When you finish last in the league running the ball, changes are bound to happen.
Art Rooney II has said as much multiple times this offseason, and those changes will definitely impact the Steelers' running back room. The team announced the signing of Kalen Ballage to a one-year deal Tuesday, adding him to a stable of running backs still lacking a primary option.
Ballage won't be that guy, either. He's was a fourth-round pick by the Dolphins from the 2018 NFL Draft, who's bounced between the Dolphins' practice squad, and the roster of the Jets and the Chargers in 2020. During that time, he's rushed 201 times for 629 yards, a 3.1 yards per carry average, and seven touchdowns. He's also caught 52 of his 72 targets for 285 yards with no receiving touchdowns. He has two fumbles on his 253 career touches.
He's a bigger-bodied back at 6-foot-2, 231 pounds, with good speed, so while not an option to take over as the guy who's going to change the running back position, he does represent a challenge to the rest of the running backs still on the roster.
After letting James Conner hit free agency, the Steelers have Benny Snell, Jaylen Samuels, and Anthony McFarland as their options in the backfield.
None of them have asserted themselves as players the Steelers could rely on long term, even as secondary options to a primary back. Ballage is bigger than all of them, and that signals the Steelers might look to him as a pass protector for Ben Roethlisberger to give whoever does become the team's starter a break on passing downs. But he could also become the team's power back, which would present a challenge for Snell, who filled that role last year.
The Steelers will still most likely be selecting a running back in the early rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft. So with the signing of Ballage, every running back on the roster should expect to fight for their job this summer at Saint Vincent College.