The Steelers are now in Latrobe at Saint Vincent College for the 2023 installment of training camp. They are coming off of a 9-8 season during which they broke in their new quarterback, Kenny Pickett, finishing the year strong by winning seven of their last nine but coming up short of the postseason.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year.
From the first day of training camp to the last, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered, including several battles for starting roles. Which veterans might be vulnerable to release? Who are the sleepers who will emerge in camp and make a run at ta roster spot? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Will the Steelers finally ride the pony backfield into the regular season?
There are certain annual training camp traditions when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers, things we tend only to see at that time of the year and then virtually never again. My favorite has to be the work on the ‘pony’ formation—the usage of two halfbacks on the field at the same time.
The Steelers have toyed with this for as long as I’ve been writing about the team, probably longer, in a variety of different combinations, yet we very rarely saw it come up in-game when it mattered. There was a tiny dose of it late last year. Probably the last meaningful usage of it before that was when DeAngelo Williams was still around with Le’Veon Bell.
But this is now a team that really wants to run the ball, wants to be physical, and has two physical running backs who want to run the ball. It all seems to work out, in theory. I mean, how many times did the coaches late last season talk about their efforts to figure out ways to get Jaylen Warren more work? Well, putting him on the field at the same time as Najee Harris is another way to do it.
And so we’re getting another look at the pony formation in this year’s installment of training camp, but will it be packed back up in its cart when it’s time to head back to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex? The circumstances of the current offense and what they want to do out of the backfield do, I think, at least give it a fighting chance to be relevant, if only marginally.
The key to running a pony backfield is having two backs who won’t be irrelevant if they don’t get the ball, but I think both Harris and Warren will be more than willing, for example, to throw a block for the other if need be, as Williams did for Bell.
