2020 NFL Draft: Late-round sleepers the Pittsburgh Steelers should target

Running Back

When Bell left Pittsburgh over a contract dispute in 2018, the team lost one of its offense’s biggest contributors. Bell had three seasons rushing for over 1,200 yards, accounting for 35 rushing touchdowns and seven receiving touchdowns between 2013 and 2017. Replacing production like that was never going to be easy.

Conner, the Pittsburgh Panther running back drafted in 2017, was brought in to be a Bell contingency plan. He played well once Bell had left, rushing for 973 yards and bringing in 55 receptions for 497 yards in 2018. But injuries have made him an unreliable starter, as he has missed nine games during the last two seasons.

As 2020 will be Conner’s fourth year in the league, he will likely be looking for a new contract after this season. Last year the Steelers drafted Benny Snell in the fourth round. At Kentucky, Snell rushed for over 1,000 yards in three straight seasons, but in the NFL he proved far less effective. He rushed for 426 yards on 108 attempts and managed just three receptions on four targets for the Steelers in 2019.

Snell looks promising as a rotational piece for the Steelers, but the Steelers will need to add a new running back in the 2020 NFL Draft. Conner has never played a 16-game season and will likely expect a new contract after this season. Considering the recent regret of organizations handing massive contracts to running backs (See: Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley, David Johnson, etc.), the Steelers should be looking to avoid a similar situation.

As a late-round prospect, the team’s scouting department should take a trip up north and check out AJ Dillon from Boston College. While not originally expected to be high on any NFL draft boards, Dillon excelled at this year’s Combine and is catching a second look from scouts.

At 6-foot, 247 pounds Dillon is a larger running back in the 2020 NFL Draft pool. The Steelers have found success with larger running backs, as both Conner and Bell are 6-foot-1 and pack a punch on contact. He ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash and a shocking 41-inch vertical. The NFL.com scouting comparison has him compared to Conner, which should intrigue Colbert as a possible contingency plan past 2020.

At Boston College, he had three seasons of over 1,100 yards rushing, including 34 touchdowns. He was the key component of the team’s offense during that time, being utilized an astronomical 845 times, according to Sports-Reference. He was the number one rusher in the ACC for attempts in 2017 and 2019.

His biggest drawback will be his inability to be a receiving option. As the running back position continues its downward trajectory in value, NFL teams are asking more and more running backs to act as a receiving option. In three seasons, Dillon had a paltry 21 receptions for just two touchdowns. While his receiving yards increased last season, his overall lack of career receiving yards will make scout’s question whether he can continue with those numbers outside of the historically bad ACC.

Another sleeper running back in the 2020 NFL Draft is Antonio Gibson from Memphis. Gibson’s career can be considered the inverse of Dillon, as he was hardly used during his college career and played significantly better as a receiving option.

At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds Gibson has the size to dominate defenses in the NFL. Used as a wide receiver and a running back, Gibson barely saw the field before last season, lining up in the backfield just six times before his senior year. In 2019, Gibson exploded from a production standpoint, earning 735 yards receiving on 38 passes, good for 19.3 yards per reception.

While listed as a wide receiver on the team’s website, Gibson was used as a running back on 33 attempts, good for 369 rushing yards and 11.2 yards per attempt. Built more like a back than a receiver, Gibson looks to enter the league as a hybrid player, bringing a unique value to the team that drafts him.

The biggest question mark about his college career heading into the 2020 NFL Draft will be his usage. How was an exceptionally talented athlete like him left to rot on the bench during the 2018 season? According to the Memphis team website, Gibson was a transfer student from East Central Community College in 2018, which might help explain the coach’s trepidation in using him that season. But his elusiveness when rushing jumps off the screen and should have made more of an impact on Memphis’s coaches.

NFL general managers may be skeptical of a player who only had one season of meaningful production in college. And with the devaluation of the running back position in the NFL, the Steelers will have an opportunity to draft a unique athlete in the later rounds of the draft.

Sticking with the tall running back genre is Javon Leake from Maryland. At 6-foot, 206 pounds Leake had an impressive 2019 season, rushing 722 yards on 103 attempts, according to Sports-Reference. Considering he served primarily as a back-up last year, that is impressive production.

If he had waited and declared for the 2021 NFL Draft, Leake would have been ranked in the top five of the running back class. This year, he was expected to become the lead-back in Maryland before declaring for this years draft. As such, NFL scouts and general managers will likely be unsure where to value Leake, as he only has one season of meaningful usage.

Another issue Leake dealt with is consistency. His yards per attempt numbers fluctuates wildly from week to week. The team also failed to use him much as a receiving option, bringing in just nine receptions for 55 yards in 2019.

His game tape, on the other hand, looks really good and his physical traits make him an alluring running back option in the later rounds. He is very fast for his height and is quick when cutting in between offensive lineman. His footwork is excellent and he has the ability to duck and dodge defenders, plant his foot and take off quickly, before defenders even realize what has happened.

While his lack of experience will be questioned by some scouts, Leake could be seen by some as having escaped college with very little damage to his body. Considering the running back position has some of the highest rates of injuries and tackles in the game, this could be seen as a blessing in disguise.

If the Steelers want to move on from Conner after this season, drafting his successor in the later rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft would be a wise move. Considering Conner’s injury history, having a clear replacement running back of equal size and skill set would be a good decision. Especially for a team that ranked 29th in rushing yards last season, according to NFL.com.