Four of those were LeVeon Bell, but three were different players who stepped up in those seasons: Mendenhall (Pittsburgh's last first-round running back), Williams, Conner. Williams recorded at least 730 rushing yards in a season four times during the 2010s, and he ended the decade with 4,246 rushing yards. 2023 ABG-SI LLC. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. He'll go down as one of the best power backs in history, and in this decade Lynch has carried the ball 1,791 times for 7,778 yards. The Pittsburgh Steelers are loaded with high-end fantasy talent, and Mike Tomlin's team has been producing every week.The Steelers have scored 30 or more points in six straight games, and they are in a position to earn a spot in the AFC playoffs if they can win their final two games of the season.It's all lining up to be a happy holiday season in Pittsburgh because they close the year with . The trend in the modern NFL is to run the ball out of single-back sets, often from a shotgun or pistol formation. One of the best free agent signings of the Mike Tomlin era, DeAngelo Williams was never thought to be more than a top backup running back. The Steelers have had some incredibly talented players over the years . But from 2010-17, Forte averaged 1,419 yards from scrimmage per season. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Bettis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Mendenhall is currently No. But from 2015-16, he posted more than 1,000 rushing yards, 1,500 yards from scrimmage and at least 13 touchdowns each season. TEAM SEASON GP REC W% W L T TD PTS PPG OPP PTS OPP PPG 1DWN 3DWN% 4DWN% Pittsburgh Steelers: 2013: 16: 8-8.500: 8: 8: 0: 41: 379 . A bruising Hall of Famer running back, Franco Harris was the perfect embodiment of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense during their championship runs in the 1970s. The running back fell just short of 1,000 yards from scrimmage last season after finishing with 1,414 yards in his rookie campaign. In 1979, he started 10 games in place of Bleier and ran for 585 yards and six touchdowns. Subscribe to Stathead Football: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Pro Football Reference Database. See the full player roster for the 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers. While one is considered a fullback and the other a halfback, they share more commonalities than differences in their duties. It was a hard task to actually rank all of the great running backs . He ran for 5,378 yards while playing at Heinz Field. Peterson missed all but one game in 2014 because of a child abuse case, but he returned to lead the NFL in rushing during 2015. DeAngelo Williams Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images. Join our linker program. Bleier believed the doctors were wrong and reported to Steelers training camp a year after he left the war. Frank Pollard: In the mid-1980s, a stout Frank Pollard became the Steelers primary running back. Adrian Peterson is a running back with over thirteen years in the NFL. 1 1. Feeling he had to listen to his boss, Kiesling had quarterback Jack Scarbath toss the ball which resulted in a touchdown to Goose McClairen. Draft Henry with absolute confidence this season if you have a top-five pick. Since the merger in 1970, the Pittsburgh Steelers have rushed for more yards than any other team in the National Football League, and this commitment got two of their running backs elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 2016 All-Pro had his own issue staying on the field because of a suspension in 2017, but despite that Elliott has 4,048 rushing yards and led the league in rushing twice in three years. The Tigers picked up their sixth commitment for the 2024 recruiting cycle - and their first running back - Wednesday with the public . No matter what happens with the evolution of this position, these Pittsburgh tight ends have left a legacy for this that cant be taken away. He ran for over 1,000 yards in his first season and scored 10 rushing touchdowns on his way to winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. 2. Still young at 38 years of age, Zereoue stays in shape these days by playing soccer for a New York amateur club called the Central Park Rangers FC. 2022 AFC North Standings. There have been some running backs in Steelers history who had one or two good seasons in Pittsburgh, then went on their way. His professional career started in 2007 when he decided to skip the last year of college and enter the NFL Draft. He seemed to violate every rule young players are taught about playing running back, yet he thrived. He made another Pro Bowl in 1993 but only rushed for half as many yards due to injuries. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, injured during his tour of duty and told he would never play football again. Playing players out of position in mut will make there overall go down now. Still, "CJ2K" comes in at No. Former Steelers running back Willie Parker (39) acknowledges the crowd during a 2018 against the Chargers at Heinz Field. In 1944 he led Army to an undefeated record with 12 victories and was named the teams Most Valuable Player. Morris peaked as a rookie, rushing for 1,613 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2012. Thornton was also a member of the Super Bowl winning teams for Pittsburgh in 1979 and 1980. Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Those three men will be bypassed for this article despite Johnson ranking third in the all-time rushing yardage for the Black and Gold. All Rights Reserved. That lands him in the top five during the decade. Born Byron Morris, drafted in the third round of the 1994 draft, Morris immediately made an impact with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming to them from Texas Tech University. For the purposes of this article, I will be considering the following: Its tricky to piece it all together, but I think these are the best Steelers running backs of all time. Since there are only 11 players on offense, the running backs have to be able to function as a unit, and Le'Veon Bell could play halfback to Bettis' fullback. He had the highest usage rate among running backs at 35.8% and was third in red-zone touches with 61. He would play six seasons in Three Rivers Stadium when the Steelers were home and finish with 3,343 yards rushing. