No Kreider = No Good
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by Cotter
This article was originally published here. Please visit One For The Other Thumb for this and more. Read it, love it, comment it, tell me I'm an idiot...your choice...without further ado:
I apologize in advance if this post is less humorous and light-tempered than most of my stuff. But when I read Ed Bouchette's article this morning, I felt a little ill (headnod to Fanhouse blogger JJ Cooper for the inspiration).
As the article's title, "Fullback spot going, going, not quite gone" suggests, according to Steelers Offensive Gangsta' and coordinator Bruce Arians, Dan Kreider's role as the blocking fullback may at times this season be cut altogether. IE - there may be games for which Kreider doesn't even dress!
This is absolutely as blasphemous as it sounds. I'm sorry, I don't really care how many four wide sets we're going to use, or whatever silly offensive nuances Arians has planned. There will always be situations where you want a solid blocking fullback, whether for protection or lead blocking. How about this? - We're on the goal line, 1 yard out and we just need one big run to punch the ball in and our options for fullback are limited to our halfbacks, a tight end (the option identified by Arians...guess this may be the rationale for drafting Matt Spaeth...) or even a lineman (perhaps this is the reason we signed Sean Mahan as a free agent, cause it sure doesn't seem like he'll be playing Center).
When you need tough yards, you need Dan Kreider paving the way. Arians openly admits that Kreider is arguably the best at his position in the league. So why would you ever NOT want to have him in the lineup. Play him with less frequency? Sure. Not dress him at all = unacceptable. I hope for our sake Arians is just stating the possible and not the probable. There's always going to be situations where we need him, unless we're up by 30 points in the 4th quarter. Let's not kid ourselves.
First Steely McHandjob, now this? Depending on how this notion comes to fruition (if it does at all), I may be starting the petition to "Dress Dan Kreider for every game regardless of game plan." Either way, Dan, you've got a spot in my heart man. Best fullback in the modern era, as far as I'm concerned. Anyone care to disagree?
