Steelers snap counts: RB Jaylen Warren takes featured role Week 16 vs. Ravens

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You can learn a lot about the 2024 Steelers from the team’s snap counts.

Welcome back to Steelers snap counts following a Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Approaching their game with the Kansas City Chiefs, what takeaways might carry over into Week 17?

Steelers Week 16 snap count takeaways

• Calvin Austin logged his second straight week with 80% of the Steelers’ offensive snap counts, operating as Pittsburgh’s de facto WR1 without George Pickens. Van Jefferson wasn’t far behind, playing 78%, while Scotty Miller (43%) and Mike Williams (37%) rounded out the top four. It feels safe to say that we won’t be seeing a larger role from Williams this season.
• Jaylen Warren was far and away the Steelers’ top running back against Baltimore, playing 67% of the offensive snaps to Najee Harris’ 28%. Cordarrelle Patterson played just 5%. After the game, Mike Tomlin stated it was largely due to the flow of the game rather than a statement on the running back hierarchy. Harris and Warren have both spent time as the Steelers’ RB1 this season, although Harris’ last game with the majority of the snaps was back in Week 13.
• On defense, Cam Heyward has been seeing a lot of snaps, playing 81% of defensive plays in Week 16.
• The Steelers played a lot of inside linebackers against Baltimore: Patrick Queen played 100% of defensive snaps, Elandon Roberts logged an impressive 76%, while Payton Wilson and Mark Robinson played 35% and 8%, respectively. A big increase for Roberts against the Ravens’ rushing attack.
• Without Larry Ogunjobi, Dean Lowry was the Steelers’ DL3 behind Heyward and Keeanu Benton, playing 50% of defensive snaps.
• Another week with low defensive snap counts for the Steelers’ slot cornerbacks Beanie Bishop Jr. (27%) and Cam Sutton (31%). Against a less run-heavy offense in Kansas City this week, it’ll be interesting to watch how the numbers change.
• Your weekly update on how the Steelers rotated their pass-rushers: T.J. Watt (77% of defensive snaps), Alex Highsmith (71%), Nick Herbig (31%), and Preston Smith (21%). Watt’s snap count wasn’t that affected by his injury.
• After playing 81% of defensive snaps in place of DeShon Elliott last week, Damontae Kazee played just 68% against Baltimore.
• As was obvious on the broadcast, James Pierre (81%) and Cory Trice Jr. (79%) were the Steelers’ two top corners in terms of snap counts on Saturday following injuries to Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson. Trice added 21 more special teams plays, logging a team-best 70 snaps in his first game on the active roster since Week 3. A tiring day for the second-year defender.
• The Steelers’ offensive-to-defensive plays ratio this week: 60:62. A big improvement from last week, even if the final result was still a loss.

Making the most of it award

Cordarrelle Patterson played just three offensive snaps, and yet he scored on the Steelers’ best highlight of the game. No. 84 is the clear winner this week.

Now, here’s a full look at the Steelers snap counts from Week 16’s loss:

Steelers Week 16 snap counts

Snap counts via Next Gen Stats.

What are your takeaways from this week’s snap counts? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!