You don’t need a man in a suit to tell you, but the Pittsburgh Steelers have some angry running backs. The Steelers made the room that much angrier with the signing of Cordarrelle Patterson. Who knows how many touches he’ll see on offense, but he contributes to that physical dimension they’re trying to tap.
The man in the suit to whom I refer is Kyle Brandt, who beats the Angry Runs schtick on Good Morning Football. He awarded Steelers RB Najee Harris the Angry Run of the Year Award and Harris won Angry Run six times himself. Jaylen Warren earned one scepter during the season for an Angry Run, but Patterson brings with him three himself.
“The Steelers’ running back room alone has 10 Angry Run scepters”, Brandt said, reacting to the Patterson signing. “That is more than some divisions have as all four teams together. It’s crazy. That’s gonna be terrifying. Russ, Fields, Fields, Russ, those three S.O.B.s are gonna truck everything in the world. Just send all the scepters to Pittsburgh. I am so excited for this. Let’s go”.
The thing is, the Steelers signed Patterson primarily to be a kick returner, which he’s done at an All-Pro level. They already struggle to find enough carries to accommodate both Harris and Warren, who combined for over 400 last year. Mind you, that doesn’t include another 90 touches on receptions for the duo. You’re talking about roughly 500 touches and still looking for way to feed them more.
But Patterson is a guy you can stick in the backfield and do different things with. And lest we forget, the guy who unlocked his assets as a running back is his new offensive coordinator. If anybody knows how to use him on offense, it is Arthur Smith, who served as his head coach in Atlanta.
Regardless of how many snaps he may see on offense, the point is the angriest backfield in the league just got even angrier. The Steelers embraced a more physical mentality with their new front office, and this is another piece of that puzzle.
And make no mistake, Patterson is going to bring that physical element to the return game as well. He should be able to use that more robustly than ever under the new rules that place the fielding zone closer to the action, creating more situations that require strength to create a lane.
I personally am on board with the Steelers creating a niche role for Patterson in the offense. He’s not in his prime anymore, but he still has a lot to offer. The Falcons managed just 59 touches for him last year in 14 games, but 165 the year before that. Between the 2021-2022 seasons, he recorded 370 touches for 1,983 yards and 19 touchdowns. There’s still some angry left in that tank, I’d like to think, that can serve a purpose on offense, too.
