Something pretty well-known about Pittsburgh sports fans is that we really do love our backups.

The backup quarterback. The backup goalie. The young prospects on the farm for the Pirates.

Players who we have seen in brief flashes that we immediately believe will be better than the guy who is currently the starter.

Always in search of the next big thing.

At times, that has manifested in calls for more playing time for the No. 2 running back over the established No. 1 bell cow.

Occasionally, people wanted to see more Bam Morris than Barry Foster in 1994. More Erric Pegram than Bam Morris in 1995. More Amos Zereoue or Richard Huntley at times over Jerome Bettis. More Isaac Redman, less Rashard Mendenhall.

There was even that one season in 2015 where it was a call for more DeAngelo Williams, “cuz ‘aht LayVeon Bell, he dances back ‘er behind dat line too much, n’at!”

In some years, those fans may have had a point. In others, it was just drunken postgame call-in show fodder.

The current debate under that umbrella regarding incumbent starting RB Najee Harris and fast-rising backup Jaylen Warren feels like it’s somewhere in between.

Even if the media and fans are tilting the scales more and more towards Warren in the wake of his strong training camp and eye-catching 62-yard touchdown run against the Buffalo Bills Saturday night.

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As we pointed out during our most recent “Madden Monday” podcast, in terms of rushing attempts by running backs and fullbacks, Harris got 70.8% of the workload last year. That was 272 carries. Warren had 20% with 77 carries.

I wouldn’t have a problem with that gap narrowing so that Harris’ carries drop down to about two-thirds of the handoffs and Warren gets bumped up to about 30%. After all, Warren averaged 4.9 yards per carry last year. Harris averaged 3.8. Warren averaged 7.6 yards per reception on 28 receptions. Harris averaged 5.6 on 41 catches.

But how many of those touches were on first-and-10 against a loaded box when the whole stadium was expecting him to get the ball, as is often the case with Harris?

Even those that were, Warren’s mere presence in the game as the second back suggests to the defense it’s more likely that the upcoming play call may be a pass going to someone else.

How many of those 7.6-yard receptions were on second-and-14 screens?

None of this is to diminish Warren as a player. He’s been a great find and has proven to be a running back worthy of NFL playing time, and — as stated earlier — a back who probably should get an increase in touches in his second year.

Not just an increase in opportunity but during crucial moments in the game.

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I’m a fan of Warren’s. But I’m also a fan of looking at the big picture.

And that big picture has to also take into consideration what the rate of diminishing returns may be if Warren was put in the same pure running situations that Harris has been placed in throughout his career.

A career that has been spent in the same backfield with a fading Ben Roethlisberger, Mitch Trubisky and a rookie in Kenny Pickett at quarterback.

In other words, a career that has featured a boatload of stacked boxes. If Pickett and the passing game have made the strides we think that they have this offseason, my guess is Harris will have more room to run than what he has ever been used to seeing.

It certainly sounds as if offensive coordinator Matt Canada is leaning in that direction as well.

“Najee is our one. There’s no doubt about that,” Canada said. “I’m never going to lock ourselves into any kind of, ‘What it’s going to be?’ Or, ‘How it’s going to go.’ I don’t think that’s fair to anybody. But, certainly, we’re planning on Najee being Najee when we start the regular season.”

And “Najee being Najee” meant 313 touches last year after 381 as a rookie.

But Canada does see the upside of more Warren.

“He’s a guy that you look at last year on third down and all the things he did coming in as a rookie. We’ll continue to use all of our weapons,” Canada said.

If nothing else, more Warren could mean a fresher Harris later in games when — if the Steelers are actually playing with a lead more often — the defense knows the run game is coming.

“Look at what we asked Naj to do the last couple of years,” Canada said. “I mean, you guys (in the media) talked about it after his Year 1, right? How many touches he had, how many times he was on the field, the amount of plays, and all of those things. And last year, we ran the football quite a bit. Naj was a big, big part of it. Not that Jaylen wasn’t. Your body can (only) take so much.”

Harris’ body should take less of a pounding this year. But Warren shouldn’t get more touches than Harris just based on a few preseason carries so far this year and a better training camp.

If Warren earns that during the season, so be it. But it’s going to have to be Warren making good things happen often during high-leverage situations in regular-season games.

And Harris failing to do so just as often.

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