Is Rashard Mendenhall going to be a bust? E-mail
Written by Bam Morris   
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 11:22

I can't get that question out of my mind.

It feels completely unfair to even throw out the term "bust" when a guy has only had 19 carries in the NFL. It goes against everything I typically stand for when it comes to evaluating players.

But Rashard Mendenhall hasn't once looked anything other than a mediocre running back during his first two seasons and that scares me.

Hit "Read more" to see why Mendenhall worries me so much.

Chris Johnson. Matt Forte. Steve Slaton. Tim Hightower. Ray Rice.

These are all running backs taken after (well after in some cases) Rashard Mendenhall in the 2008 draft. Mendenhall was the consensus number one running back of that class, which has turned out to be a very good group of RBs.

Running backs are the dime a dozen position in the NFL. There's usually a lot of decent RBs out there that can be had for cheap. So when you use a first round pick on a RB, I think it's fair to expect big things. The Steelers didn't draft Mendenhall to play second fiddle behind Willie Parker for more than a year or two. He was supposed to be the guy.

As excited I was about the pick, Mendenhall hasn't nearly lived up to the expectations. It's painful at times for me to watch him this preseason because he just looks lost at times. He's not sure when to hit the hole or when to cut. It looks like he's still playing at college speed.

Obviously, the Steelers offensive line hasn't helped the situation. More times than not, Mendenhall is greeted by a linebacker or two behind the line of scrimmage. I understand that plays a big role.

But for a guy built like a tank with all of the pedigree and acclaim he had coming out of Illinois, he hasn't looked like a great NFL running back at all. He's yet to flash any of the power or speed that the Steelers thought they were drafting. Guys like Isaac Redman and Justin Vincent run the ball with attitude and urgency. You can see that they aren't timid. Mendenhall doesn't have that "it" factor in my eyes yet.

Hopefully this preseason is still a period of adjustment for him. Maybe once he gets used to the rhythm of the NFL game he'll be fine.

But I'm getting close to readjusting my expectations. At this point, I probably wouldn't take Mendenhall over any of the guys on the list above.

This could be my fault, but when he was drafted I thought the Steelers were getting a Pro Bowl-type back and he's certainly looked a lot more like Najeh Davenport than Adrian Peterson so far.

Has Rashard Mendenhall lived up to your expectations so far? Is it still way too early to decide if he's a good player?

Photo by ryno2292

Comments (3)add comment

Ian said:

...
I think it's too easy to cast a verdict on him. Look at Paul Posluszny in Buffalo. He broke his arm in his 3rd game during his rookie year, then came back last year to lead the team with 110 tackles.

Mendenhall had a lot of success in college running out of a spread offense. He was very good at breaking tackles of corners and safeties. He has to adjust to running out of the power-I and mashing it up with NFL linebackers. As he said last year in camp, "There's no one like James Harrison in college football." Big difference.

Finally, not only is the Steelers O-line a bit of a problem, the fact that Bruce Arians refuses to use a blocking back also hurts RBs abilities to be productive. Look at Redman's TDs. Both of them he had a blocking back (Summers) that he was able to follow straight into the end zone. How many plays did Mendenhall get a blocking back? Asking a kid with very limited NFL experience to try to find a hole, rather than follow a blocking back through a hole, is a big task. Heck, FWP even has issues with running out of the single-back set.
 
August 25, 2009 | url
Votes: +1

Ian said:

...
Oops, I meant "too early" not "too easy"...my bad.
 
August 25, 2009 | url
Votes: +0

Bam Morris (Blitzburgh Blog) said:

@ Ian
Good comments...the blocking back is a big issue of contention between Arians and the RBs from what I've read.

Funny you mention Posluszny because he's one of my all-time favorite athletes.

The one thing I'll add on that comparision is that Poz was leading the NFL in tackles when he got injured during his rookie year. He was a great player right away.

Mendenhall wasn't running well when he got hurt last year IMO.

I'm just frustrated because you see young RBs tearing the league up year after year so I'm not being patient with Mendenhall.

 
August 25, 2009
Votes: +1

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