In 2007, Fuqua created a candy and marketed it as The Immaculate Confection. But aside from that 1972 playoff game with the Oakland Raiders, Fuqua could be seen off the field wearing the flashiest of clothes that included shoes with see-through heals and live fish in them. Meanwhile, Myles Jack's cap hit grows significantly from $4.75 million last year to $11.25 million in 2023. No NFL team has enjoyed the consistent level of success the Pittsburgh Steelers have enjoyed since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. Nick Chubb finished first the AFC North in 2021 with 1,259 rushing yards, despite finishing third with 228 carries. Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 Player Roster | NFL.com Fuqua to this day refuses to give his take on what actually took place. Sadly, the days of Steelers Football seem to have gone the way of the dropkick. But Stewart posted 5,366 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns in the decade. 10 potential bargains NFL teams should target in free agency But since then injuries have slowed him, and he's averaging 3.6 yards per attempt. Some readers are probably going to argue this is too high for Forte. Bleier only ranks ninth in all-time rushing yards for the franchise, and he never made the Pro Bowl, but there is no denying the impact this gutsy running back had in winning four Steelers' Super Bowl championships. Franco Harris is not only the best Steelers running back in franchise history, but one of the greatest Steelers of all time. By 1974, Bleier was weighing in at 212 pounds and he made the team to stay. The Best Pittsburgh Steelers Tight Ends Of All Time, Vote up the players who had the most success playing tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the I-formation, the fullback lines up behind the quarterback, and the halfback (tailback) lines up behind the fullback. He tailed off to 928 the following season and then suffered injuries in 2012 playing in just six games before the Steelers cut him loose where he signed with the Arizona Cardinals lasting just one season after 687 yards on the ground. In 1980, Thornton would average five yards-per-carry while carrying the rock 78 times. In the previous nine years, however, the Steelers had a top-15 player seven times. He spent much of 2019 injured, and team injuries across the board made it difficult to judge his performance fairly. In the end Rocky Bleier rushed for 3,865 yards, 1,294 yards receiving on 136 catches and scored 25 times. Bell was a unique back in Steelers history due to both the wide-open offense he played in and his careful, patient running style. In 27 games Hunt has 2,151 rushing yards, 2,984 yards from scrimmage and 25 touchdowns. A bullet pierced his left thigh in Vietnam and further injuries occurred when a grenade exploded near him putting shrapnel in his lower right leg. He made nine straight Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team and finished his career as the leading rusher in team history and No. It is tough to guess what the future holds for Connor in the NFL. James Conner was thrust into the spotlight in 2018 when halfback LeVeon Bell held out for the entire season. Switched Tyler Lockett the Running Back and it Jacked Him to 99 overall For the Steelers he would rush for 2,243 yards five seasons. The former Heisman Trophy winner is another example of a highly regarded college back getting off to a slow start in the NFL. Many NFL teams used a pro-style offense during the same period, and this was an age when the fullback was a vital ball carrier. 2023 ABG-SI LLC. Current team members are listed in bold. Every Steelers First-Round Draft Pick Since 2000 Today, Abercrombie spends his days atsthe Executive Director for his alma mater leading the Baylor B Association which is an organization of previous letter winners for the university. TODAY: Running backs. Everything in the NFL goes in cycles. Pittsburgh Steelers: 15 best running backs in franchise history Steelers GM confirms extension negotiations with key defender have started Cameron Heyward (2011), T.J. Watt (2017), Terrell Edmunds (2018), Devin Bush Jr. (2019), and Najee Harris (2022) are the five remaining first-rounders still on the Steelers roster. This list of past Steelers tight ends features former greats, current impact players, and even future stars. Bullet Bill Dudley is also in the record books for the National Football League as the only man to run for a touchdown, catch a touchdown pass, return a punt for a score, run to the end zone on a kickoff return, intercept a pass for a pick-six, pick up a fumble and reach pay dirt, and throw a touchdown pass. He also made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2016, the last of which with the Titans. He was intensive care for 48 hours and this forced his retirement. The top photos of RB Le'Veon Bell throughout 2014 season. Barry Foster: Unfortunately for Barry Foster, his career was short in the Burgh. He'll likely end up with a good chunk of dough in free agency, but it's hard to believe . DWTS Alum Shares Heartbreaking Posts Following Wife's Death It's a smaller sample size, but