RB Kenneth Gainwell provides production, value in 1st season with Steelers

Four players have more than 350 yards from scrimmage for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.

Over the 12 months leading up to the 2025 opener, three of those four signed multi-year contract extensions with the team that totaled a combined value of $216 million.

The other inked a one-year free-agent deal in March that guaranteed him a mere $620,000.

“Like I always talk about — opportunities,” that player, Kenneth Gainwell, said Monday about why he’s been such a good fit with the Steelers. “It’s what I’ve been looking for — opportunity. And I’m blessed for it.”

Gainwell is getting plenty of opportunities to make an impact on the Steelers offense, and he’s taking advantage of it. Monday’s win against the Miami Dolphins was just the latest example of Gainwell leading the running backs corps in snaps and touches, and he produced a team-high 126 yards from scrimmage in the Steelers’ 28-15 win.

Overlooked as a skill-position add during a spring in which the splashy move was receiver DK Metcalf (who signed a five-year, $150 million deal), Gainwell was given a one-year contract for the veteran minimum salary to supplement the aforementioned $620,000 signing bonus.

But he has emerged as arguably the Steelers’ most reliable and consistent offensive weapon.

“I think it’s all about trust,” Gainwell said after having 13 carries for a game-high 80 yards in addition to a team-high seven catches for 46 yards Monday. “I mean, the offense trusts me to go out there and do my thing. And me just having a playmaker’s ability (results in) me just going out there doing my job and having that opportunity.”

Gainwell joined the Steelers six weeks after winning a Super Bowl ring as part of his fourth and final season with the Philadelphia Eagles.

There, he amassed more than 2,300 scrimmage yards (including playoffs) in 75 games in a complementary/backup role to the Pro Bowl likes of (in succession) Miles Sanders, D’Andre Swift and Saquon Barkley.

Barkley joined the Eagles last season and was on pace to break the NFL’s single-season rushing record before resting in Week 18 when Philadelphia had its playoff seeding clinched. It was during a game three weeks prior at Lincoln Financial Field against the Steelers that Gainwell first caught the eye of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.

Gainwell had 10 touches for 60 yards in an easy Eagles win, but it was his play in the so-called “weighty” moments that so impressed Tomlin and has left him unsurprised that Gainwell has made such an impact on his new team in 2025.

“You know, Saquon casts a pretty large shadow,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “But we played (the Eagles), and Kenny made some significant plays in that game against us.”

Four of Gainwell’s touches resulted in third-down conversions. Tomlin noted he also returned kickoffs and played on coverage units.

“And so, what we saw was a guy that was a football player first,” Tomlin said of Gainwell, “that had a nice skill set to do a lot of things and had some upside because of the ridiculous shadow that Saquon cast. So I don’t know that any of us are surprised by what he’s doing or by what he’s capable of, because we saw it firsthand in the stadium as an opponent.”

Gainwell this season has 93 carries for 451 yards (for a 4.8 average) and 57 catches for 332 yards. His six touchdowns are behind only Metcalf among Steelers. The only players with more scrimmage yards than Gainwell (783) are Metcalf (820) and Jaylen Warren (977). Warren, who was the Steelers’ No. 2 running back the past four years, signed a three-year, $17.5 million contract extension in August. Tight end Pat Freiermuth, given a four-year, $48 million contract extension in September 2024, is fourth on the team in scrimmage yards with 352.

Though Warren has far out-touched Gainwell (204-150), their snap share is relatively even (49.5% of the Steelers’ offensive plays feature Warren, whereas 46.8% see Gainwell). Sometimes, they share the backfield for plays. Typically, though, the Steelers try to change things up on opposing defenses using Warren’s and Gainwell’s disparate skill sets.

“It could be pretty difficult,” Warren said of defending both he and Gainwell, “just because we’re different styles of running. He does his thing. I try to do mine, and, you know, the tape is the tape.”