RB Haynes Wants More Playing Time

[Dog Face Gremlins211 0]

As the Steelers' third-down back is fond of saying, "We learn something new about young Verron Haynes every day."

 

What we learned last weekend was that Haynes may be about to become something more than just the Steelers' third-down back.

 

The Steelers tried but failed Sunday to trade for Falcons veteran running back T.J. Duckett.

 

They eventually drafted a running back, but not until the final non-compensatory selection of the two-day process (seventh-rounder Cedric Humes of Virginia Tech went to the Steelers as the 240th overall pick).

 

 

That would seemingly leave the ball-carrying chores in the hands of starting running back Willie Parker and veteran Duce Staley, who steps into the role vacated by Jerome Bettis' retirement.

 

But Haynes and the Steelers' coaching staff say nothing is set in stone.

 

"Don't forget about Verron," Steelers running backs coach ###### Hoak said.

 

Added coach Bill Cowher, "Verron Haynes is a guy you can't overlook."

 

At this time last year, the Steelers were seemingly looking ahead to the day when Haynes would walk away as an unrestricted free agent.

 

Their final pick of the 2005 draft had been Northwestern running back Noah Herron, who was selected, at least in part, because he was someone the Steelers could groom as a potential replacement for Haynes.

 

But since then, Haynes has scored the first three rushing touchdowns of his career, carried a career-high 74 times for a career-high 274 yards and, most significantly, had his importance to the team reaffirmed when he was placed on the inactive list for a couple of games.

 

With the offense sputtering at midseason, the Steelers experimented with Staley as the third-down back and asked Haynes to take a seat Nov. 28 at Indianapolis and Dec. 4 against Cincinnati.

 

Two losses later, the Steelers turned back to Haynes. And they started winning and kept winning from there on, right through the first weekend of February.

 

Haynes re-established himself as invaluable on third downs and earned himself a new contract for a couple of reasons. The first was his ability to consistently pick up blitzes in protection of Ben Roethlisberger. The second was Haynes' knack for making big plays when called upon, particularly running draws out of a spread formation.

 

He also did something else that caught Cowher's eye last season -- putting up solid numbers late in games when the Steelers wanted to run out the clock.

 

"Some of those games, when we took Jerome out, (Haynes) wasn't too bad," Cowher said.

 

Staley will get first crack at replacing Bettis in support of Parker, but at this point, anything's possible.

 

"Verron is a good short-yardage runner and a goal-line guy," Hoak said.

 

Cowher is curious to see if Haynes is capable of more.

 

"We're going to let that thing unfold," Cowher said. "I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there."

 

 

 

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh...s/s_449927.html

[JScott 20]

Even with Bettis gone, Pitt still has a nice stable of RBs for the upcoming season as is. But I could see them adding another vet RB, a pounder like Bettis. And I can see Haynes getting a bigger role this season too.

[murf74 461]

Even with Bettis gone, Pitt still has a nice stable of RBs for the upcoming season as is. But I could see them adding another vet RB, a pounder like Bettis. And I can see Haynes getting a bigger role this season too.

 

I also want to see C. Humes in short yardage. Haynes has a knack for getting enough yardage for a first down every time he touches the ball. He is kind of short and stocky, in the build of Priest Holmes but a little bigger (no, not talent wise compared to Holmes but physically). He did well at Georgia when he was a feature back for a few games at the end of his senior year. I don't mind an expanded roll for Haynes because Staley's health is in question. But I sure hope Cowher gives Humes a fair shot at short yardage cause we already know Verron is the 3rd down guy.

 

Nothing wrong with a 3 headed RB style (except for fantasy of course).