The Steelers have struggled mightily on the ground in recent weeks. Here’s why Anthony McFarland should take the reigns at running back.
The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has been pretty consistent for the most part this season. Through the first nine games, they have managed to put up 30.1 points per game, and they haven’t scored less than 24 in a single contest all season. Much of this success has to do with Ben Roethlisberger’s new-found ability to take care of the football, as well as a defense that has routinely put them in position to score.
Even the run game was good early on in the season. For the first five games to open the year, Pittsburgh managed over 100 rushing yards in every contest and was able to move the chains on the ground. Unfortunately, their last three contests have been an entirely different story.
For the first time in the history of the franchise, the Steelers had three straight games where they failed to rush for at least 50 yards. This is incredibly challenging to do. In fact, Pittsburgh is the first team in the history of the league to go undefeated three games in a row after failing to rush for 50 yards in a contest.
While this may work against inferior competition like the Cowboys and Bengals, they need a spark on the ground. Anthony McFarland hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities so far, and he has missed a few big holes. However, there is plenty of reason to believe he could provide a boost to their rushing attack. Here’s why McFarland should be given an opportunity to start:
James Conner isn’t getting the job done
Though his first five games of the season, Steelers starting running back, James Conner, impressed. He topped 100 yards on the ground on three different occasions and he was on track to have his best rushing performance of his career in year four. However, things have since turned around full-circle.
Over his last three contests, Conner has carried the ball 37 times for 105 yards (2.8 yards per carry). Conner now has 4 games this season in which he has carried the ball for 2.9 yards per carry or fewer, and his worst games have come most recently.
It’s gotten to a point where Steelers fans don’t even want to waste plays running the ball because they have seen how ineffective it has been over the past month of football. It seems like the only time Conner has been able to pick up any sort of chunk yardage is when there’s a gaping hole created by the offensive line. However, those have been few and far between this year.
Conner has earned upwards of 14.5 carries per game on the season. No other Steelers running back has recorded more than 5.5 carries per game (Benny Snell), while Anthony McFarland has seen less than 2.0 carries per contest.
Anthony McFarland needs more opportunity
In his first career NFL action, Anthony McFarland broke free for a 20-yard gain on a run to the outside against the Houston Texans. He showed elusiveness and burst that allowed him to rush for 7.0 yards per carry on 6 attempts. However, despite some impressive runs, McFarland has gone back to a reserve role for Pittsburgh and has been third in line for carries.
It’s true that the rookie running back hasn’t done much with his touches in recent weeks. McFarland hasn’t earned more than 7 rushing yards in a contest since Week 3. However, this is largely due to the fact that he hasn’t been entrusted with more than three carries in a single game since his first action.
With the Steelers trying and failing to run the outside zone over the past few weeks, they could really use a running back with some burst. McFarland’s 4.4 speed would be a welcome addition to a relatively slow backfield and it would allow more big-play opportunities for Pittsburgh this year. Given a full game sample size,. McFarland could prove his worth to this organization and give the coaching staff enough reason to believe he can be trusted this year.
All other options for Steelers have been subpar
The biggest reason why the Steelers should give rookie Anthony McFarland a chance to start is that all other running backs have been subpar. James Conner isn’t the only player in the backfield that has disappointed at times this season (at least he had several good games). Benny Snell has been flat-out awful since Week 1 against the New York Giants.
In his last 8 games, Snell has carried the ball 31 times for merely 67 yards (2.1 yards per carry). Despite seeing significantly more touches than Anthony McFarland has seen all year, Snell has been much worse with the ball in his hands this year. Though he’s got an ideal build for the running back position, his lack of speed and explosion is evident nearly every time he touches the pigskin.
Additionally, Jaylen Samuels has only carried the ball three 3 times this year for 8 yards, but he doesn’t have much business even being on the roster. Samuels has seen 56 offensive snaps this year and has done next to nothing with them.
With the same amount of opportunity as a player like Benny Snell or dare I say, James Conner, I think Anthony McFarland could do more with his touches.
Obviously, if McFarland ends up struggling, the Steelers can revert back to their old plan of attack. However, with the way things have been going on the ground for Pittsburgh, the coaching staff may want to give Anthony McFarland a chance to start at running back.