The Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back room needs some help. With Najee Harris now with the Los Angeles Chargers, the room will have some familiar faces stepping into some bigger roles, and new faces trying to step in.
Currently, the room consists of three-year contributor Jaylen Warren, who is atop the depth chart, veteran Cordarrelle Patterson, new addition Kenneth Gainwell, special teams contributor Jonathan Ward, and other depth players in Aaron Shampklin and Evan Hull.
That room needs to add somebody, and the Steelers have shown lots of interest in running backs on the Pro Day trail and in their pre-draft visits. So far, five running backs are reportedly coming to Pittsburgh, and the Pro Day trail shows interest in Trevor Etienne, Ashton Jeanty, TreVeyon Henderson, and Quinshon Judkins.
As for the five players visiting, that will be Bhayshul Tuten, Dylan Sampson, D.J. Giddens, Jaydon Blue, and Ollie Gordon. The Steelers have a common thread of interest in all of these players -- speed.
Gordon is the only one who ran lower than a 4.48 40-yard dash, clipping in at 4.61. Jeanty did not test, but he shows elite long speed on tape. Outside of Judkins, Jeanty, and Gordon, all the other players ran lower than a 4.45 40-yard dash.
Four of them ran sub 4.4, and all of the players aside from Jeanty tested well in the vertical and broad jumps. The Steelers are not hiding their interest in running backs and what they want. It is speed and explosiveness.
It feels like the polar opposite of Harris, who was a grind-it-out power back. Some backs have speed and a bigger frame, while others are true zone-running speed backs.
The Steelers still lack a perfect fit for their wide zone scheme under Arthur Smith. It sure looks like they will use this pick to add that speed and explosiveness to their room. If Pittsburgh wants to be a run-first team, the running back room needs speed and explosiveness to maximize efficiency.
The Steelers had just 11 runs of 20 or more yards in 2024. While that is largely league average, the Steelers need to be at the top of the league, especially since they were fourth in rushing attempts. The NFL Draft looks to allow the Steelers to add that speed and explosiveness in their running game.
BETTING: Check out our guide to thebest PA sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.