In 2018, the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the prolific offenses in the NFL in large part because they completely abandoned the run game and just let quarterback Ben Roethlisberger air it out. This season, when Roethlisberger went down with a season-ending elbow injury, you might have thought it would have prompted the Steelers staff to really focus on running the ball.
But if you thought that, you would be wrong. Instead the Steelers had one of the worst rushing seasons in recent history and certainly the worst under head coach Mike Tomlin. Here’s how the run game broke down (literally).
James Conner-This was supposed to be Conner’s breakout year. But as with 2018, injuries were just too much for Conner and there are serious questions if he can really be this team’s feature back. Conner missed six games with various injuries.
464 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns
Benny Snell Jr.-The one running back who showed some promise last season was Snell. Despite missing three games of his own with injury, Snell finished second on the team in rushing and really hit his stride at the end of the season. If there’s an open competition for the starting spot next season, Snell could end up on top.
426 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns
Jaylen Samuels-Of all the players who failed to meet expectations, Samuels has to be near the top. Samuels skill set should have been a perfect fit for an offense But instead, Samuels faded away almost completely in the gameplan and was little more than an afterthought down the stretch. Oh and Samuels also missed time with injury last season.
175 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
Kerrith Whyte-Pittsburgh added Whyte from the Chicago Bears practice squad and gave the Steelers a nice boost in the speed department in the team’s final six games. Whyte is an exciting player with a ton of potential and it would have been great to have had him for the entire season.
122 rushing yards, 0 rushing touchdowns
Roosevelt Nix-I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Nix in this. Unfortunately, Nix missed 13 games last season and ended up on IR. And all we heard when he was hurt was how much the Steelers could use Nix as a blocker. Yet with him out, Pittsburgh made no attempt to replace him in the lineup. It makes no sense and you have to wonder if Nix figures into the team’s plans going forward.
