But he’s a rookie and blitz reading isn’t the easiest thing.

Moore is our third down back, and a pass catcher, unless they plan on Mendenhall taking his spot. I don’t see more than a 1st and 2nd string 2 down back. That’s what I meant by runner. Redman would give us Parker Mendy and Redman as 2 down backs. Now if Mendenhall can fit the third down back role Redman would be up against Moore to make the team, and he could oust Moore with short yardage excellence.

I am trying to see the different combinations that would lead to these guys being able to make the team, and it seems to my thinking Frank has to beat out Davis or McHugh and a non-st player needs to lose to a new guy who does both. Either that or Redman needs to look good in ST play.

Either way the running back duties needed appear to be:

Starting Runner – FWP

Back up runner – Mendenhall (Moore or Redman if things go weird or just right for them)

Third down back – Moore or Mendenhall if he can win it, I think it is Moore, he’s freaking good.

Side Car (blocker/runner/reciever from shotgun) Davis, Mendenhall, Moore. Hopefully not Davis.

Short Yardage back – Redman if the cards go right, Mendenhall if they don’t.

Lead Blocker – Tank (please!) Davis, Redman, McHugh, Johnson. I like Johnson but I doubt he gets it, Tank looks good, Davis stinks but he stinks at a lot of things (versatility is the word) McHugh does both this and third TE so he frees up a roster spot, which is a bonus Tomlin likes.

Special Teams – the more we take the more need to be really good at ST. But we still need a couple to play good in ST. Davis, Tank appear to be good, others don’t do it or don’t look good.

FWP and Mendenhall make the team unless injury or massive suckage for Mendy knock them off.

If Mendenhall can win the third down back spot Moore becomes expendable (his return duties would be covered in this scenario making him expendable). Only proposing this because they are rolling Mendy out to receiver, which is a third down back role. We’ll see, but this loss of a great versatile player that I would hate to see go would be the best scenario for Tank and Red making the team.

Otherwise we need to shave spots like Davis (Tank can pull this off, esp. if Moore stays and Mendenhall can catch and block too) by beating them out of their job with multiple people taking over the roles they fill. (IE Tank blocks and does ST while Mendy catches passes and side cars w/ Moore)

Redman won’t beat out Davis IMO, that battle is with the Tank, and I am leaning toward the Tank.

For Redman to make it, he needs to win the second string runner job, develop a real solid bit of versatility, or have all the cards in the universe fall perfectly into place.

This assumes that he continues to dominate the short yardage leading to Tomlin wanting him on the team really bad.

If Tank beats Davis and Mendenhall works as a third down back and either Redman or Tank show hands, Redman might take Moore’s spot, as Mendy would fill a third down/second runner/sidecar spot and Redman would be a second runner/short yardage/sidecar. The overlap would allow it to work, because if one went down the Steelers would be covered at all roles.

That to me is the most likely scenario. I don’t see Redman making the team and Tank not. It could happen, I just don’t see it (unless Redman can block and run at the same time) You don’t have your short yardage back also lead blocking. If Davis and McHugh fill the roles I guess I could see Tank off the roster, but at that point I would expect Redman to be off the roster too. No RB is taking McHugh off the roster, that would be Johnson if it happens.

That when we first heard about Redman in the first GL practice people said “Oh well that was against 2nd/3rd line. Let’s see him against 1st.” Then in practice he punches in 3 out of 3 attempts against the best 1st string defense in the league. Now its “Oh well, that was practice, lets see it in a game.” So, if he performs against a 1st string D in a game, what is it then? “Oh well its just preseason” Or “Well that defense isn’t any good”?

I think you’re right about the order. I had them backwards.

1st TD – Redman runs for about 8-10 yards before contact. He has the opportunity to get a full head of steam before anyone connects with him. When the contact does come, it’s a guy who falls off one blocker (David Johnson) and attempts to wrap up as Redman is running past. Redman does not meet anyone head on. He’s not standing anyone up, he steps to the right as a guy falls at him from the side. This TD belongs to our blockers.

2nd TD – This is a more challenging run. Once again, the blockers open up a hole right in front of him and Redman gets a good, clean run up through the LoS. The hole closes as he makes the run, so it looks like there’s traffic, but no one is getting in his way. He makes a good solid hit at the goal line on a guy who looks to be engaged with Sherrod. The defense almost stops him in his tracks, but he is able to fall forward across the line.

The second TD is a good play for him. But it’s nothing special. At this point, I’m more impressed with his goal line activities from practice.

Last year, our RBs were getting contacted in the backfield. They were getting hit before they had the ball in their arms. The problems we had at the goal line had little to do with our running backs. Our problem was run blocking.