Pittsburgh Steelers Right LeGarrette Blount’s Wrong Move
Oct 12, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back LeGarrette Blount (27) against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Steelers gave backup running back LeGarrette Blount his walking papers less than 24 hours after he decided to walk off the field while the Steelers were still trying to secure a win against the Tennessee Titans on Monday night. Releasing Blount was the best move the Steelers could make in this situation despite what anyone says about Blount’s contributions to the team.
Blount decided to use actions instead of words to show his displeasure that he wasn’t getting the ball. Actions speak louder than words, and Mike Tomlin heard him loud and clear. Blount felt his amount of carries outweighed the success of the offense. Blount felt that he was bigger than the team. Sure he never said those exact words – but walking off the field while your teammates are battling it out in another tough battle with a bottom feeder of the league, that’s exactly what he was saying. He got out of his uniform and was in street clothes before his teammates could even begin their own post game rituals in that locker room. In those moments, it was all about him. No wonder his teammates could care less he is gone in the aftermath. I wouldn’t, and as a fan, I stand with them.
I wouldn’t doubt that Blount voiced his displeasure prior to this in the locker rooms or in meetings with coaches about wanting the ball more. To be more inclusive in the offense. Walking off the field than likely was the icing on the cake. It was probably less of an in the moment statement and more of an ongoing problem that reached its climax. Just look at his carries this season:
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You can’t blame him for being upset. But if we’ve learned anything from The Golf Coach (Todd Haley), it’s that stubbornness is his middle name.
So why not so many carries? Let’s just put it right out there – Blount has never made any positive contributions to the team. Sure he scored two touchdowns over eleven contests. His YPC average stood at 4.1 going into Week 11. But, that was in large part due to his big game against Carolina (in which the offense ran all over the porous Carolina D) and a decent four carry game the following week against Tampa Bay. If you take away the big game in Carolina and replace it with what he’s been averaging the rest of the season, and he falls to under 3 yards (2.7 to be exact) per carry. What happened to the big bruising back that was supposed to wear out defenses?
You also can’t ignore the fact that the emergence of Le’Veon Bell played a huge role in Blount’s diminished one. Blount was brought in to help give the still young Bell rests and help bruise up the defense. He was supposed to be the go to goal line back. Fortunately for Bell, the Steelers, and Steeler Nation (and unfortunate for Blount), Bell has emerged as the best all around running back in the NFL. Not only can he lower the shoulder and get positive yards after the first hit, he can catch passes out in the flat or screens, and he can pass protect extremely well. Blount? He can lower his shoulder and try and ram through a crowded line of scrimmage for a yard or two. Not a big resume compared to Bell’s.
Just think about this – why in the hell was Blount returning kicks? It wasn’t some scrapping the barrel experiment. At least that’s what I think. I was surprised when I first saw Blount out there. When he was out there for three consecutive games, I had a huge suspicion it was directly related to the fact that he just wasn’t getting the ball a lot on offense. When he couldn’t do much better than The Toy (Dri Archer), the coaching staff bent until the broke and finally put in Markus Wheaton on kicks – who by the way consistently gets out past the 20 because, oh right, he’s fast and doesn’t fall over if someone sneezes on him.
You might be reading this and thinking that I’m saying that it was good to get rid of Blount simply because he didn’t do well and was a poor FA pickup. Yes, he is all of that, but even if he was putting up over 50-60 yards per game in a backup role and averaging (for real) over 4.0 yards per carry, I’d still say he needed to go. No one is above the team. No one. No matter how good you are. What I’m trying to say here is that from a productivity standpoint, Blount’s release doesn’t really hurt this team. What? You think Blount is better than Archer as an option? They’re both worthless – as RB’s and KR’s.
Josh Harris is an unproven unsigned rookie FA that was called up from the Steelers practice squad. He has a good a chance as any to make a positive impact as the Steelers #2 back. God forbid if Bell gets injured and Harris or Archer has to fill in? I would be saying the same thing if we had to rely on Blount.
Time to move on, Steeler Nation. The message from the locker room is now loud and clear. Think Mike Tomlin doesn’t have control of the locker room? Well he still might struggle with that, but at least he knows when the last straw has been met and he just didn’t take away Blount’s iPad in the locker room.