What is the plan at RB

[Oviedo]

There have been many comments about what the long term plan is for the RB position. This has included "trading FWP," "making Mendenhall the #1," etc. I think that the Front Office looked at the RB position prior to the draft for one reason and one reason only...they know that the average life of an NFL RB is 5 years and this is FWP's 5th year. My thoughts on this go as follows:

1. FWP is going no where this year. He is a proven starter and more improtant a high character player and team mate that the Steelers value.
2. Mendenhall will be brought along slowly. He will not replace FWP as the starter this season unless FWP is hurt. He will slowly evolve as the primary 3rd down back as the season goes on.
3. Moore will start the season as the 3rd down back, but by the end of the season this will be Mendenhall's role. At this point he will exclusively a returner.
4. Russell will not get many chances this season until the second half of the season. When Moore becomes exclusively a returner, Russell will start to dress and team with Mendenhall to give the Steelers a big backfield late in games to beat down the opponents. If Russell can prove he can block then he may displace Davis which would accelerate his entry into the backfield.

My predictions:

1. Odd man out come next season will be Moore. Mendenhall will make his 3rd down role obsolete.
2. Parker will not be traded and will play out his current contract which is good value.
3. The #1 and #2 of the future will be Mendenhall and Russell.

Just my thoughts because I'm really bored waiting for camp to start.

[frankthetank1]

There have been many comments about what the long term plan is for the RB position. This has included "trading FWP," "making Mendenhall the #1," etc. I think that the Front Office looked at the RB position prior to the draft for one reason and one reason only...they know that the average life of an NFL RB is 5 years and this is FWP's 5th year. My thoughts on this go as follows:

1. FWP is going no where this year. He is a proven starter and more improtant a high character player and team mate that the Steelers value.
2. Mendenhall will be brought along slowly. He will not replace FWP as the starter this season unless FWP is hurt. He will slowly evolve as the primary 3rd down back as the season goes on.
3. Moore will start the season as the 3rd down back, but by the end of the season this will be Mendenhall's role. At this point he will exclusively a returner.
4. Russell will not get many chances this season until the second half of the season. When Moore becomes exclusively a returner, Russell will start to dress and team with Mendenhall to give the Steelers a big backfield late in games to beat down the opponents. If Russell can prove he can block then he may displace Davis which would accelerate his entry into the backfield.

My predictions:

1. Odd man out come next season will be Moore. Mendenhall will make his 3rd down role obsolete.
2. Parker will not be traded and will play out his current contract which is good value.
3. The #1 and #2 of the future will be Mendenhall and Russell.

Just my thoughts because I'm really bored waiting for camp to start.

thats a very good analysis about the current situation. i dont know about the future though. i havent seen enough of russell to form any kind of opinion on him what so ever. i hope he turns out to be as good as many think he will be. one thing is for sure if carey davis has another year like last he will be replaced. i love the rb's on the roster but they really need a fb like krider was

[papillon]

If they play their cards right we should have an elite backl on this team for the next 8-9 years. FWP will probably be the #1 option this year and next with Mendenhall getting some snaps to give FWP a breather. This will limit the amount of contact Mendenhall has in his first two years in the league.

At that point, if Mendenhall is everything we envision him to be beginning in his 3rd year he will probably be the #1 (elite, if you will) back and FWP may be the guy who gets the snaps to give Mendenhall a breather. This will in effect have FWP as the #1 for 4 years and then Mendenhall taking over for the prime of his career.

OTOH, maybe, DVSONE is right and he'll be traded at some point, but, with his very cap friendly contract for a #1 back it would be difficult to send him anywhere from the Steelers financial point of view.

I firmly believe that the Steelers didn't go into this draft looking for a RB, but, when Mendenhall was there at 1.23 they had to take the value. Had they not drafted Mendenhall they would have pursued Jones a bit harder and probably landed him as the #2 back to spell FWP.

They'll use this year to determine exactly what they have in Mendenhall and make any major decision regarding the RB position after this season. I don't see Mendenhall starting at any point this season (barring injury to FWP), but, getting increasing more opportunity as the season wears on. He will hit the rookie wall as well later this season in exactly the same fashion that Ben did in his rookie year. Training camp, four pre-season games, 16 regular season games and then potentially playoff games is a far cry from a college schedule.


Pappy

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Not really semantics, but I see Mendenhall as the backup, not the third down back. He may get the third down job, but I see him as a guy who will be inserted into the game at times to give FWP some rest, not only on third down.

Parker was worn down last year as Tomlin ran him "until the wheels fall off". He was on pace for almost 370 carries, which is considered a magic number for RB overuse and potential breakdown.

I see Mendenhall being inserted for maybe two drives a game at first, maybe one per half. He could get maybe 6-10 carries a game, a couple of balls thrown his way, and let his performance determine how much PT he sees after that, including whether or not he grabs Moore's third down snaps as well.