If things stayed as they are now, the Steelers would be going into the season with a position battle for the starting running back spot. That battle would be between Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer, with Baron Batch as the third string guy. Redman and Dwyer are quality football players, but neither of them are workhorses in this league. Dwyer could be an outstanding spell guy who gives the starter a rest every couple of series, and Redman is one of the best short-yardage conversion guys around. There are rumbling out there that the Steelers are interested in Beanie Wells, who was cut by the Arizona Cardinals.
Wells is your prototypical Steeler running back with a great combination of size and speed. Wells was a first round pick of the Cardinals in 2010. He came out of Ohio State University as one of the best running backs in the draft, and luckily for the Cardinals – or so they thought – he fell to the 31st pick.
In Wells rookie campaign, he saw limited time only rushing the ball 176 times in 16 games for a total of 793 yards and seven touchdowns. Then in his second season, he missed a few games and only ran the ball 116 times for 397 yards and saw pay dirt only twice. He became the full-time starter in 2011, and that’s when his production went up; he ran the ball 245 times, and had his first 1,000 yard season as a pro.
That season, he scored 10 times on the ground, but once again he was sidelined a few games with an injury. Then last year, he missed half the season with an Achilles tendon injury and only played in eight games for the Cardinals. In those eight games, he averaged 11 carries, and ran the ball for 234 yards and scored five touchdowns.
When Wells is healthy he has shown the ability to be able to carry the load, and produce pretty well. But that’s the problem; with a running back who likes to initiate contact like him, it’s hard to stay healthy. The Steelers have dealt with a running back with that same problem in Rashard Mendenhall who recently signed with Wells’ former team. So having their starting running back hurt wouldn’t be anything new to them.
If Wells can stay healthy he would be a great addition to the Steelers’ backfield. He is a strong, up-and-down runner, which is the exact opposite of Mendenhall who did more dance moves before hitting the hole than anybody I’ve ever seen. Well is a bigger, faster and stronger version of Dwyer. Last year, Dwyer had some good games, and proved he is a quality running back, but he is just a little bit slow. But like Wells, he is a straight forward runner, he finds the hole and explodes through it.
Stephen Jackson is the most coveted up and down runner on the market and somebody that would fit the build of a Steeler player, but you have to think the price would be too high for the Steelers to get him. So if the price is right and the Steelers could somehow find a way to get Wells on their roster, he most certainly would be a fan favorite because the Steelers’ fans love smash-mouth football and that’s exactly how he plays the game.
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