Productive in college, rookie RBs Jaylen Warren, Mataeo Durant jockey to stick with Steelers
After taking part in a Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp session earlier this summer, Jaylen Warren was asked about the player whose locker was next to him at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
“Who? This guy?” Warren said, motioning to Mataeo Durant. “I don’t even know him.”
Warren burst out into laughter. Durant was laughing, too.
“Naw, he’s one of dudes I’m closest with on the team,” Warren said. “I get along with anybody — but he’s the guy I have been talking to the most.”
Warren and Durant are bonding — and not just because of their shared experience of being a undrafted rookie running backs with the Steelers. The two of them combined for almost 3,000 yards from scrimmage last season for Power 5 programs, each surpassing 1,200 rushing and 200 receiving yards while scoring 11 touchdowns apiece.
“Jaylen, that’s my guy,” Durant said of Warren, with what almost could be described as a squeal of excitement. “We look out for each other. If we have questions about plays, we are there for each other, making sure we are both on point.
“The competition factor is there, but you don’t want to lose your integrity when you are competing with someone.”
One of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s favorite sayings is “two dogs, one bone.” But there might not even be one bone to fight for in the case of Warren and Durant. The Steelers could use an upgrade at running back after workhorse starter Najee Harris. But there is no shortage of candidates: returning former draft picks Benny Snell Jr. and Anthony McFarland Jr. and special-teams standout Trey Edmunds.
Durant and/or Warren would have to stand out to show he can provide more worth than at least two on that list.
“I kind of just trust the process,” Warren said. “I do what I can, control what I can control. And at the end of the day, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be.”
JAYLEN WARREN MOVIN’????pic.twitter.com/IWyddcGyjk
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 16, 2021
Coming in at the bottom of the depth chart doesn’t faze Warren because it was his outlook as recently as a year ago. Warren began his first (and only) season at Oklahoma State as “fifth or fourth string” (he had only six carries in the season opener).
Warren ended the season elected as a team captain and as the Big 12 newcomer of the year. In his first two games as the Cowboys’ primary ball-carrier Warren netted more than 200 yards from scrimmage in each. He was a big reason Oklahoma State advanced to the Big 12 championship game and Fiesta Bowl win versus Notre Dame.
Not bad for a player who had no college scholarship offers coming out of high school and played junior-college ball before two seasons at Utah State.
“The thing with me is I will play whatever,” Warren said. “Once I learn whatever skillset is needed to make them keep me, I can do it.”
Mateo Durant is a DUDE!!
Touchdown Duke ????pic.twitter.com/73Q9xdEv68
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 11, 2021
Durant takes a similar mindset after a more traditional college playing career in which he spent four seasons at Duke and amassed 2,562 rushing yards, 488 receiving yards on 55 catches and accumulated 22 touchdowns.
Even though he never transferred, Durant is like Warren in that he had to work his way up to being a featured back for a Power 5 program. He only had more than 11 carries once until about the midway point of his junior season; Durant surpassed 15 carries in a game only once prior to his senior year.
At 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, Durant is a different body type than Warren (5-8, 215). Each, though, knows he has to show versatility, coachability and a desire to compete in areas such as special teams to have a shot at sticking with the Steelers — let alone to serve a meaningful offensive role as a backup for Harris.
“I just know myself as a player, I could be an asset,” Durant said, “be it special teams or offense or anything they need me to do.
“When you’re in this position, you just have to make the most of your opportunity, do everything you can to show that you can be an asset.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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