Strackbein Mailbag: What’s Week 12’s Running Back Rotation? Mason Rudolph Punishment, Terrell Pryor and More
The Steelers are coming off a disappointing loss, are waiting on an appeal and continue to answer about Mason Rudolph being clocked in the head by Myles Garrett. They're also dealing with an injured backfield and two receivers in the concussion protocol.
It's been a newsworthy week to say the least, and we're still days from Sunday. Pittsburgh travels to Cincinnati to play the winless Bengals, who would love to find their first victory of the season against their AFC North rival.
Rudolph's punishment, JuJu's health, the Steelers' playoff chances and Week 12 all made the list of questions this week.
Let's get started:
QUESTION: Will James Connor be fully healthy for the next game?
Noah: James Conner is reported to be questionable for Week 12, but without a full workload of practice for at least a day, chances are he misses Cincinnati. The running back is still dealing with his shoulder, and with the return of Benny Snell, there's no point in rushing him back again.
He probably shouldn't have played in Week 11. It was apparent he was running timid from the start and it didn't take a full half before he hit the whole and came up hurt. Even with the Steelers in somewhat of a must-win each week, they'll probably sit him out against the 0-10 Bengals.
QUESTION: Are the Steelers going without a fullback with nix going on Injured Reserve?
Noah: The Steelers are too worried about their running back depth to try and find a replacement at fullback. Jaylen Samuels isn't a back that runs behind one anyways, and without a healthy James Conner they'll probably just play out the season without any real blocker in the backfield.
Nick Vannett and Zach Gentry (when active) could find themselves playing a fullback role in redzone and short yardage situations, but for the most part it'll be a one-back running game for the Steelers.
QUESTION: If MasonRudolph plays good the rest of the season and gets us into the playoffs, does Ben return at the started next season?
Noah: Ben Roethlisberger is a future Hall of Famer who's won two Super Bowls and has kept this team on a winning track for 14 years. If he's healthy, which is a big if, he's the starting quarterback in Pittsburgh.
Rudolph is certainly engraving himself in Pittsburgh. It's his first starting season and he's already gotten into a full-blown fight with the biggest Cleveland Brown - that's historic. But he's not ready to lead a team to a Super Bowl and it's tough to imagine how good this team could be if Roethlisberger was on the field.
IF healthy, Roethlisberger returns as the starter. The real question is when.
QUESTION: Will Mason be held responsible for his actions and also face a suspension? Over 6k signed for a petition already.
Noah: Mason Rudolph said that he'll pay whatever penalty he needs to when the NFL decides if he's going to be penalized for his involvement in Thursday's incident. But as for being suspended - Rudolph did nothing to justify anything more than a fine.
Sports Illustrated reported that Rudolph is expected to receive a $35,000 fine for his actions. That's a good number for what he did on his end. It wasn't "cool" to try and rip his helmet off or swing his leg towards his groin, but it wasn't anything a player would typically be suspended for.
Honestly, it's easy to see Rudolph's wrongs in the altercation but if anyone is trying to justify Myles Garrett swinging a helmet at Mason, they need to look back and realize fights happen all the time in the NFL - using a helmet as a weapon has never happened.
QUESTION: Will the Steelers sign Terrell Pryor?
Noah: No. Terrell Pryor can continue to plead his case for the Steelers to pick him up, and truthfully, it's hard to see why they don't if he comes at the right price. But the veteran receiver doesn't seem to be on the radar of the Steelers.
Their addition of Deon Cain closes the door to a crack for Pryor to play for his hometown team. Diontae Johnson practiced on Wednesday and began working his way through the concussion protocol. If he's available for Sunday, Pittsburgh will have Johnson and James Washington as their starters with Johnny Holton and Cain as their primary backups. They'll probably stick with that lineup instead of adding another player.
QUESTION: Who starts at running back if James Conner is out for more than this week?
Noah: Jaylen Samuels will be the starter in place of Conner, but if Benny Snell can return to 100% by Sunday he'll take a large amount of snaps. As the true runner between the two, Snell will be used as the focal point of the ground attack and Samuels as a passing option.
Trey Edmunds and Kerrith Whyte will also be options, and likely in the mix while they figure out a sound rotation, but it will mostly be a heavy-dose of Samuels and Snell.
QUESTION: Who is gonna be the OC next year?
Noah: Randy Fichtner will remain the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh. Does it mean he deserves it? No, but it's who will remain at the position.
Fichtner has had too many excuses for Pittsburgh to dump him. This organization is known to give coaches and players more than enough chances, and Fichtner will get another in 2020. With Ben's injury, the constant rotation of receivers and running backs, and the fact that this team is still in the playoff hunt basically locked in his job for another year.
Again, has the offense done anything to secure his job moving forward? Not at all. If there wasn't a backup quarterback in, Fichtner's seat would be on literal fire. But everything that could go wrong has and it's going to give the Steelers an excuse to make minimum changes this offseason.
QUESTION: Is JuJu Smith-Schuster a true number one? Numbers don't say so.
Noah: JuJu is a number one receiver on a team that's starting a second-year backup, has no running game and continues to be hit with injuries. It's not anyone's fault that this offense is struggling. Therefore, it's hard to judge any one player, including Smith-Schuster, on whether or not they're capable of being anything.
We're seeing a sample of Smith-Schuster as a number one receiver, but without a steady offense, it's nothing to what it can be. Does he have the talent to be a top option? Yes, we've seen that for three years.
QUESTION: If Tomlin is calling plays like he called the safety against Los Angeles is he a part of the problem with the offense?
Noah: Mike Tomlin admitted he called the drop back pass in the endzone, but how much of the offense he actually controls isn't known. It seems to be a pretty steady offensive gameplan, which makes you believe it's not one person calling the shots. It's likely a mixture of Tomlin and Fichtner preparing how this offense will run weekly, and the percentage of the playbook they can open.
Is he part of the problem? Maybe, but Tomlin doesn't deserve anything but respect from this season. He's kept a team that should've been dead from Week 1, alive. The Steelers would not be 5-5 if it wasn't for their head coach.
QUESTION: Are we really relying on Deon Cain to fix the pass game?
Noah: I wouldn't say relying, but Deon Cain is going to be part of the gameplan for the next week or two. JuJu Smith-Schuster was walking around the practice facility in a pretty sizable leg brace. On top of his concussion, it's hard to imagine JuJu stepping on the field in Cincinnati.
Deon Cain isn't an answer to anything. He's a deep-threat who's young and has an upside. Besides that, there's nothing we know other than he's coming off an ACL injury. The 6th round pick will see some action, but he's not going to be the next star wideout to fill in for JuJu. He's just needed depth for the time being.
Thanks for participating in this week’s mailbag. There were great questions sent and with the season in full blast, it’ll be just as eventful next week. Make sure to send all mailbag questions to our Twitter and Facebook pages.
