When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Kenneth Gainwell as a free agent in the offseason, it didn't create any buzz.

The running back had spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles. Gainwell was solid but certainly not spectacular. His biggest accomplishment was being part of a Super Bowl-winning team last season.

Gainwell signed a one-year contract for just $1.79 million. He has already turned out to be worth that and more with seven games still left in the season.

Gainwell is the second-leader rusher for the AFC North-leading Steelers with 244 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries. He is also second on the team in receptions with 36 for 204 yards and two TDs. Gainwell is a special teams contributor, too, playing 40 percent of the snaps.

"I value him as a football player," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We saw a lot of that on his Philadelphia tape. He's good in a lot of areas, including special teams. So, we just respect what he brings to the table."

Gainwell brought a lot to the table last Sunday when the Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 34-12 at Acrisure Stadium, particularly after starting running back Jaylen Warren left the game with an ankle injury.

Gainwell rushed nine times for 24 yards. However, he had two touchdown receptions on passes in the flat – one each from Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph – among his seven catches that totaled 81 yards. Rudolph played the second half after Rodgers sustained a slight fracture in his left wrist just before the end of the second quarter.

"I didn't know a whole lot about him before this year," Rudolph said of Gainwell. "I knew he was a Super Bowl champion last year, and I knew his game, but I didn't know how versatile and how good a pass catcher he is. He runs the ball extremely hard, like Jaylen Warren."

Tomlin said Warren was cleared to return to the game on Sunday. The Steelers, though, decided to stick with Gainwell.

"We just thought Kenny was doing a good job," Tomlin said. "Those are just decisions we make in-game sometimes. It's not totally up to the player's will or expert medical advice. It's about who gives us the best chance to win, and certainly at that point in the game, based on what we've seen, things were going well with Kenny. Things were less than ideal with Jaylen, and so we stuck with the hot hand."