Last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave Najee Harris an ungodly amount of touches. It’s possible the lessen the load a bit in 2022.
Perhaps the emergence of rookie running back Jaylen Warren helps ease that pressure. He saw first-team repetitions on Monday due to Benny Snell Jr. missing time. He flashed against Seattle, carrying the ball six times for 34 yards and hauling in four passes for 30 yards and a score. He’s having an excellent camp, especially for an undrafted free agent.
A Warren Offensive Rookie of the Year win would mean he continued on this trend and something very bad happened to Harris, so it’s not an advisable bet. Still Warren carving out a role can diminish Harris’ totals. DraftKings is offering -110 odds on Harris to have more than 1600.5 total yards (rushing and receiving). Given his projected volume, that’s still a good bet until Warren proves himself as an NFL contributor.