Steelers Fans Can't Give Up On Mendenhall

-Mason Noland

What if I told you fans of an NFL were ready to give up on a former first round pick? That’s not
all together crazy. But, what if I told you they wanted to rid themselves of a player who had more
rushing td’s and a better yards per carry average last year than Chris Johnson? What if I told
you this same player missed a game and a half and still almost had 1,000 yards? If you haven’t
guessed by now, those fans are Steelers fans and that player is Rashard Mendenhall. While I
may be in the minority, I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him walk at the end of the season. Had
he not tweeted about Osama bin Laden, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

Please keep in mind, everything I write about is contingent upon his knee heeling properly. If you look at him from a purely football standpoint, I do agree, he did seem to be hesitant while running in some
instances last year. I do remember yelling at my TV several times, “Hit the Hole!” We also have
the ability to watch the game from the comfort of our couches and not with the likes of Ray
Lewis and Scott Fujita trying to take our heads off. I think with the state of our offensive line
the last few years, he was hesitant running because there were very few holes to run through. I
broke down in my last column that I believe that has been corrected. I actually texted Jeff after
the draft, something to the effect that Mendenhall and Isaac Redman probably slapped a high
five somewhere because they’ll have room to run. Last year seemed like an anomaly though.
He ran well in the two previous seasons.

Stats can sometimes lie, but I think they paint a decent picture for Mendenhall. He may have
only had 928 yards last season, but consider that was on 228 carries. That is only about 15
carries a game. I think if he can come back off of the ACL surgery in the middle of the season,
he will give the Steelers a very potent 1-2 punch with he and Redman. I think he has proven he
can carry the rock when needed. Despite what James Harrison says, he doesn’t put the ball on
the ground. He has 6 fumbles in 4 seasons (if you count his four games his rookie year). His
game altering fumble in the Super Bowl can be attributed to a great play on defense by Clay
Matthews more than butter fingers. He’s also scored 29 rushing TD’s with one through the air.
His personal highlight to me is his “walk off” TD against the Falcons in 2010.

He’ll never be Jerome Bettis, but the fact is, neither will Isaac Redman. Bettis was a different
cat. He was big, quick, fast, elusive and strong. I don’t think we’ll ever see a back with all of
those attributes again. Please don’t tell me John Clay will be that guy, he’s just big. We should
resign ourselves to this. I do think Mendenhall has the tools to continue being an effective
weapon on offense. He has shown the ability to run with power. We also have seen that once
he gets to the second level, he has the ability to run away from defenders. I like Redman as
much as anyone, but I believe Mendenhall has another gear that Redman doesn’t. That’s not a
bad thing. Depending on the game plan, both guys will get their carries. I think we will be more
balanced this year on offense, even if that means 55% pass 45% run.

I’m also not saying we need to break the bank for the guy after the season either. He is coming
off a major injury. I do think he’ll be in a Steelers uniform for more than just this season. I am
confident that he and Redman both will be able to run through teams for two reasons. First is
scheme. Something tells me we’ll be spreading teams out, leaving less people to defend the run
and second, this offense line should be much improved. IF we spread defenses out, this plays
right into Mendenhall’s hands. He played in a spread offense in college, as well as the past
three seasons with the Steelers.

If his ACL doesn’t heal well and he can’t get on the field this year, I hope Jonathan Dwyer can
step in and also produce. If Mendenhall can’t get it done, e-mail me and tell me I’m dumb, I can
take it. I just don’t like giving up on a young productive player. I don’t like giving up on a player
who has produced 3,367 yards and 29 TD’s in 4 (really only 3) seasons. I don’t like giving up on
a player who will is only 25. Let’s hope I’m right and the new look offensive line blazes a trail for
him and we forget we even had to have this sit down.