Buy Or Sell: The Pittsburgh Steelers will get RB Cordarrelle Patterson 50-plus offensive touches.
Explanation: Although the Steelers signed Cordarrelle Patterson to a two-year, $6 million contract to return kicks, he’s also a skill-position player. In fact, he’s seen his greatest activity playing under new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. During their three seasons together in Atlanta, he recorded 429 touches for 2,202 yards from scrimmage with 20 touchdowns. His workload declined in 2023, however, and the Steelers have a better-stocked backfield.
Buy:
While 50 touches seem like a high bar, there are a few things to consider here. The Steelers will run the football a lot this season, which is the most obvious point to make. Previously, they struggled to find enough touches for Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, but now they’ll likely look to share the load with Cordarrelle Patterson as the third back.
Then there’s the Arthur Smith factor, who pretty much helped resurrect Patterson’s career. He committed to transitioning him from wide receiver to running back, and it worked. Smith figured out how to use him, but there’s even more he can do as a passing target as well.
And we can’t forget about one key factor: the Steelers have been very lucky with the health of their backfield. Najee Harris has never missed a game in his three-year career and Warren has missed one at a high-incident position. At some point, they’re going to need Patterson just like they needed their outside linebacker depth.
Sell:
Cordarrelle Patterson is technically a running back, but we know why he’s here. The Steelers very specifically asked him to return kicks because they believed they could use him to exploit the new kick return roles. They didn’t bring him in to split touches with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
As we’ve already discussed above, the Steelers have a hard enough time feeding Harris and Warren. We’ll likely see an increase in running back touches under Smith, but their lead-backs will gladly accept them. Like Pittsburgh’s other recent RB3s, Patterson will just have to watch.
Even under Smith last season, Patterson only recorded 59 touches after 165 a year earlier. Expect that trend to continue now that he’s in a backfield full of runners who want a heavy volume. Chances are he doesn’t even see 50 offensive snaps.
With the Steelers’ 2023 season in the rearview mirror following a disappointing year that came up short in the playoffs once again, it’s time to start asking more questions. Questions about the team’s future in 2024 and beyond. Questions about The Standard.
The rookie class of a year ago was on the whole impressive, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2024. And they likely need a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2024 NFL draft yet again. In addition to a revisitation of the coaching staff.
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
