No surprise, the Steelers don't expect Mendenhall to fully recover until 2013

**BlitzburghRockCity** · 03-24-2012, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by steelersbabex25

Do people here really expect the Steelers to draft a running back early with Mendenhall still on the roster? Sorry folks, whether you like it or not Redman is your new starting running back for the 2012 season.

I still scratch my head wondering what all the fuss is against Redman, people say he can't do this and can't do that. It's not like he was going to unseat Mendenhall no matter how good he was. The Steelers don't give starting jobs away mid season very often, even in the offseason when it comes to an established veteran.

Redman will get his chance, his season will determine if Mendenhall is on the roster next year at all.

I will speculate that if they draft a RB in the 4th round or higher, that will spell the end of Mendenhall before the season ever starts.

**LatrobePA** · 03-24-2012, 11:24 AM

Redman needs to get in better shape if he plans on toting the rock full-time!

**coldrolled** · 03-24-2012, 12:35 PM

Dwyers has the golden opportunity.. Just be ready to play.. He was a running machine in Georgia. He can do it.

**BlitzburghRockCity** · 03-26-2012, 10:41 AM

Looks like they are expecting to stay in house for the replacement of Mendenhall, however long he is out. I wouldn't completely rule out a RB taken in the draft but certainly not early...

Rashard Mendenhall might not have taken his final carry with the Pittsburgh Steelers after all.

In clarifying his previous remarks about the Pittsburgh running back, general manager Kevin Colbert said he does expect Mendenhall to play this season. Mendenhall, the team's leading rusher for the past three seasons, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the Jan. 1 regular-season finale at Cleveland.

"What I said was I never think players coming off an ACL are 100 percent for a full year. It doesn't mean they can't play," Colbert told Pittsburgh reporters (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) before the start of the NFL owners meetings. "At some point, we'll have Rashard back. I'm confident of that."

Colbert, though, doesn't provide the most important detail: when he expects Mendenhall to come back. To be honest, he might not even know the exact timetable.

Given the timing of his mid-January surgery, Mendenhall is a near certainty to begin the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP), which means missing the first six games of the season. The best bet is an early November return, but you can't expect him to be the primary runner at that point. Like Colbert pointed out, it'll probably take Mendenhall a full season before he is fully recovered.

While Colbert couldn't say when Mendenhall will suit up again, he did give insight on who will replace him.

“With the young guys we have, we feel confident someone will emerge who can fill that role," Colbert said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Somebody in the group of those guys will fill it out.”

This means the Steelers are prepared to go with someone in-house to take over for Mendenhall and rules out finding a primary back in free agency (which has thinned out at running back) or the draft. The leading candidate remains backup Isaac Redman.

Via ESPN

**LatrobePA** · 03-26-2012, 10:48 AM

I'd like to see someone step up and take it..

**strummerfan** · 03-26-2012, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by LatrobePA

Redman needs to get in better shape if he plans on toting the rock full-time!

Where do you come up with this stuff?

**steelersbabex25** · 03-26-2012, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by BlitzburghRockCity

Looks like they are expecting to stay in house for the replacement of Mendenhall, however long he is out. I wouldn't completely rule out a RB taken in the draft but certainly not early...

Jesus, do I literally have to be right all the time? It gets old after a while.

**LatrobePA** · 03-26-2012, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by strummerfan

Where do you come up with this stuff?

Am I the only F'N one that watched this guy run? He had to be pulled up off the turf by his teamates late in the game, the dude was f'n winded and could barely make it off the field...

Go back and actually watch the games he played in you'll see..

I don't hate Redman but I do think he was in ok shape not great like he'll need to be to be a starter...

**strummerfan** · 03-26-2012, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by LatrobePA

Am I the only F'N one that watched this guy run? He had to be pulled up off the turf by his teamates late in the game, the dude was f'n winded and could barely make it off the field...

Go back and actually watch the games he played in you'll see..

I don't hate Redman but I do think he was in ok shape not great like he'll need to be to be a starter...

ROFLMAO

You do realize that teammates and sometimes even members of the opposing team help one another up off the field right?
Since we only saw Redman for one full game and that was in Denver you might want to fly out there and try going for a quick jog (even a couple of blocks)before you accuse anyone of being out of shape. It takes a few days to acclimate to high altitude and even then it's a struggle for a bit.

**LatrobePA** · 03-26-2012, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by strummerfan

ROFLMAO

You do realize that teammates and sometimes even members of the opposing team help one another up off the field right?
Since we only saw Redman for one full game and that was in Denver you might want to fly out there and try going for a quick jog (even a couple of blocks)before you accuse anyone of being out of shape. It takes a few days to acclimate to high altitude and even then it's a struggle for a bit.

It was beyond being a good sportsman... Take his stove pipe out of your mouth for a second and realize the truth! He wasn't in the shape to start last season, let's hope he's ready this year!

Denver was the same for ALL the players on the field, he was just so out of shape it effected him worse!