The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2024 regular season, but before the real games begin, the team has to head to training camp back at Saint Vincent College in order to fine tune their skills. As we here at SCN prepare you for the start of camp, we give you a series called “30 Scenarios in 30 Days” which gives you a Steelers scenario every day leading up to the start of camp.

It is simple how it works. We provide you the scenario, reasons why it will or won’t happen, and then our prediction for what we think will take place.

Let’s get to the scenario…

Scenario: The Steelers will rush for more than 2500 yards in 2024

Why it will happen: After rushing for more than 2000 yards in each of the last two seasons, setting the bar at 2500 yards is a good goal. The Steelers rushed for 2010 yards in 2023 and the three quarterbacks combined for 116 yards in those 17 games. In 15 games in 2023, Russell Wilson rushed for 341 yards. That discrepancy alone covers almost half the difference to the goal by possibly having more quarterback rushing yards.

While talking about quarterback rushing yards is a component of things, the reason the Steelers will go over 2500 rushing yards this year is because of the running backs. With the 1-2 punch of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, the Steelers have two players on rookie contracts and are, at least at this point, both entering contract years. Add in what is believed to be a more capable offense and a huge commitment to improving the offensive line through the draft, the Steelers should see the rushing totals increase this season which could put them in the neighborhood of hitting this mark.

Why it won’t happen: The Steelers do not have history on their side when it comes to rushing for 2500 yards in a season as they’ve only done so six times in franchise history. Additionally, the Steelers haven’t rushed for this many yards in over 20 years as the most recent time they rushed for over 2500 yards was in 2001 when they reached 2774 rushing yards. Putting this number in perspective, the Steelers never hit this mark during Ben Roethlisberger‘s entire career.

Looking at the 2023 season, there was only one team who hit 2500 rushing yards as the Baltimore Ravens did so with 2,661 yards. Although playing a 17-game schedule does help, it still would take just over 147 rushing yards per game hit 25. Even though the Steelers could improve over their 2023 total, getting all the way to 2500 is no easy task as there were 11 teams that rushed for more yards than the Steelers last season but didn’t hit 2500 yards.

Prediction: Although this would be a huge jump to get to 2500 rushing yards on the season, the Steelers seem committed to the running game going into 2024. What will ultimately allow the Steelers to run for more rushing yards would be for them to be in football games early and holding leads in the second half where they would have an increase in rushing attempts. So if the Steelers can increase both their volume of rushes and their yards per attempt, getting up to 2500 rushing yards is not out of the questions. For that reason, I’m going to say the Steelers have a great chance of hitting this goal.

Miss a scenario? You can see the full list of scenarios below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp.

Day 7: T.J. Watt Will Break The Single-Season Sack Record

Day 6: George Pickens Will Have Double-Digit Receiving TDs

Day 5: Russell Wilson Will Start All 17 Steelers Games In 2024

Day 4: The Steelers Defense Will Have More Takeaways This Season

Day 3: The Steelers Will Top Their 2023 Sack Total

Day 2: The Steelers Offense Will Have More Turnovers This Season

Day 1: The Steelers Will Go Above And Beyond Their Win-Loss Prediction In 2024