The Pittsburgh Steelers have plenty of confidence when it comes to who is standing behind Ben Roethlisberger.
Le’Veon Bell has proven to be one of the best, young running backs in the NFL. Behind him, DeAngelo Williams is a seasoned veteran who carried on the load last year with Bell’s injury. Now, he’ll be doing so again for the first three games of the season, as Bell is serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s Substance Abuse policy.
Now, Williams will need someone behind him. Someone who can come in and give Williams a break when he needs it. Last year, it was Fitzgerald Toussaint, and this year, it could be Toussaint again, but now he has some competition.
Out of all four of the new running backs brought into Steelers training camp in Cameron Stingily, Brandon Brown-Dukes, Christian Powell and Daryl Richardson, Richardson has been giving Toussaint the best run for his money.
He helped drive down the field against the Detroit Lions with Landry Jones as his quarterback. While he did not score a touchdown, he led the running back group against Detroit with 44 yards on 11 carries. Against the Eagles in the second preseason game, Richardson had 10 carries for 25 yards.
As for Toussaint, in the first preseason game against the Lions, he had two carries where he only earned eight yards. Against the Eagles, Toussaint carried the ball eight times for 26 yards.
While neither running back has particularly impressed Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in this preseason, it seems that Toussaint is the favorite, due to his placement on the roster last season and his efforts in the Steelers’ postseason run.
Both running backs have a chance to make their mark against the New Orleans Saints on Friday night. The game has a 8 p.m. kick off time.
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
