Ed Bouchette on the Steelers: 10/8/06

A weekly look inside the team, the issues, the questions
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

No NFL team has had more success running the ball than the Steelers since Bill Cowher became their coach in 1992. And no team has treated the position of running back in the draft more cavalierly than the Steelers.

Logic would dictate that a franchise that has run 7,453 times for a league-high 30,650 yards since '92 would draft a few horses to lead the way. Instead, they've practically ignored the position in the draft.

The Steelers have not drafted a running back in the first two rounds since Cowher became their coach. The last time they picked one that high was in 1989 when they selected Tim Worley in the first round. Including him, they have not drafted a halfback high in the draft who also produced consistently for them since they chose Franco Harris in the first round in 1972.

The only halfback they drafted since Harris who made a Pro Bowl (other than Harris), was Barry Foster. He became their most successful draft choice since Harris because he holds the team rushing record with 1,690 yards in 1992, the first of his two consecutive Pro Bowl seasons. He was a fifth-round draft pick in 1990. However, his heart was not in the game and he lasted only five seasons, out after the '94 season.

Among their more productive runners through the 1980s and early 1990s were Frank Pollard and Merril Hoge. Pollard was drafted in the 11th round in 1980, Hoge the 10th round in 1987, almost afterthoughts. There also was Bam Morris, a third-round choice in 1994 who had early success but also ran afoul of the nation's drug laws and washed out quickly.

It's not only strange that the Steelers have ignored the position in the draft as they have, but how productive they've remained in spite of it -- and, perhaps, lucky. How else do you account for finding runners such as Foster, Pollard, Hoge and, most recently, Willie Parker either later in the draft or as free agent rookies?

One reason the Steelers had no need to draft a back high more recently was the trade that brought them Jerome Bettis in 1996. He proved himself immediately and would play 10 years for them.

Yet, starting in 2003, coach Bill Cowher started to phase Bettis out when he installed Amos Zereoue as his starting halfback instead of the Bus. That turned out a documented disaster but the Steelers never did prepare through the draft to replace Bettis or restock their backfield to represent the kind of power running team they've been all these years.

In this century, they've drafted only three halfbacks, none higher than the fifth round. Only one made the team, Verron Haynes, drafted fifth in 2002. Haynes has performed as their third-down back and serves this season as the backup to Parker.

The only other halfbacks drafted since 2000 were seventh-rounders: Noah Herron in 2005 and Cedric Humes this year. Both were released and placed on the practice squad, and Herron was signed by the Packers.

The Steelers did sign Duce Staley as their top-flight free agent in 2004, and he replaced Bettis as the starter, but he has played virtually little more than half a season since then.

Even when they drafted backs high, they fumbled the pick. Worley is a classic example.
He was an I-formation runner at Georgia, used to setting far enough in the backfield to get a running start. The Steelers turned him into a split back. Not only was he a failure on the field, he was suspended for using drugs.

Nevertheless, because they drafted him in 1989, they passed on another runner in 1990, trading their pick to Dallas, who then chose Emmit Smith, who would go on to become the NFL's career rushing leader.

If they can have uniform dress codes, how about uniform fields?

The NFL enforces a uniform code right down to employing uniform police to add up the violations for each game. Why not have a uniform code for all the league's playing surfaces?

Some NFL fields still are not up to snuff, despite the technological advances in artificial surfaces and, yes, grass fields over the past 10 years. Indeed, they played in the mud and slop years ago, but they also could mash quarterbacks back then without fear of being fined or suspended, and they've made many other advances in the game over the past 20-30 years.

Just because sloppy fields were acceptable 40 years ago does not make it so today.

Some of these grass fields, especially in the North, are worn out by October. The Steelers and Pitt play on the same Heinz Field, where the high schools descend for five championship games in November. Ugh. Already, the middle of many grass fields are worn out.

An informal survey of Steelers players this week found they overwhelming would prefer a new artificial surface at Heinz Field rather than to continue to play on what is passed off as grass there.

One seasoned veteran told me that after several players slipped at Heinz Field during their opening game against Miami, they were told to wear longer spikes.

"It's not the shoes," he said. "It's the field."

When they practice indoors, which is often after they hit November, they practice on FieldTurf, one of the new-wave artificial surfaces that many teams have adopted. Why can't they play on it?

If the Steelers installed an artificial surface at Heinz Field, they could hold more events there instead of trying to limit them. They could invite more high school teams to play, maybe hold a college doubleheader involving Duquesne, Robert Morris, IUP, California, W&J, etc. They also could hold more concerts and whatnot on the field without worry of ruining it.