Pittsburgh Steelers' Positional Breakdown: The Running Backs

(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

Isaac Redman- Was the career rushing leader for Bowie State and signed as an un-drafted free agent with the Steelers in April of 2009. He is basically camp fodder though as neither his running or return skills will be enough to make the team. Possible practice squad player but he will have to beat out Justin Vincent for that role.

Ryan Powdrell- The only other FB on the Steelers roster behind Carey Davis. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an un-drafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Southern California and was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers on February 12, 2009.

Powdrell has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We do not know much about this guy but feel he was signed as nothing more then training camp fodder and he won't be on the final 53 man roster. A possible practice squad player but that remains to be seen as well.

Training Camp Battles

With every new season in the NFL the training camp battles are sure to follow for each and every team and the 2009 Steelers will have a few of their own for the running-back roles on the roster. The starting or featured role belongs to Willie Parker and we do not see that changing this year.

The 3rd down and short yardage roles could be up for grabs though as could the No. 2 or relief hitter role in the backfield. It could make for a very interesting summer if any of these battles pick up steam.

Relief Hitter / #2 HB - Rashard Mendenhall has already been penciled in for this spot on the Steelers roster but nothing is set in stone on a Mike Tomlin team and their could be some stiff competition from Mewelde Moore when camp opens for this position on the depth chart.

Moore should make it interesting but Mendenhall is the chosen heir apparent to Willie Parker and will need to stumble badly for Moore to over come him. We look for Mendy to win this spot but Moore to get some carries each game as well.

3rd Down HB - Mewelde Moore excelled in this role last year as a runner, receiver and a blocker and as of now is penciled in to handle these duties. Mendenhall has the ability to do all of the above though and could possibly be one of the last 'every-down' backs in the league.

We don't see this being a heated battle as Mendy needs to concentrate on backing up Parker, but both backs will be in the mix and either could come out on top. In the end though, we see Moore getting the nod over Mendy.

Short Yardage HB- This could be the most interesting backfield battle this summer as the rookie Frank Summers will battle it out with Rashard Mendenhall for the right to lay the smack-down in tough yardage and goal line situations. Summers was drafted for this role.

His size and abilities make him the perfect candidate but if he is unable to adjust to the NFL in just one season we can see Mendy getting the nod. This role is Summer's to lose more then it is Mendenhall's to win but only the Tank can make it happen. We predict Mendenhall to get the early season carries but as the year progresses we see Summers stepping into this role permanently.

Well that's the lowdown on the running backs, thanks for reading and your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think.

*Check back May 12th for the 3rd edition of this 9 part series. Next up will be the Wide Receivers.

 Part 1 - The QB's

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