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Who the heck is this guy, we all wondered aloud, but in much more colorful language. Trump can be sued by cops United States 11:10 am - 10,090 views; Train crash toll now 57 Greece 9:38 am - 3,746 views; Snow, rain end drought California 9:32 am - 1,290 views; More World News The former Titan had only 28 catches for 294 yards last year . Teams run RPOs, or run-pass option plays, where the quarterback decides after the snap whether he will hand the ball off or throw a pass. Johnson was a bruising fullback who spent time in San Francisco and Detroit before coming to Pittsburgh in 1960. March 1, 2023 2:19 pm PT. Instagram Twitter Facebook Snapchat Shop Icon Profile Overlay Avatar Add Airplay Arrow Left Arrow Right Arrow Up Arrow Down Audio Back 5s Back 10s Back 30s Calendar Chart Check Down Left . Former Tulane Green Wave running back Tyjae Spears made a big splash at the Senior Bowl, but that was hardly the first time he put on a show. Le'Veon Bell was one of the best Steelers running backs of all time. . Greatest Power Backs in NFL History. In the second concussion he encountered, it resulted in Hoge having to be resuscitated when he stopped breathing. But since then he has a pair of 1,000-yard rushing years and 4,545 yards on the ground in five years. Sowhos the greatest tight end in Pittsburgh Steelers history? His teammate Terry Hanratty, the QB at Notre Dame during that tenure became a Steeler as well. The Senate passed the bill . In one of his final interviews before his . He never made a Pro Bowl and never had a 1,000-yard season, but he appeared in 111 games over nine seasons and managed to rack up 3,989 career rushing yards. Franco Harris is the Pittsburgh Steelers career leader in rushing yards with 11,950. Sproles has nearly as many receptions (460) as carries (516) since 2010, and he has 3,936 receiving yards. Franco Harris gets most of the credit for that infamous incident, but Terry Bradshaws passing attempt on that play was originally intended for Fuqua who was decleated by Jack Tatum. Bettis was team-first through some questionable demotions and worse decisions as to the direction of the offense, and he welcomed Duce Staley and mentored Willie Parker along the way to a Super Bowl championship to complete a quest his teammates had dedicated to him. At the time of the second injury, he was no longer with the Steelers but playing for the Chicago Bears and sued that teams doctor resulting in a $1.55 million judgment in favor of Hoge. Today, with the explosion of the passing game, a star running back is a helpful asset but no longer a requirement. Twenty-three slots went by before the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Najee Harris in 2021. 4. All-time Receiving Leader: Hines Ward 1,000 rec, 12,083 yds, 85 TD . Mendenhall spent five seasons in Pittsburgh and was a member of two Super Bowl teams. Anderson was traded mid-season in 1986; he played four games for the Cardinals and eight for the Giants. Running backs are not the commodities they once were. Drafted in the third round by the Steelers, Zereoue would play from 1999 to 2003 in Black and Gold before finishing his career in Oakland for one season and another in New England. He'll continue to split time with Nick Chubb in the backfield, but the Browns are a run-first team that will use the talents of both. 20 and retired with that number despite the departure of Pearson to Dallas. He peculiarly retired after that one campaign with the Cardinals. The Steelers haven't shied away from targeting lesser-valued positions by the modern standard early in recent drafts, such as running back, linebacker and maybe to a lesser degree, safety. (Note: The Steelers signed Derek Watt during the 2020 offseason and released Nix, who signed with Indianapolis. Without further ado, here are the best 25 NFL running backs of this decade: It will be surprising to some that Johnson isn't a little higher on this list. All-time Scoring Leader: Gary Anderson 1,343 points Bullet Bill Dudley is also in the record books for the National Football League as the only man to run for a touchdown, catch a touchdown pass, return a punt for a score, run to the end zone on a kickoff return, intercept a pass for a pick-six, pick up a fumble and reach pay dirt, and throw a touchdown pass. Dave Holcomb began working as a sports writer in 2013 after graduating from Syracuse University. By, Tom Rothenberg/Zuma Press/Icon Sportswire, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Pittsburgh Steelers Draft History. If Lions general manager Brad Holmes follows that plan exactly, Minnesota Golden Gophers' Mohamed Ibrahim would be a great late-round running back prospect for Detroit to target. Fullback Franco Harris came to the Steelers in the 1972 draft and made an immediate impact. The Steelers have always had great defensive playersand that hasn't changedbut the Steelers of today have fallen into the trendy traps of modern offenses with little use for a fullback. Parker was perhaps the fastest running back ever to play for the Steelers. Dickerson was traded mid-season in 1987; he played three games for the Rams and nine for the Colts. That couldn't have been further from the truth. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Over the past 50 years, the Steelers have had three coaches, and each has used a different style of offense. 9-Rocky Bleier. In an era that de-emphasizes the workhorse back, McCoy has nearly amassed 10,000 rushing yards and more than 13,000 yards from scrimmage this decade. Time to profile some of the outstanding and popular running backs to suit up for the Steelers. These honorable mentions may not have a place on this list of all-time best Steelers running backs, but if you are a Steelers fan, there is a good chance you'll remember them fondly.