PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – At one point a junior college running back at Snow College holding onto a dream, Jaylen Warren had a few coaches that inspired him to make some changes and years later he gets a new contract for three-years, $17.5 million, $12 million guaranteed from the Steelers.
By his second year at Snow College, Warren was the JUCO offensive player of the year and transferred to Utah State and then ultimately Oklahoma State.
"It's surreal," Warren said Monday. "It's what everyone who goes to JUCO, it is what they dream about, being in a situation like mine. And so I hope I can be the one to look up to when you're in those hard situations in JUCO."
He still talks to some of his old teammates at Snow. The 26-year-old says every time he hears about a JUCO product, he gives extra respect to them because Warren said life as a JUCO football player is not easy.
It hasn't been easy for Warren. Even though he rushed for 1,216 yards in the Big 12, he still didn't get enough respect at 5'8" to be drafted, signing after the NFL Draft with the Steelers. He would impress during pre-season drills to get an invitation to training camp and then once he was allowed hit, he found himself a position. His work against Steelers linebackers is brought up every year they go to Latrobe.
"I guess just working every day," Warren said. "I never looked toward the future always stayed present in that moment and whatever panned out for me, panned out."
It's panned out pretty well as he goes into the 2025 season as the Steelers number one running back option after they let Najee Harris go from a potential fifth season.
"It's a great feeling, you know, knowing they have my back," Warren said. "I'm gonna do what I can to have their back and yeah, I'm blessed."
Asked if this contract is going to take the chip off his shoulder of being a guy who didn't get drafted, the Utah native quickly said no. If anything, it's going to add more chips to the one he already carries.
Money, he says, is not going to change him. He loves the physicality of the sport. It's why he plays football.
Last year he played 45% of the offensive snaps, which was down four percent from the previous year. In 48 career games, he's never had a start in the league. He's only had two career 100-yard games and those came consecutively against Green Bay and Cleveland mid-2023. Last year he battled some injuries and peaked at 71 yards rushing on 11 carries against the Chiefs.
Now the former JUCO player who transferred twice and still went undrafted has an NFL contract for the next three years at life-changing money.
"You know it's something you always dream about, but I didn't know it would come this soon," Warren said. "I'm grateful it did."