Elliott has also posted 131.2 yards from scrimmage per game in his three seasons. Peyton Hillis and the 15 Greatest White Running Backs of the Super Bowl Prior to being drafted by the Army for service, Bleier was a University of Notre Dame product graduating in 1968 earning a degree in Business Management. In just a three-year period, from 2010-12, he posted 5,702 yards from scrimmage and 47 touchdowns. While one is considered a fullback and the other a halfback, they share more commonalities than differences in their duties. His best season came in 2015, which was the year after Williams departed, when he rushed for 989 yards and six touchdowns for the 15-1 Panthers. During that year, Peterson won league MVP the last running back to do so. Chubb is not the most dangerous or highly . One return went to the house. The running back fell just short of 1,000 yards from scrimmage last season after finishing with 1,414 yards in his rookie campaign. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Not entirely. steelers running backs last 10 years - shantisrl.com He was an example of how great players can not only break the rules and succeed, but sometimes even make up their own rules. Bleier was an outstanding lead blocker as well as being able to run the ball well and also had solid hands as a receiver. With a 3.5 yards per carry average and zero touchdowns, his rookie season was a major disappointment, but Gordon has answered all his doubters since then. Tackles. Jerome "The Bus" Bettis tops our list as the Steelers best running back of all time. Damien Harris (New England Patriots) The 2021 season will only be Damien Harris' second full season with the Patriots as a running back, but he's shown his level of skill. 6:02; See All. Adrian Peterson is a running back with over thirteen years in the NFL. In 2012, he made the All-Pro team with 1,590 rushing yards and 1,786 yards from scrimmage. Gurley led the NFL in yards from scrimmage and won the Offensive Player of the Year award. Follow Holcomb on Twitter at @dmholcomb. name the pittsburgh steelers running back to the last 10 years All rights reserved. Buffalo 2007-10; Seattle 2010-15, '19; Oakland 2017-18. Rashard Mendenhall: Like Barry Foster before him, Rashard Mendenhall was done with professional football by the age of 26. In 1982, he was Pittsburghs first overall pick in the draft coming in at number 12. From 2010-13, Johnson rushed for 4,731 yards and 27 touchdowns. The real results of who touched it first is still undetermined to this day. He has six 1,000-yard seasons and six Pro Bowl nominations with the Eagles and Bills during the 2010s. The last Steelers running back taken in the first round before Najee Harris, Mendenhall won a Super Bowl as a rookie despite spending most of the season on injured reserve. The Greatest Running Backs In The NFL Right Now (2021) Postseason. He started alongside Franco Harris in four Super Bowl victories and both backs ran for over 1,000 yards in 1976. Murray rushed for 7,174 yards and 49 touchdowns with the Cowboys, Eagles and Titans in the 2010s. But from 2015-16, he posted more than 1,000 rushing yards, 1,500 yards from scrimmage and at least 13 touchdowns each season. How an 8-year-old inspired Najee Harris' 5-TD performance vs. Ole Miss. 16 Best Pittsburgh Steelers Running Backs of All Time Franco Harris was a fullback, as was Merril Hoge and John Henry Johnson. Bettis was team-first through some questionable demotions and worse decisions as to the direction of the offense, and he welcomed Duce Staley and mentored Willie Parker along the way to a Super Bowl championship to complete a quest his teammates had dedicated to him. Over the past six years, he has covered the NFL, NHL, MLB, fantasy sports, college football and basketball, and New Jersey high school sports for numerous print and online publications. This was the age of the feature back, when one superstar halfback got most of the carries. A bruising Hall of Famer running back, Franco Harris was the perfect embodiment of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense during their championship runs in the 1970s. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. John Fuqua ( 1970-76) Before Franco Harris, there was John "Frenchy" Fuqua. That meant Bell joined Marshall Faulk as the only players in NFL history with 1,350-plus yards rushing and 850-plus yards receiving in the same season. Wanting the jersey number 26 which he wore at Notre Dame, Preston Pearson held those digits so Rocky settled for No. Franco Harris was the man during The Renaissance, and Jerome Bettis was the man in The Modern Era. In addition, he got 52 receiving yards, with an average of 10.4. In 2011 and 2013, he made All-Pro, and in 2013 he posted 2,146 yards from scrimmage. Foster made one attempt to come out of retirement with the Cincinnati Bengals that same year but after just a few days with the club he decided on retirement at the tender age of 26. Starters per season [ edit] These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the Pittsburgh Steelers . Rashard Mendenhall only played five seasons with the Steelers but rushed for a respectable 