Jaylen Warren’s season has reached the point where even Ben Roethlisberger is putting him in the same sentence as MVP.
Through eight weeks, Warren has piled up 998 scrimmage yards, which ranks third in the league behind only Jahmyr Gibbs and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That kind of production has pushed the Steelers running back into the middle of a real conversation about how far his play can carry him this season.
Roethlisberger made his case on his “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast, saying Warren should be getting mentioned for major awards.
“This guy needs to start to be talked about in some MVP stuff. Like league MVP or offensive MVP,” Roethlisberger said.
“His numbers and some of the stuff he’s doing is pretty impressive. His yards after contact have to be some of the highest in the league.
There’s a lot of things that don’t look good and then all of a sudden it’s like, oh, he fell forward for three.”
The efficiency numbers back up the eye test. Warren is averaging 4.89 yards per touch, the best mark in the league among running backs with at least 100 touches. He has been the most productive player on Pittsburgh’s offense and has done it with a style that keeps turning modest gains into something bigger.
Even with that level of production, the market still isn’t treating him like a true award contender. There are 16 players with better odds to win the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award on FanDuel Sportsbook, and Warren’s touchdown total is a big reason why. He has only three scores this season, and that lack of end-zone production, combined with Pittsburgh’s not-so-flashy offense, has kept his profile lower than his play deserves.
Still, the case Roethlisberger made is hard to ignore. Warren has been one of the league’s most efficient backs, and the numbers say he’s doing more than enough to earn a lot more attention than he’s getting right now.
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Steelers Trade Buzz Puts Two Roster Needs Front And Center
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Among the names floating around are Josh Downs, Hollywood Brown, Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston at receiver, along with Riq Woolen, Donte Jackson, Cam Hart and Amani Hooker in the secondary. Nothing has been confirmed, and for now it is all about possibility rather than movement, but the variety of targets suggests the Steelers are keeping a close eye on more than one path as the deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]