Why Steelers must draft a running back with their first-round pick

There is little doubt the Steelers have numerous needs which they must address in the draft. The most crucial is the running back position.

A few weeks ago, on February 4th, 2021, in a panel discussion posted on Steelers.com involving Bob Labriola from Steelers digest and Steelers.com, Mike Prisuta from WDVE, and Matt Williamson from Steelers Nation Radio discussed several items. One of which involved the strength of the Steelers running game.  Bob Labriola’s comments seemed the most striking and he showed an understanding of the true nature of Pittsburgh’s problems with the running game.

Labriola cited the playoff game with the Browns that on one rushing play, Derek Watt rushed on a short-yardage play, and Maurkice Pouncey got driven back off the line into Derek Watt. Pittsburgh failed to gain the first down. He went on to say that if the offensive line gets handled, it doesn’t matter who you have rushing; you won’t run the ball.

Ok, it’s a fair point. Even Alejandro Villaneuva had problems in 2020. Injuries to David Decastro and Zach Banner did not help either. Blocking on the offensive line is crucial to winning games. However, if you have not noticed, the Steelers problem at running back is not with the offensive line.

Why the Steelers must take a running back at pick 24

Pittsburgh’s rushing attack has dwindled since the 2010 season. In part, they have not had a long-term running back since Jerome Bettis retired. Willie Parker was good; he did not last. Le’Veon Bell could have been that player; he held and missed an entire season just to sign with another team, and even then has had no success.

From 2010-2019 Pittsburgh rushed for 16,542 yards. That’s the worst decade for total rushing yards since 1950-1959, according to Pro Football Reference. Since 1960, the Steelers have had at least 20,000 plus rushing yards, except 1960-1969, they only had 17,085.

In 2020, things have only worsened. They had 1,351 yards rushing. Conner’s only had 721, Snell 368, McFarland 113  Their worst single season since 1965. In 2013 the Steelers only rushed for 1383 yards, their second-worst rushing season since 1967. This is not an offensive line problem. It’s a running back problem.

Face it; Pittsburgh has not had a dependable running back since Jerome Bettis retired. Le’Veon Bell could have been that player. He didn’t work out, and thus the Steelers are looking for a running back. It’s similar to the problem Pittsburgh faced when Terry Bradshaw retired. It took 22 seasons to finally find Bradshaw’s ultimate replacement.  They are in the same predicament with their running back.

When the Steelers draft on April 29th, they must draft a running back despite their offensive line needs. Whether they select Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, or Javonte Williams, they need a game-changing durable running back and one that wants to play in Pittsburgh for more than a few seasons and can rush for at least 1300 yards a season.  It won’t matter who they put on the offensive line; if they don’t have a running back, that can do that.