Samuels' breakout puts pressure on Conner

By Joe Smeltzer 

Rookie Jaylen Samuels was a big reason for the Steelers' 17-10 upset over New England (Photo creds to NESN).

Jaylen Samuels can play.

The Steelers'  fifth-round draft pick from NC State has shown flashes all season in a backup role, and over the past few weeks, he's had to be more than a serviceable tailback.

When the Steelers' regular running back, James Conner, went down two weeks ago, fans were reasonably concerned about the running game. Of Conner's two backups, Steven Ridley is strictly bench material, and Samuels is unproven. Many suggested the Steelers sign former Oakland Raider CJ Anderson for help, but yours truly was of the (undocumented) opinion that Samuels was more than capable of being a respectable backup, a placeholder until Conner returns. 

In Sunday's win over, say it with me, head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, Samuels showed himself to be not a placeholder, but somebody capable of being a starter in the NFL, if not Pittsburgh. On just 19 touches, Samuels rushed for 142 yards.

This article isn't meant to dismiss anything Conner has accomplished in his brief NFL career, but the keyword in that sentence is "brief." Conner is good, but far from established enough to where he's earned the absolute benefit of the doubt over Samuels. The way I see it, Conner needs a little more than 12 NFL starts for his job to be off limits. Not to mention, at the time of Conner's injury, he wasn't playing his best football.

 In Conner's last three starts, he rushed for 138 yards on 35 carries, good for a "meh" 3.94 yards per carry average. On the contrary, Samuels more than seven yards per carry against New England. The week before Conner went down, he made a crucial error that opened the gates for the three-game skid that still could derail Pittsburgh's season. If Mike Tomlin wants to ride the hot hand, Samuels is the guy. Assuming Conner is ready to go by the end of the season, he will-- and should-- receive a majority of the carries, but he won't have much leeway.

While Conner is still Pittsburgh's number one option, the Steelers now know they have another guy to carry the load. So if Conner is either rusty or just not good enough, the Steelers shouldn't hesitate to make Samuels the guy with Conner in the background.

Regardless of who gets the most touches, with all of the smoke cleared from the Le'Veon Bell saga, the Steelers running backs are in pretty good shape and can cause problems for defenses. To keep his status as the number one option, Conner needs to get back to where he was in October. Samuels was as impressive Sunday as Conner has been all season.