Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday during his press conference that running back Isaac Redman will get the start Sunday in the season opener against the Tennessee Titans, but he also let it be known that the Bowie State product would also get some help throughout the game.
“Obviously we’re going to spell Isaac,” said Tomlin. “We haven’t detailed the rotation or the nature of the rotation to this point, but obviously we are going to have some guys in uniform that we believe are capable of helping us that have a unique skill set.
“LaRod Stephens-Howling has proven that he’s a capable back for us situationally. He did some third down things in the Carolina game and obviously we’re continuing to get to know Felix. We like his natural run instincts, we’re going to continue to work those guys this week and sharpen that up as we get closer to game time.”
In the 46 career games that he has played in with the Steelers, Redman has only carried the ball more than 15 times in a single game just twice. Last year in the win over the New York Giants, Redman had the best game of his career as he rushed 26 times for 147 yards and effectively put the game on ice with a 28-yard run with 2:23 left in the game.
Redman should be fresh for the season opener, however, as he only carried the ball twice for seven yards in the preseason opener against the Giants. Still, you can fully expect to see LaRod Stephens-Howling and quite possibly even Felix Jones get some work against the Titans, especially on third downs.
So what should we expect out of Redman this weekend? I will be surprised if he carries the ball more than 15 times and floored if he gets 20 carries. Until rookie Le’Veon Bell is ready to return from his injury, I fully expect to see a running back by committee approach used by the Steelers.
