JaylenWarren

News: 2 days agoWarren (shoulder) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Bengals after being a limited participant in Friday's practice, Alan Saunders of Steelers Now reports.

Spin: A limited practice participant throughout the week, Warren gets a 'questionable' tag but may in fact be headed for his largest workload of the season. Backfield mate Rico Dowdle (toe) has been ruled out, and Steelers RBs coach Ramon Chinyoung suggested Friday that Warren will play, per Nick Farabaugh of PennLive.com. The Steelers otherwise have Travis Homer and Lew Nichols (practice squad) as their top alternatives, which could lead to Warren seeing more work on early downs while Homer takes over some of the passing snaps. An early kickoff at 1:00 p.m. ET allows Warren's fantasy managers to confirm his availability when inactive lists are released Sunday morning around 11:30 a.m. ET.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Warren reached career-high marks in touches (251), yardage (1,291) and touchdowns (eight) last season, his fourth in the league. The former undrafted free agent put up 13.6 fantasy points per game (19th among backs) and PFF tracked him with 56 forced missed tackles (seventh). Pittsburgh swapped out Kenneth Gainwell for Rico Dowdle as Warren's running mate, and the two are expected to split work in a Mike McCarthy offense that rarely deploys its backs in the passing game. Warren is capable and effective as a rusher and receiver, but his ceiling figures to be limited in this committee. He's likely to cap out as a flex.