When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Michigan State running back Le’Veon Bell in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft it said a lot about the players on the roster. The Steelers clearly aren’t sold on Isaac Redman or Jonathan Dwyer being their long-term starting running back; so much so, in fact, that they spent a second round pick on a running back.
That was, of course, never said in words by the Steelers front office, but their actions, as they say, speak louder than words. And those actions have Dwyer and Redman working hard to show that the organization, and most everyone else for that matter, underestimated them.
Redman is said to be 10-15 pounds lighter than the end of last season and is working on increasing his speed. His goal is to be the Steelers starting running back and in Todd Haley’s offense that means a mix of speed and power as well as the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.
“I was disappointed individually, struggling with injuries,” Redman said about his 2012 season. “We had our spurts. We had a couple of games where we looked great and a couple where we looked awful. We need to be more consistent.”
That consistency will be the goal in 2013. From weeks 7-9 in 2012 the Steelers had three great running performances on offense behind two Dwyer starts and one start by Redman. Those three games were the best three games by the Steelers on the ground during the 2012 season. Uncoincidentally that was also three of the healthiest games by the offensive line.
When the line was healthy both Redman and Dwyer looked like star running backs in the NFL. That’s enough to make you wonder what the Steelers run game could do if the offensive line wasn’t suffering consistent injuries. However, with the lines injury issues the past few years their has been no consistency up front or with the run game.
Because of the injuries to the offensive line the run game has struggled and has considered very disappointing the past few years. That disappointment has been pushed onto the running backs themselves; despite the fact that the running backs performed well when the line was actually healthy.
Even so, rumor has it that the Steelers tried to trade Dwyer during the NFL Draft back in April. Seeing those rumors has probably stacked even a little more motivation onto Dwyer’s plate this off-season.
@Dejan_Kovacevic excited for camp man to prove everyone wrong
— Jonathan Dwyer (@JDwyer27) July 6, 2013
Dwyer has been working hard to get into better shape to prove that he deserves a chance to be the Steelers starting running back. Redman is in the same boat and rookie Le’Veon Bell will be competing for the job as well.
Bell may be the expected starter at this point, but as a rookie he has a long hill to climb before he wins that job. If he is considered to not be ready to start in his first year that means the job will be going to Redman or Dwyer. Dwyer may have the best skill-set of those two to be a starting running back, but conditioning issues have been a concern surrounding him since he was drafted by the Steelers.
This is a make-or-break season for Dwyer, at least in Pittsburgh. If he comes into camp in great shape and wins the starting job it will be huge for his career in the NFL. However, if he struggles during camp he could be out of a roster spot when the Steelers make their final cuts in September.
Having said that, I fully expect a strong showing from Dwyer this off-season. He was the Steelers starting running back at times in 2012, was rumored to be trade bait back in April and now is fighting for his NFL career. However, given his skill-set and off-season conditioning there is still a good chance that he opens the season as the Steelers starting running back.
