Steelers RB Jaylen Warren had a full-time role with Rico Dowdle sidelined with a toe injury. Warren handled 56 snaps with the other two active RBs (Travis Homer and Lew Nichols) playing a combined 6 snaps. That led to Warren handling 90.6% of RB touches. Warren had 20 touches going for 176 yards.
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The only touches that Warren didn’t handle were one rush each for Homer and Nichols. Both of those runs went for 0 yards.
Warren did it against a Bengals rush defense that had been stout through the first two weeks of the season. The Bengals ranked ninth in rush defense DVOA over that span, but Warren still averaged 7.47 yards per carry against them.
This does show how the Steelers will likely handle the RB situation going forward. If Dowdle misses more time, Warren will handle the entire workload. That also is likely true when Dowdle is back healthy if Warren misses time.
Next week, Warren faces a Browns defense that has allowed at least 98 rushing yards to RBs in each of its first three games. That should bode well for Warren if Dowdle misses another game.
