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The NFL is all about trends. Franchise play follow the leader when it comes to what makes for a successful football team and those trends seem to evolve. But there are a couple of tenets which have stood the test of time. One of those is the importance of having lots of speed on the offensive side of the football.
This is an area where the Steelers have fallen short in recent seasons. If you go over the skill position players on the roster currently, there is no player of any significance on the team who scares you with their ability to take a run or a short pass and turn it into a big gain with their speed.
At running back, James Conner, Benny Snell Jr., and Jaylen Samuels are all solid football players with their own unique blend of skills. None of which are game-changing speed. The one back on the roster who has flashed some elite speed is Kerrith Whyte and he’s not a back you build an offense around.
The story is much the same at wide receiver. Like it or not, what Antonio Brown brought in terms of field speed is missed. Diontae Johnson might be the guy but despite his strong rookie campaign, his film isn’t based on raw speed at all.
Having said all that, this draft can fix that. There are several guys at wide receiver and running back Pittsburgh could target to add legitimate speed. I know old-school football fans like to talk about physicality and winning in the trenches. But teams that win have players who use speed to dictate what the other team will do and force them to account for them on every play.
Nothing can change the momentum of a big game like a long run on offense other than a turnover or sack on defense. Pittsburgh already has the later figured out. It’s time to work on the former.
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