NFL Draft 2009 Review: RB Frank Summers

It's usually hard to find a glaring fault of a team that just won the Super Bowl, but that's not the case with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  They don't have a reliable back to run the ball at the goal line.

Running back Willie Parker famously scored only two TDs in 2007 and while he increased that to five last season, he wasn't getting them from short yardage.  Mewelde Moore added five touchdowns, while fullback Gary Russell added three more.  These are the Pittsburgh Freaking Steelers, they're not going to accept a three-headed rushing monster.  Something needed to be done!  The ghost of Art Rooney demands it!

Into the breach comes Frank "The Tank" Summers, a 5'9", 242 lb wrecking ball from UNLV.  Summers rushed for eight touchdowns last season in college and should step in immediately as the short-yardage back in Pittsburgh.  Think of him as a Tim Hightower for an offense that actually runs the ball.  

One complication is that Moore and Russell aren't likely to give up their spots on the depth chart easily.  Yet another complication is the return of Rashard Mendenhall, whom the Steelers drafted in the first round last year only to have him miss the entire season with an injury.  Mendenhall is pretty much the same type of back as Summers, so how the Steelers split carries remains to be seen. 

Summers has the potential to be a world-class TD vulture.  Parker and Mendenhall can run the ball 85-90 yards only to see Summers pound it in from the 2 yard line -- if only he can arrange to have Moore and Russell hit by a bus.  If he gets the laying time, Summers could finish with somewhere between five and eight touchdowns this season.  If he gets elbowed out, he's worthless.  I can't wait to see what the Steelers do with these guys in camp this summer.