3 reasons former Netflix star could help Steelers’ RB woes
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the worst teams in the league in terms of running the ball.
It is all but guaranteed the Steelers are going to use a high draft pick on a featured runner in the 2021 draft. With the amount of interest they have shown in Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, and Javonte Williams it only makes sense that Pittsburgh is targeting one of the 3 best running backs in the draft.
The real question is whether 1 running back is enough. Pittsburgh has been trying to acclimate to the running back by committee approach which has been a growing trend across the NFL over the last few seasons. We have been seeing teams like Baltimore, San Francisco, Seattle, and recently Cleveland have such great success with this approach over the last couple of seasons. It is safe to say that the Steelers have the right idea as all of the top rushing teams in recent years have been having success with this approach.
The second running back the Steelers should target is Rakeem Boyd.
If you are a big football fan, with a Netflix subscription, you have probably watched Last Chance U. It is a docuseries about powerhouse junior college schools that help turn around prospects that were at one time considered some of the most valuable recruits going into college. These players would get bounced down to junior college due to grades or various other poor life choices and junior college is their last chance to get back on the right track to possibly get back to a D-1 school or even to make it as a professional.
Rakeem Boyd was the star running back of the Independence Pirates featured in season 3. Almost no one who has seen this show will forget his 303 yards rushing performance against Coffeeville Community College. He looked like a college player against high school players, yet a lot of the people lining up with and against him were also former Division I football players.
A number of Last Chance U alums have made the NFL, while none have become stars yet. Boyd has the most potential out of any of the players featured on this show that at this time are eligible for the NFL. The Steelers need another good running back to make the committee approach work and Boyd can be that guy.