Is Jaylen Warren A Good Fantasy Football Pickup For Week 5? Waiver Wire Outlook

A quarter of the season has already passed and the proverbial fantasy dust is starting to settle a bit. Fantasy managers are still waiting to see how players like Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor will fare, but we are starting to get a good sense as to who can be relied on in 2023. 

One of the players who is almost definitively out of that group is Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, who many thought would have a bounce-back season after struggling for much of last year. Harris has experienced some of the same issues he dealt with a season ago, and spry young back Jaylen Warren has been the primary beneficiary of these woes. 

Does that mean Warren is worth picking up for Week 5? Here we take a look at how Warren has fared through the first quarter of the season and whether or not he’s worth using a roster spot on. 

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What Did Jaylen Warren Do In Week 4?

Warren is an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State who burst onto the scene last year with some impressive play-making ability. He ranked among the top-20 backs in the NFL in a number of statistical categories per Player Profiler – yards per carry (#10), fantasy points per touch (#18), juke rate (#5), and expected points added (#2).

While the Steelers drafted the aforementioned Harris in the first round two years ago in the hopes that he would be their workhorse running back for many seasons, that outlook of that plan is looking more and more bleak as time passes. Harris had his best game of the season in Week 4, finishing with a season-high of 11.3 fantasy points. He is now RB37 on the season, with an average of 7.1 PPR points per game. To put this in perspective, Harris was drafted as the No. 26 player overall in 2023 drafts. To say he’s been a letdown for fantasy would be a huge understatement. 

Warren, despite playing less than half of the snaps, sits at RB25 on the year with an average of 9.8 PPR points. In Week 4, Warren saw a season-high 49% of snaps and caught a career-high six passes. He wasn’t great on the ground (eight for 29), as Harris outshined him in that department (14 for 71), but the receiving upside favors Warren by a wide margin.

Are There Any Worrying Signs With Warren?

While Warren is the more explosive player, through four games his YPC (3.4) is drastically down from last season, and actually sits almost a full yard behind Najee (4.3). Still, Warren is seeing his snap share and opportunities increase each game, especially in the passing game, making him the better Steelers fantasy running back play on a weekly basis. 

This doesn’t mean that you should be excited to play Warren, though. While the Steelers' offense went viral in the preseason for beating up on some second units, they have been near the bottom of the league in almost all offensive categories through the first quarter of the season. Kenny Pickett hasn’t taken a big step forward, and offensive coordinator Matt Canada has taken a lot of flak for his management of the offense. This severely limits the upside of a player like Warren. 

Should I Pickup Jaylen Warren Off the Waiver Wire in Fantasy Football?

Warren is a great stash at this point in the season based on his increasing usage and receiving chops. He should continue to see his snaps go up, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he started to out-snap Harris in the coming weeks. Warren is an explosive player who can give you a boom week or two, but hasn’t yet provided that this year. The Steelers offense can only go up from here.  

In PPR formats, he’s a decent second flex option/bye-week fill-in that should be rostered in 100% of leagues. 

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