Benny Snell has plenty going for him right now.
First, there's opportunity within the Steelers offense. Jaylen Samuels, the team's No. 2 running back heading into the season, will be out until early-mid November with a knee injury. The team's starter, James Conner, left the Steelers' most recent game, a 24-17 victory over the Chargers, with a quad injury. While Conner likely will be cleared for a full load in the Steelers return from the bye week against the Dolphins, Snell stands at the ready should the injury flare up.
Next, there's this — and it's an important one:
Snell is performing well on the football field, and coaches and teammates alike are taking notice.
"I just like how hard he runs," David DeCastro said Wednesday at the Rooney Complex. "Especially those third-down runs, he's always moving downhill and getting those extra yards. That's nice for us."
Want a little visual evidence to back up DeCastro's words? Here ya go:
That's Snell first converting with a 14-yard reception on 3rd-and-long. While the play got called back due to a hold on JuJu Smith-Schuster, Snell received two more opportunities on third down on that drive and converted them both, once with a four-yard run on 3rd-and-1 and once with a four-yard run on 3rd-and-4 inside the red zone.
"He’s going to be a good kid,” Ramon Foster said of Snell after that Sunday night win over the Chargers. “He’s a kid that played big ball in the SEC, and he loves it. And James supports him all the way. This has been a beautiful journey right here. I mean, the 1-2 punch — 1-2-3 now when Jaylen gets back — it’s pretty cool.”
Steelers offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner loved what he saw from Snell, not just on that particular drive highlighted above but throughout Snell's 17-carry, 75-yard performance against the Chargers.
"I think for Benny it was just an opportunity," Fichtner told reporters Wednesday. "He finally got an opportunity, and it came about and he did a really nice job. So I'm excited about where he's at in his growth. Again, we're still talking about a young guy. And he was in more than just to run the ball. He was in there [for] protection, he was in on other things. That's exciting."
Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner, who works most closely with Snell on a daily basis, took Fichtner's sentiment a step further when I asked him about the development of Snell's complete game. Sure, Snell runs the ball, but he also prides himself on his work on special teams, in pass protection and as a receiver. That total package is vital in the NFL, and Snell is already demonstrating an ability to piece it all together.
"It's really encouraging because that's something that you don't really know coming out of college," Faulkner was saying. "For him, he was the guy at Kentucky, so you didn't know how well or how much he was going to dive into being that special teams guy. But he's taken it head-on. He's been one of the — I think [Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith] will tell you he's probably been one of the bigger contributors on the unit. So I'm super proud of that. He enjoys it. He knows that it's a big role to play in, and he approaches it every week just with that type of tenacity."
Yet, when it comes to running backs, most coaches, teammates and fans ultimately want to see a whole lotta this:
And Faulkner believes that's on deck.
"Benny wants to be a great player," he said. "He's chomping at the bit to get out there, but he also understands that everybody has a skill set in that room, everybody brings something different to the table. And he brings something to the table. I mean, I think you saw that start to show up on Sunday night. He's continued to work to gain the trust of the coaches and to gain the trust of myself, and Sunday was a big step in it ... The future is very, very bright for that young man. I think he's going to be a really good football player."
