Sunday Morning Joe: Benny Snell Is a 'Football Player' and the Steelers Need His Spark to Continue

It's new day in Pittsburgh as the Cleveland Browns enter Heinz Field to face a Steelers team with almost a completely new offense from the one they played only two weeks ago. As Devlin Hodges begins his journey as a starting NFL quarterback, the Steelers game plan is now changing - focusing on how they can help their rookie play caller.

"I feel like it's very important. Us moving the ball, us moving the chains, it'll help Duck out a lot," running back Benny Snell discussed. "I feel like as an offense, we know our situation, we know what's going on, so I feel like we're hand in hand right now."

Making minimum mistakes leads to a much smoother offense, but Week 13's focus has turned to the running game and a rookie that has returned in a big way.

Benny Snell Jr. missed nearly a month after undergoing knee surgery midseason. The fourth-round pick had one game this season with more than 10 rushing attempts prior to last Sunday. Then, in Cincinnati, he took the lead role and rushed for 98-yards and lead Pittsburgh's offense.

"I'm happy where I'm at right now," Snell said. "There's a lot of things that I could still get better on. My o-line has been great, all credit goes to them for getting me close to 100."

The credit to his offensive line was expected, but the return from linemen to running back wasn't as expected. Snell has worked hard to get himself in a position to contribute this season, and now, he's filling the role of James Conner while the Pro Bowler rehabs a shoulder injury.

Alongside Jaylen Samuels, the two have helped their changing quarterback situation by providing an element to lean on as two young QBs try to keep this team's season alive.

"He's an exciting young kid. Not only him, but so is Jaylen [Samuels] too, man," guard Ramon Foster said. "Those two dudes have come in here and really played good ball for us being young guys."

Last week, Foster saw something in Snell that he's known was sitting in him. The rookie runner loves nothing more than helping his team, and his passion for the game leaves nothing but high expectations as to what he can do on the field.

"Benny's a guy, I remember when he had his knee injury about a month or so ago. He was so distraught by it because he wanted much more out of the season," Foster said. "Good thing it wasn't anything serious and you see why he was so mad; that guy loves the game of football. He's one of those dudes where you simple describe him as a 'football player.' You could've probably lined him up at D-tackle and he'd play that as well as anybody, simply because that's his mindset. He's a bruising type of running back, and not in a bad way. It's one of those things where you appreciate how he runs the ball."

In his first return to the Steelers, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner wasn't expecting much. In fact, after missing a month and entering a game with a rotation of runners in the backfield, Pittsburgh didn't expect Snell to see much of a workload at all.

Instead, he stepped on the field and played 70% of the team's offensive snaps. As the primary ball-handler for most of the game, Snell got the momentum going and only grew stronger as his team changed quarterbacks in the second half.

"Oh man, you talk about the spark. Now we can talk real spark," Fichtner said. "His spark and just his run demeanor. The idea of coming back from injury and not blinking from the first time he stepped on the practice field through the game. He ran with strength, he ran with power. I think he’ll feel better in time. I know that happens with most guys with injury, especially when you get operated on. You’re kind of a little hesitant. I didn’t see anything like that."

This week, with the change from Mason Rudolph to Hodges sticking, the Steelers will need to do whatever they're capable of to ease the transition. Hodges is 1-0 as a starter, with a win in LA against the Chargers, but he's still an undrafted rookie out of Samford.

His journey is remarkable, and his confidence is even better, but that doesn't mean Pittsburgh isn't looking to make their quarterback's life simple. Starting with the ground game.

"It's huge," Foster described the emphasis on the run game. "I think it's all across the league. Coach [Mike] Tomlin does a great job of emphasizing, 'hey, running the ball in late November, December is what's going to get you out of saves and win games.' Being we are in the situation with Devlin, it's one of those things were we got to make him comfortable. We got to do anything in our power to keep him comfortable, to where he's able to throw the ball, make plays and do what he does. So, he's young, teams are going to try to attack him; the best way to counter that is to run the ball as best we can."

With the season on the line, a new quarterback behind center and a mix of runners in the backfield, the Steelers' offense isn't the best group on paper. They've done enough to keep their season alive, but against Cleveland in Week 11, they felt what it was like to have their offense shut down.

This week they're looking to change that. The Browns head to Pittsburgh and this team has found a new spark since their matchup two weeks ago. According to Snell, they may be beat up, but this team is still full of playmakers.

"I feel like they have a lot of weapons, but I'm going to take my guys over them any day," Snell said. "I'm going to take my front seven, my receivers over their DB's to make something happen, and I'm confident going into the game that we'll get some movement going."