From Jerome Bettis to Willie Parker to Rashard Mendenhall to Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers have almost always had a running back with a ‘workhorse’ label. Those days in the NFL should be coming to an end.
It’s time for Pittsburgh to take a page out of Bill Belichick’s playbook and use a ‘committee’ approach at running back.
The Steelers are used to finding one guy that can do some of everything (like Le’Veon Bell) and giving him 350-400 touches a season. Here are three reasons why the Steelers need to forget the workhorse days and start using a committee of running backs:
Keep James Conner healthy
James Conner hasn’t finished a full season in each of his first two years in the NFL.