Tag: Anthony McFarland Jr.

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All money is tied up…can’t go broke I gotta save, thank u God🙏🏾🖤

A post shared by Anthony Mcfarland Jr. (@ant.mac5) on Jul 21, 2020 at 3:34pm PDT

There’s been nothing official announced by the team but Pittsburgh Steelers running back Anthony McFarland Jr. appears to have signed his rookie contract on Tuesday.

McFarland shared the above picture of himself signing his contract noting he “can’t go broke I gotta save” and he was wearing his mask.

The Steelers drafted McFarland in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft out of Maryland to provide long speed to the Steelers offense. He should compete for carries early in the season.

McFarland is the second member of the Steelers 2020 draft class to reportedly agree to terms. Earlier on Tuesday, it was reported by NFL reporter Field Yates that Steelers third-round pick EDGE Alex Highsmith had also agreed to terms.

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In 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers run game was among the worst in the league in nearly every statistical category. We can make a list of all the reasons why from poor offensive line play to struggles at the quarterback position. But the play of the running backs and the injuries also played a role. The Steelers decided to hedge their bets on the running back position in the 2020 NFL draft.

Rather than spend an early pick on a back basically showing no confidence in the current players on the roster, Pittsburgh waited until the fourth round to draft former Maryland running back Anthony McFarland Jr. instead.

What does this addition mean for the Steelers run game? McFarland does add an element of speed to the depth chart. McFarland only weighs 208 pounds but he runs like a guy much heavier. This can be a negative in the NFL, especially for a guy with a significant injury history.

The Steelers have James Conner, Benny Snell Jr. and Jaylen Samuels entrenched as the top three. There isn’t anything McFarland does to threaten any of their spots. He’s likely more of a specialist who will give the Steelers offense more of a change of pace as opposed to a consistent weapon in the run game.

In terms of the roster, the guy who is in jeopardy of losing a roster spot because of the addition of McFarland is probably Kerrith Whyte. Whyte is the speed guy on the team now and Pittsburgh isn’t going to keep both.

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Very interesting here:
McFarland departed w 2 yrs remaining. “We took him off board because his football character is absolutely atrocious,” “He’s like a child. Really high maintenance. Every week there’s going to be something. Now, talent-wise, whew. He’s a weapon.” #Steelers

— David Todd (@DavidMTodd) April 25, 2020

Most Pittsburgh Steelers fans were happy to see the team draft a running back in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. And while we can debate if the Steelers got good value from a talent standpoint with the pick of Anthony McFarland Jr., that isn’t what we are here for.

Steelers beat writer David Todd shared this pre-draft tidbit from an anonymous scout about McFarland that honestly make use worry. Take any post from the dreaded anonymous scout with a grain of salt but don’t tell me you didn’t read that and just for a second, you thought of Antonio Brown.

Obviously, the selection of McFarland was heavily influenced by head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterbacks coach Matt Canada. Tomlin’s son Dino was a teammate of McFarland at Maryland and Canada was McFarland’s offensive coordinator and head coach with the Terps.

Will the Steelers regret drafting McFarland or will his connections to Tomlin and Canada be enough to keep him in check?

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