Steelers have big plans for James Conner-Jaylen Samuels tandem - Pittsburgh Steelers

[stevielee]

But that's just it. Neither are tested. There isn't an entire starting season between them. So combined they have 15 total NFL starts. Add to that Conner was hurt at the end of last year. I understand the excitement but this is not a tested or proven group.

Maybe that's why they drafted Snell, for added depth. I understand that he's not "proven" either and I'm no expert but I watched him play in three games last year, including the bowl game with Penn State, with a quarterback who couldn't hit water if he threw out of a boat. Everyone knew he was getting the ball and he still produced and never once fumbled in his entire college career. Sounds like he'd make a pretty good short-yardage/ goal line back. Of course Shades will probably just run the wheels off Connor so none of this will matter. Either way I'd take this group 7 days a week and twice on Sundays over Meveon.

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[Vader]

Maybe that's why they drafted Snell, for added depth. I understand that he's not "proven" either and I'm no expert but I watched him play in three games last year, including the bowl game with Penn State, with a quarterback who couldn't hit water if he threw out of a boat. Everyone knew he was getting the ball and he still produced and never once fumbled in his entire college career. Sounds like he'd make a pretty good short-yardage/ goal line back. Of course Shades will probably just run the wheels off Connor so none of this will matter. Either way I'd take this group 7 days a week and twice on Sundays over Meveon.

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I loved the Snell pick. I watch tons of SEC games and if I don't see them Saturday I'll see replays of them Sunday or Monday. As much as I didn't like MeVon he still put up tons of numbers running and pass catching. Now with AB and his numbers are gone it's going to take a lot of team work to pull this out. I'm not sold on the RBs yet. Snell is a Bettis type RB but he won't see the field unless injures pop up. Conner and Samuels are good RBs but neither has carried the full load of a season yet. I don't know what Tomlin will do with them but wheels might come off again.

 

[Steelworth]

Samuels was so impressive vs ****'s.

I forgot about how impressive he looked against them. Wow, this guy is a player.

 

[stevielee]

I loved the Snell pick. I watch tons of SEC games and if I don't see them Saturday I'll see replays of them Sunday or Monday. As much as I didn't like MeVon he still put up tons of numbers running and pass catching. Now with AB and his numbers are gone it's going to take a lot of team work to pull this out. I'm not sold on the RBs yet. Snell is a Bettis type RB but he won't see the field unless injures pop up. Conner and Samuels are good RBs but neither has carried the full load of a season yet. I don't know what Tomlin will do with them but wheels might come off again.

Key phrase being teamwork. That should be a lot better this year with the distractions gone and I'm not as concerned about the experience of our running backs. If there is one position in the NFL where rookies and 2nd or 3rd year players can succeed it's at the running back position. Kareem Hunt and David Johnson didn't have any experience coming into the league but they turned out okay.

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[BLITZ]

I cannot remember being this excited for a season to start!! The running backs are a huge part of that, but dare I say this might be the year that defense is back in Pitt!!

 

[Drink IRON City]

Just having the two negatives out of town is a big PLUS. That and the moves made are giving us FANs some hope and with that hope will come expectations and we all know where that leads to...................


The PITTSBURGH STEELERS and Fans are way better together.






Salute the nation

 

[squidkid]

i've heard this 'rb use' before..............like almost every preseason
samules hasnt proven much and snell nothing
ill wait and see before getting excited

 

[wig]

When healthy, Conner puts up as good of numbers as Bell did in his last productive season. As long as James can stay healthy, I expect him to be extraordinary. I am a bit concerned about his running style. He fights so hard for extra yards and breaks that it is more likely for him to get a few extra vicious hits.

I enjoyed seeing Samuels out there, but he hasn't had a great deal of game experience yet. What he got was impressive, but I really want to see him get some touches this year. We as fans need to feel as though he's a GREAT option on a 3rd and 6. Right now, I see him as a happy surprise but I aint countin' on him to make a critical play.

Indeed, that's the greatest loss Brown represents. He was clutch at making critical plays at critical times. Now we need somebody not so much to pick up his general game numbers, but to be that guy you know is going to give you a REAL shot on 3rd and 17. Or when there's only 43 seconds left in the game. Holmes wasn't as great a receiver as Brown was, but he DID share that characteristic with AB. When **** was on the line, he was gonna step up.

Who's that guy now? That's what I want to know. Is it Conner? Samuels? JuJu? Washington? One of the Dante's? McDonald? Somebody needs to be Mr. Clutch. (Aside from Ben, who is more often than not pretty darn reliable in those situations.)

 

[stevielee]

You may have answered your own question. IMHO I think having a clutch quarterback is way more important than any of the other positions, he's what makes those other guys the clutch players they are. Maybe now that Clown is gone he can actually throw to the open receiver and possibly have multiple clutch players this year. At least that's what I'm hoping for, we'll find out in a couple short months.

