By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
No one, and that includes injured players such as Casey Hampton, Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward, can use the breather that the Steelers' bye week provides more than Willie Parker.
The fourth-year pro is on track for a 1,600-yard rushing season -- the feat has been accomplished just two other times in Steelers history -- though he has to maintain an exhausting pace.
Parker already has carried the ball 121 times (for 507 yards), and if he continues to average 24.2 carries per game, he'll finish the season with 387 attempts.
That would leave him just south of Barry Foster's team record for carries in a season (390 in 1992) and would give Parker more work than Jerome Bettis had in a season during his 10 years with the Steelers.
What may be worrisome about Parker's workload is that the 5-foot-10, 207-pounder is a different kind of back than Foster and Bettis, who were bruising types who dished out as much punishment as they took from opposing defenses.
But wear and tear on a running back, Parker said, isn't relative to a player's number of carries as much as something else that is harder to quantify: the number of hard hits he absorbs.
And Parker either has a knack for avoiding those or a keen instinct for self preservation.
"You can't be conscious of it, but instincts play a part in it," Parker said when asked about staying away from big hits. "I'm never going to let anybody run full speed and just blast me. I've got to prolong my career."
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin apparently doesn't believe he will shorten Parker's career by leaning so heavily on him.
Tomlin has said the Steelers are going to "ride" Parker "until the wheels come off," and they've proven it.
Parker rushed 28 times for 102 yards in Sunday's 21-0 win over the Seahawks, and the Steelers kept calling his number even though Seattle held the Pro Bowler to 17 rushing yards in the first half.
Parker may be on the smaller side when it comes to NFL running backs, but he has proven to be as tough and durable as he is fleet of foot.
He carried the ball 337 times in 2006 and didn't slow down late in the season -- Parker had two 100-yard rushing games and a 200-yard rushing game in the Steelers' final four contests -- even though he had 50 more attempts than in his first NFL two seasons combined.
"He plays like a bigger back," Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca said. "I think (Parker's size) is just a hot topic for (media) to talk about because he is a little bit smaller, but he runs hard, he gets right back up and gets back in the huddle."
Najeh Davenport, Parker's backup, continues to show that he is a running and receiving threat.
Davenport rushed for a pair of scores Sunday, and his 45-yard run in the second quarter set up the Steelers' first touchdown. That the Steelers used Davenport in goal-line situations instead of Parker does not necessarily mean Tomlin is trying to lighten his feature running back's load.
He said the Steelers needed both backs to play Sunday since they were without Ward and fellow starting wide receiver Santonio Holmes.
"We aren't trying to etch out roles," Tomlin said. "We are just trying to do what is required for us to win week-to-week."
Translation: Opposing teams will get healthy doses of Parker in the weeks to come.
Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.
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