On the Steelers: Running game lacks depth
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Steelers running back Mewelde Moore carries the ball during training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe Thursday.
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The Steelers say they want to run the ball more effectively in 2010, and some of them say they have emphasized it more through the first week of training camp. The commitment is there, they promise, to improve their ground game over what it was last season.
They talk a good running game, but where's the beef?
Rashard Mendenhall, their top draft pick in 2008, broke through last season to rush for 1,108 yards and a 4.6-yard average per carry. All their eggs are in his basket and, if something happens to him like the broken shoulder that ruined his rookie season, their running game could be grounded.
Mewelde Moore filled in a few games for them in 2008 and did a nice job, and he has experience going back to 2004. But he carried only 35 times last season for 118 yards.
After that, the only experience they have arrived Monday when they acquired halfback/fullback Dwayne Wright off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles. Wright does not have an official carry from scrimmage since 2007, when he was a rookie with the Buffalo Bills. His line from that season: 29 attempts, 94 yards.
The Bills cut him before '08. The Giants signed him before '09, tried to make him a fullback, and then cut him. The Eagles signed him in January and waived him last week. Yet, after just a few days with the Steelers, Wright looked like one of their best backs.
Since last season, he and rookie Jonathan Dwyer have been the only additions to their backfield vs. the loss of Willie Parker. None of the others -- Frank Summers, Isaac Redman and Justin Vincent -- has an official NFL carry.
Dwyer, a sixth-round draft pick with a lot of production the past two seasons at Georgia Tech, had not practiced since pulling a hamstring the first practice of camp. He put on a uniform Thursday afternoon and went through a limited practice. Summers has missed the past few days with a concussion.
The only fullback listed on the roster, converted Virginia Tech defensive tackle Demetrius Taylor, was cut to make room for Wright, who the Steelers list as a fullback but who really is a halfback.
First Published August 6, 2010 12:00 am
