The Pittsburgh Steelers will discover themselves coping with quite a lot of good to nice working backs in the course of the 2025 season. Names like Breece Corridor, Aaron Jones, Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor, James Prepare dinner, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery soar out initially as non-division matchups.
That doesn’t embrace AFC North names like Derrick Henry, Chase Brown, Quinshon Judkins and Jerome Ford.
However there may be one title that has the eyes of Steelers’ group captain and All-Professional Cameron Heyward.
That may be Seattle Seahawks’ working again Kenneth Walker, who involves Acrisure Stadium in Week 2 to tackle the Steelers within the house opener on the North Shore.
Within the livestream response to the schedule launch on Wednesday evening on the “Not Simply Soccer with Cam Heyward” YouTube channel, Heyward spoke extremely of Walker, stating that the younger working again has imaginative and prescient like Le’Veon Bell.
“Yeah, I like Kenneth’s…not pace, however I believe the factor I like about Kenneth, he has imaginative and prescient like Le’Veon [Bell],” Heyward stated of the Seahawks’ working again, based on video through the present’s YouTube web page. “There was one time I bear in mind I used to be going to sort out him and he made a transfer the place he sort of obtained misplaced, however it was like, you gotta have some superb imaginative and prescient with that dude.”
The Steelers have solely confronted Walker as soon as, which got here in Week 17 of the 2023 season in Seattle. That day, the Steelers had their arms full towards the previous Michigan State star as Walker was working everywhere in the Steelers’ protection early within the matchup earlier than exiting with a shoulder harm.
Although he returned to the sport and was obtainable, he didn’t play a lot in any respect, and completed with 10 carries for 53 yards and a landing, and added three receptions for 22 yards. In that matchup, which the Steelers in the end gained 30-23, Walker graded out at an 80.3 general from Professional Soccer Focus, and generated 4 compelled missed tackles in simply 10 makes an attempt on the bottom.
He performed 21 complete snaps towards the Steelers in 2023, and people 21 snaps have been sufficient to make an impression on Heyward, particularly Walker’s imaginative and prescient. That’s an space of his sport that has actually grown, as a result of popping out of Michigan State the imaginative and prescient was a priority.
Within the scouting report of Walker popping out of faculty, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote that Walker was “not a naturally trusting, decisive runner” and was “fast to get away from play design with out a clear level of entry.”
In Seattle although, he’s been fairly productive when on the sphere, and has proven good imaginative and prescient general. The issue is, accidents have saved him off the sphere time and time once more. Usually, he will get worn down late within the season, which is regular for an enormous, bruising working again like Walker.
Sadly for the Steelers, they’ll see him in Week 2, which may show very difficult for a new-look run protection. It’ll be an enormous problem out of the gate for the Steelers’ protection, and it’s one which Heyward is wanting ahead to.
Try the total livestream of the “Not Simply Soccer with Cam Heyward” podcast reacting to the schedule launch.
