The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in an unfortunate, all too familiar spot. Trying to determine who will start at running back in the Wild Card. Last year, it was Ben Tate with a mix of Josh Harris and a dash of Dri Archer. The results were, well, unpleasant.
You might want to suggest bringing Harris in again. A second chance. But Harris made it clear on Twitter that even if the Steelers wanted to bring him in, they are not allowed contractually.
Harris settled with the team following a torn labrum and turf toe injury suffered during the preseason. It clearly affected his play, causing him to struggle in the preseason, and lose his roster spot.
Settlements are payouts for a projected time it will take for the injury to heal. If Harris is still under that schedule, it makes sense that he wouldn’t be allowed to sign with another club. In a normal case, players released with injury settlements have to wait six weeks to sign back with the team they settled with.
If DeAngelo Williams is unable to play, Fitzgerald Toussaint is likely to get the nod. It would make little sense to bring in someone off the street. Toussaint has a little bit of NFL experience and has spent the latter half of the year on the team’s roster, active and playing. There frankly aren’t any desirable options on the waiver wire to bring in and try to teach in a week, a difficult task.
It will be Toussaint leading the way with Jordan Todman serving as his backup. Will Johnson could be used in short-yardage situations. He was used on the goal line for at least one snap today, a zone “read” where Ben Roethlisberger pulled a sure touchdown away from Johnson, throwing incomplete to Antonio Brown. Rajon Neal is also on the team’s practice squad, though unlikely to be called up.
