Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has clarified the rotation that will exist between Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman in short-yardage situations.
Redman will indeed be the team's short-yardage back, but Mendenhall will still get the bulk of the goal line carries.
The team will leave Mendenhall in the game down by the end zone because of his skill as a receiver. They want the threat of a pass to at least be there.
© Little note about Maurkice Pouncey. Not only will he be the first rookie position player to start a regular season opening game for the Steelers since Heath Miller in 2005, but he'll also be just the second offensive lineman in team history to do so. Marvel Smith is the only other rookie offensive lineman to start in team history.
9 comments:
We couldn't possibly expect Bruce Arians to actually (god forbid) RUN the ball into the endzone. That would be too much to ask. I am surprised he even has any running backs in at all. Maybe he only is putting Mendenhall in to trick the other team into keying on the running back so that he can open up the routes for the wide receivers. Perhaps he should forgo putting in any other position than WR in goal line situations. He could replace Pouncey with Hines, Max Starks with Mike Wallace and bring back Willie Reid to pull from the guard position instead of Kemo. That way we wouldn't have any risk of ever running the ball into the endzone. What a relief!
What is the point of having a back called "Redzone" on your team who is proven to get the ball in the endzone if you are not going to use him in that situation. Arians must have had some kind of traumatic experience with running backs as a child. Perhaps O.J. Simpson with guns blazing stole some sports memorabilia from him or something.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Isaac Redman
finally, confirmation that an anonymous poster wears a skirt
Interesting bit of trivia. Who knew it was Arians that decided to nickname Redman "Redzone"?
Anon, Arians doesn't like scoring rushing TDs because they don't pad Big Ben's stats. I'd look for him to run more with Dixon in there.
Actually, the sad truth is we had several red zone attempts that got stuffed last year. we simply couldn't get into the end zone on the ground. I don't blame Arians for passing in those situations.
I hope the addition of Pouncey in the middle of the O-line will give us a little push up the gut. We were really weak there last year.
does anybody have a clue what number Pouncey will have for game 1? NFL rules state oline can only wear a number in the 50s IF ALL of the 60s and 70s are used. Im hoping 63, but guessing 65 now that Urbik is gone and its a flip of his Florida 56.
Okobi was wearing 56, and I doubt all the 60s and 70s were being used then. You sure that's not an outdated rule?
The P-G said the Steelers didn't have good enough records to know whether a rookie offensive lineman started an opener. They could only go back to the mid 1960s. That leaves about 35 years of the unknown.
Pretty sure Frank Varrichione went the wire to wire as a rookie. I do know he made the pro bowl that year. Thought Mike Sandusky did the same a couple years later, minus the pro bowl.
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