3 reasons Steelers must make a strong push for Phillip Lindsay
The Pittsburgh Steelers need help on offense and Houston surprisingly cut Pro Bowler Phillip Lindsay.
I’ll be the first to say that the Steelers signing a change of pace running back isn’t going to solve a lot of their problems. However, there is a multitude of reasons why this would be a very smart move for Pittsburgh.
With that being said here’s why the Steelers must make a push for Lindsay.
Najee Harris is a rookie RB
I understand that Najee Harris looks like the future of the offense. However, the Steelers are running him into the ground from day one. Harris would’ve eclipsed 600 snaps on the season against the Chargers if he didn’t have to go through the concussion protocol mid-game as he currently sits at 592.
When Harris starts feeling the fatigue of his first NFL season, one in which if he is healthy he will be playing in every game, he is inevitably going to slow down. I’m not trying to say anything bad about his conditioning, it is just a realistic thing the Steelers have to plan for.
Harris is going from playing at most 13 games in college, that is if his team won both rounds of the playoffs and played in the championship, to a 17 game regular season. The Steelers had their bye week in Week 7. He is playing an entire college football regular season between his bye and the playoffs.
If the Steelers are able to make the playoffs and somehow make it to the Super Bowl he will have effectively played two full college regular seasons consecutively with a lone week off after the first 1/3 of the games. This is also happening against a vastly superior group of opponents that are bigger, stronger, and faster than his opponents in college. It happens to nearly every rookie and it’s referred to as the rookie wall.
The Steelers need a reliable option to help take some of the workload off of Harris. They have to be able to maintain Harris’ health for this offense to have a shot at being viable in the postseason. Yet, they also have to keep him at least somewhat fresh.