In the past three years, the Steelers have ranked 31st, 29th and 32nd in rushing. To say their running game needs a makeover would be an understatement.
James Conner, the team's lead running back in each of those seasons, was not brought back in 2020. He signed as a free agent with the Cardinals.
That leaves the Steelers without a starting running back, or at least a player capable of being a starter. The remaining backs, Benny Snell, Jaylen Samuels, Anthony McFarland and free agent-signee Kalen Ballage have made 21 career NFL starts among them.
And Snell's 3.6 career yards per carry leads the group.
Needless to say, the Steelers are going to be in the market for a running back at some point in the NFL Draft, which begins Thursday.
Where they take that potential starting running back remains to be seen. But there's a good chance that it will come in the first two days.
"If you look at the Hall of Fame runners, most of those guys were taken in high rounds," Kevin Colbert said Monday at Heinz Field. "I don't ever place that value high or low on a given position. I base it on who the player is and what that player can do to help us."
In this year's draft, there are three running backs who stand above the rest, Alabama's Najee Harris, Clemson's Travis Etienne and North Carolina's Javonte Williams.
But if the Steelers want one of those three backs, they'll likely have to take him early, either using their first-round pick, by trading back slightly or by trading up with their second-round pick. None of the three figure to make it out of the top 40 picks, and the Steelers' second-round selection is at 55 overall.
Those three are all considered immediate starting material and there's a drop off after them.
Plenty is known about Etienne, who ran in the low 4.4s at his pro day, and Harris, who finished his career as Alabama's all-time leading rusher. But Williams has been a big riser up draft boards.
"When you look at the combination of Etienne who's maybe a little bit undersized but has big time juice, big-time speed, then you have Najee Harris who's 230 pounds," said NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah. (Williams) has balance and can bang inside but can also get involved in the pass game. This kid kind of gives you a little bit of everything. He's 220 pounds but he has big-time burst and he's got really good vision, and to me while you're starting to see him pop up more. He's my 32nd player. He's going to continue to go up because everything I keep digging on and finding out from the school and finding out from guys that have been around him and coached him and played with him is the kid's wiring is off the charts.
"In a year where we don't maybe have as much information, when you get a kid who's got great tape, who's got high, weight, speed and now the character and the work ethic is off the charts, you bet on those kids."
In the third round, Williams' teammate, Michael Carter, Kenneth Gainwell of Memphis and Ohio State's Trey Sermon could hear their names called. Carter and Gainwell, however, are both in the 200-pound range and maybe not suited to be every-down backs in the NFL, while Sermon, who began his career at Oklahoma, has struggled through injury issues, including suffering a sprained AC joint in his shoulder in last year's national championship game on his first carry.
By the fourth round, Oklahoma's Rhamondre Stevenson, who pushed Sermon to Ohio State, Khalil Herbert of Virginia Tech, Jermar Jefferson of Oregon State and Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State could be considerations, though all are considered more committee backs than starters.
In later rounds, Missouri's Larry Rountree, Elijah Mitchell of Louisiana, Chris Evans of Michigan and Maryland's Jake Funk might interest the Steelers if they're looking to double down at the running back position.
Rountree is a one-speed power back, while Mitchell ran a 4.33 40 but is in the 200-pound range. Evans and Funk both dealt with issues in college that kept them off the field for stretches. Evans was an early starter at Michigan, but missed the 2019 season because of academics, while Funk missed most of the 2018 and 2019 seasons with torn ACLs -- suffered while playing special teams, where he had 30 career tackles -- to rank second in FBS with an 8.6 yards per carry average in 2020.
Lolley's Running Back Rankings
1. Najee Harris, Alabama
2. Travis Etienne, Clemson
3. Javonte Williams, North Carolina
4. Michael Carter, North Carolina
5. Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis
6. Khalil Herbert, Virginia Tech
7. Trey Sermon, Ohio State
8. Rhamondre Stevenson, Oklahoma
9. Jermar Jefferson, Oregon State
10. Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State
