The Steelers found out on Tuesday that they have five Pro Bowlers. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won the contest to be the third AFC QB behind perennial Pro Bowlers Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Alan Faneca and Troy Polamalu will head to Hawaii like they always do (and if Polamalu's case whether he deserves it in an injury-plagued year or not). And James Harrison proved that he was more than an acceptable replacement for Joey Porter with his first Pro Bowl invitation.But the Pro Bowl announcement had to be especially sweet for Willie Parker. It's the second straight year Parker has earned a spot in Hawaii, and it's a further reminder that North Carolina coach John Bunting had no idea what he was missing when Parker was sitting on the bench in college.
Maybe it's just the Steelers fans I talk to, but it seems like plenty of true fans aren't really happy to have Parker as the team's feature back. If you listen to the complaints, you'd think that the Steelers are stuck with a overgrown scatback who is best off getting 10-15 carries a game. Parker's not 250 pounds so some Steelers fans are continually searching for the power back to take over for Fast Willie.
The reality is that we Steelers fans have it better than we really notice. Parker may not be 250 pounds, but he's very durable (one missed game in the past three seasons). Running behind an offensive line that defines the word leaky, Parker is leading the NFL in rushing. The guys he's battling for the rushing title are LaDanian Tomlinson (probable Hall of Famer) and Adrian Peterson (amazing rookie). Both of them are running behind significantly better lines than the one Parker gets to dodge tacklers behind.
Parker's on pace to top last year's 1,494-yard season, which was already better than all than one of Jerome Bettis' 13 seasons, and his 4.1 yards per carry is better than what Bettis had in seven of his 10 seasons in Pittsburgh.
Parker has his faults. He too often gets stuff at the line (partly because the offensive line doesn't drive people off the ball), he's more of a home-run back than the guy who grinds out four-yard gain after four-yard gain and he has never become a factor in the passing game. But on a team that's discovering it has plenty of problems, it's nice to know there's a Pro Bowl tailback in the backfield.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-19-2007 @ 10:29AM
doug s said...
Anyone who thinks Willie is not a top back and a big part of the Steelers past, current and future success is fooling themselves. What is needed however is some fresh offensive line help and a solid big back to COMPLIMENT Willie....Davenport is not the guy for this and seems like Dan Kreider is on his way out. Davis has shown nothing since training camp and misses many blocks. When Kreider was playing the runing game was much better for Willie as he at least is a strong blocker....get some O line solid guys and a strong big back to go with the rest of the offense and the Steelers will be a elite team again.
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12-19-2007 @ 1:40PM
Rob d said...
Agreed, JJ and Doug S...Parker is a special back. I think Gary Russell is a very good option to be No. 2 behind him. He has good size and speed and was a terrrific short yardage back in college. Still, if Kreider is done as a Steeler in an Arians-type offense, and Carey Davis is not an answer, they will have to replenish the RB situation in the offseason. I thought they should have done that sooner than this anyway. The Steelers are loyal to players which is a very good thing but sometimes they just refuse to see that a guy isn't doing the job until he hurts the team (ie) Coclough last year, Anthony Smith this year.I think they are giving Willie too many carries for a small guy but they really don't have many options as Dookie is best in spot duty. They need to find someone who can carry a bigger load.
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