance to finish as a top-five running back this season.
And maybe more importantly for Pittsburgh, there’s still a sense that the best is ahead for him. Holmes turned an overdue opportunity into a long, dominant run. Warren is starting to look like a player who could do something similar with the Steelers.
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