3,549 yards in 57 games. One of the best free agent signings of the Mike Tomlin era, DeAngelo Williams was never thought to be more than a top backup running back. He'll go down as one of the best power backs in history, and in this decade Lynch has carried the ball 1,791 times for 7,778 yards. Since reliable yardage statistics were not recorded prior to 1932, the first NFL player recognized as the career leader in rushing yards was Cliff Battles, who played from 1932 to 1937 for the Boston Braves / Boston Redskins / Washington Redskins. Advertisement In some form or fashion, the Steelers will need to add quality depth to . All of that, plus the fact Bettis averaged over 1,000 yards per season with the Steelers (10,571) and scored 78 touchdowns, puts him on the All-Modern Era team, and his partner in the backfield is Le'Veon Bell. Fuqua led the . He also had three catches in that loss for 18 yards. He's averaged 101.2 rushing yards per game during his career and led the NFL in that category each of the last three years. From '61 to '64, he was part of a powerful rushing attack along with Hall of Famer John Henry Johnson. Rocky Bleier: For some Steelers fans it might be hard to believe that Robert Patrick Bleier, known best in Steelers Nation as Rocky turned 69 years of age this year. To prepare, we at Chargers Wire are previewing players from every position. Pittsburgh Steelers - Pro-Football-Reference.com Standing 5-foot-11 and 195-pounds, Spears passes the . If I were to ask you to name the sixth-leading rusher in Steelers history, I bet youd say a lot of names before you got to Frank Pollard. Merril Hoge was a versatile fullback who could carry the ball, catch passes, and block. Time to profile some of the outstanding and popular running backs to suit up for the Steelers. Rob Burns / AP Photo. Dick Hoak: The running backs coach for the Steelers for an incredible 35 years, Hoak was also an excellent player at the position he would spend so many years coaching up. Jerome Bettis was a 250-pound battering ram with incredible quickness for a man his size. Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 18:43, Boston Braves / Boston Redskins / Washington Redskins, List of National Football League records (individual), List of National Football League rushing champions, List of National Football League career rushing touchdowns leaders, List of National Football League annual rushing touchdowns leaders, "NFL Rushing Yards Career Playoffs Leaders", "History of the Career Rushing Yards Record", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_National_Football_League_career_rushing_yards_leaders&oldid=1140354500, This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 18:43. This list of past Steelers tight ends features former greats, current impact players, and even future stars. As a Steelers, he was occasionally brilliant but more often disappointing. A good scoring drive based on running plays eats up the clock and keeps the ball out of the hands of the other team's offense. Lynch was an underrated pass-catcher in his prime too. Ranking the 6 best running backs in Steelers history Harris is my fourth-ranked running back for the 2022 season. He had the highest usage rate among running backs at 35.8% and was third in red-zone touches with 61. That couldn't have been further from the truth. However, it's not too early to break down the best from the 2010s either. Dudley also served his country during World War II as a member of the Army and played for that team while away from the NFL. Twenty-three slots went by before the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Najee Harris in 2021. He led the Steelers in rushing from 1961 to 1964 and made three straight Pro Bowls from 1962 to '64. He is currently the third leading rusher in Steelers history. 1, Pittsburgh didn't have a top-25 running back. It was a hard task to actually rank all of the great running backs . By Ross Kelly and Tony Adame, updated on October 18, 2022. He ran for 5,378 yards while playing at Heinz Field. Bell will pay the price this season with a three-game suspension to start the 2015 season. As a Steeler running back, Hoak would spend his entire career with Pittsburgh that began in 1961 as a seventh round draft pick after running for the Penn State Nittany Lions. The quick-footed big guy ran over, through and around defenders for nine years with the Steelers. Steelers honor Franco Harris by rallying past Raiders 13-10 . The on-field portion of the NFL Combine begins on Thursday, marking the start of the testing circuit that propels some prospects into the stratosphere while ruining the stock of others. Fuqua was not an original Steelers having been drafted by the New York Giants and then traded to Pittsburgh. Since missing the last five games of 2010, Gore has sat out just two games over the last eight years. 1 1. Unfortunately, his tenure with the Steelers came to a dramatic end with a contract dispute in 2018, but during his time with the team, he was one of the greatest. It has been said that Rooney responded with the declaration that he would never again attempt to call a play for his team.