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[Hines57]

Snell is a dark horse to have a good year. The catch here is he would need Conner to get hurt.

 

[slashsteel]

Snell is a dark horse to have a good year. The catch here is he would need Conner to get hurt.

Maybe, maybe not. If he shines in preseason maybe they put him in certain packages. Of course JaySam factors in too.

 

[Hines57]

Maybe, maybe not. If he shines in preseason maybe they put him in certain packages. Of course JaySam factors in too.

I see JaySam as being more of a 3rd down back for us or someone we can split wide to catch the ball. Snell is definitely the RB you want between the tackles like Conner. They make a better 1-2 IMO but, we will see for real very soon!

 

[bermudasteel]

But that's just it. Neither are tested. There isn't an entire starting season between them. So combined they have 15 total NFL starts. Add to that Conner was hurt at the end of last year. I understand the excitement but this is not a tested or proven group.

Mama said, "when you keep getting punched in the belly---it's gonna eventually hurt"!!!

Keep running and punchin' 'em in the belly!!!

 

[bermudasteel]

...with Penn State, with a quarterback who couldn't hit water if he threw out of a boat...
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Stevielee is the funniest guy here now.

 

[bermudasteel]

When healthy, Conner puts up as good of numbers as Bell did in his last productive season. As long as James can stay healthy, I expect him to be extraordinary. I am a bit concerned about his running style. He fights so hard for extra yards and breaks that it is more likely for him to get a few extra vicious hits.

I enjoyed seeing Samuels out there, but he hasn't had a great deal of game experience yet. What he got was impressive, but I really want to see him get some touches this year. We as fans need to feel as though he's a GREAT option on a 3rd and 6. Right now, I see him as a happy surprise but I aint countin' on him to make a critical play.

Indeed, that's the greatest loss Brown represents. He was clutch at making critical plays at critical times. Now we need somebody not so much to pick up his general game numbers, but to be that guy you know is going to give you a REAL shot on 3rd and 17. Or when there's only 43 seconds left in the game. Holmes wasn't as great a receiver as Brown was, but he DID share that characteristic with AB. When **** was on the line, he was gonna step up.

Who's that guy now? That's what I want to know. Is it Conner? Samuels? JuJu? Washington? One of the Dante's? McDonald? Somebody needs to be Mr. Clutch. (Aside from Ben, who is more often than not pretty darn reliable in those situations.)

Diontae's say, "hi". Donte too...

 

[stevielee]

Stevielee is the funniest guy here now.

As Mrs. Stevielee would say, don't encourage him.

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[Bobby Bufford]

Conner had more 20+ yard runs then meMEvon so there is that. I think Conner was faster and proved better statistically than Bell. Speed could be a factor but didn't seem to stop Conner from getting his yards.

No but injuries did. That's why Snell is gonna blow up this season.

 

[bermudasteel]

no but injuries did. That's why snell is gonna blow up this season.

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[BLITZ]

Bettis, Duce Staley, Parker?

Really?

 

[bermudasteel]

Really?

Just give him the Commander-In-Chief look...

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[Stryker]

Samuels was so impressive vs ****'s.

Yes Samuels is inexperienced at RB. So inexperienced, that he never actually played it in college. He was a wing/scat back. Not a RB. Labeled as a TE because college football couldn't correctly figure out his position. In his first year ever, as a running back, he amassed that incredible effort against the Pats in his first start. That is freakin incredible.

He's also the best pass catcher we've ever had coming out of the backfield. Why can I say that? Because he was more of a receiver in college and understands route running and hand placement. He is our Sproles, and he's going to go off this season.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

I think we were all so happy just beating the ***'s that maybe we overlooked his performance. IDK I just don't remember us talking about it much

 

[Bobby Bufford]

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I guess the concept of sports chat has flown far above your head. Stick to shots of booze as your forte.

 

[Bobby Bufford]

Yes Samuels is inexperienced at RB. So inexperienced, that he never actually played it in college. He was a wing/scat back. Not a RB. Labeled as a TE because college football couldn't correctly figure out his position. In his first year ever, as a running back, he amassed that incredible effort against the Pats in his first start. That is freakin incredible.

He's also the best pass catcher we've ever had coming out of the backfield. Why can I say that? Because he was more of a receiver in college and understands route running and hand placement. He is our Sproles, and he's going to go off this season.

Not to mention, he had NEVER had as many carries in his entire HS and college careers as he did against the Pats. That must be some kind of record.

 

[swal75]

I'll believe it when I see it. Run the wheels off of ONLY ONE guy has seemingly been the game plan for at least 6 straight years. And probably longer than that.