Parker placed on IR, Steelers resign Verron Haynes

As expected, the Steelers placed Willie Parker on Injured Reserve after breaking his leg on Thursday in St. Louis. As some on this site predicted, the Steelers have filled that roster spot with familiar face Verron Haynes.

While Najeh "Dookie" Davenport will clearly be taking most of the carries it is unclear where Haynes will fit in alongside Gary Russel and Cary Davis. Davis got some carries against St. Louis where he was the only other back on the squad who dressed. However Davis is also the fullback so I don't expect him to get alot of carries. Gary Russel is an intriguing option who many of us were high on going into this season. However he has seen very little action this year although a possibly meaningless game against Baltimore would be a good place to get him some carries. Verron Haynes has never been a feature type back that you want to get alot of carries. However he was a standout 3rd down back. With Davenport getting most of the 1st and 2nd down carries I wouldn't be suprised if Coach Tomlin looks to Haynes as the guy to help keep blitzers off of Ben on 3rd Down.  I'm not sure if Russel is ready to take over those duties. It also remains to be seen if both Haynes and Russel will be active on game days. What do you guys think?

Also I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a great new year! Its been fun watching this blog grow over the year and I'm glad all of you are a part of it. And of course good luck to SteelerinChicago and SteelerArk competing for the 2007 BTSC Fantasy Football Championship tonight!