Getty Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Benny Snell is joining the Detroit Lions.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Benny Snell has a new team.
The Detroit Lions announced on August 10 that they signed Snell to their 90-man roster. Snell will replace running back Justin Jackson, who is retiring, on Detroit’s roster.
#Lions announce roster moves:
Sign QB Teddy Bridgewater and RB Benny Snell
Waive G Logan Stenberg
Place RB Justin Jackson on Reserve/Retired list
Snell played four seasons for the Steelers from 2019-22. He posted 1,096 yards from scrimmage and played a key role on special teams.
But Snell’s role on offense hit an all-time low last season, which caused the Steelers to allow Snell to leave in free agency.
In 17 games during 2022, Snell recorded 90 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts. He also caught 2 passes for 17 yards.
RB Benny Snell Signs With the Detroit Lions
With the Lions, Snell will have his work cut out for him to make the 53-man roster. But he has a job after an offseason dormant of offers.
The Steelers drafted Snell at No. 122 overall in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He debuted in Week 1 and rushed for a career-high 426 yards as a rookie.
He played at least 20% of the team’s offensive snaps in the games in which he dressed during his first two seasons. In 29 games from 2019-20, he posted 878 yards from scrimmage and scored 6 touchdowns. Snell even started five games during those seasons in place of James Conner.
But Snell’s role in the Pittsburgh offense greatly diminished when the team drafted Najee Harris in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. After averaging about 110 carries per season from 2019-20, Snell had just 36 rushing attempts in 2021.
Then last season, Jaylen Warren’s arrival pushed Snell even further down the Steelers running back depth chart. Snell only recorded 20 carries last season.
Despite losing snaps on offense, though, Snell remained a steady contributor on Pittsburgh’s special teams. He played at least 65% of the team’s special teams snaps each of the past two years.
Snell’s special teams contributions could be his key to earning a spot with the Lions.
Despite Jackson’s retirement, Detroit is very deep at running back. The Lions signed David Montgomery in free agency and drafted Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round this offseason. Craig Reynolds, who has contributed to Detroit’s running back room the past two seasons, remains on the roster too.
Along with Snell, the Lions also have running backs Jermar Jefferson, undrafted rookie Mohamed Ibrahim and Devine Ozigbo, who Detroit signed on August 9, on the 90-man roster.
Steelers’ Running Back Depth at NFL Training Camp
With the emergence of Warren as Pittsburgh’s change-of-pace back behind Harris, Snell was expendable for the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s running back depth behind Harris and Warren, though, is still a little uncertain.
Anthony McFarland, Darius Hagans, Greg Bell and John Lovett are the other running backs currently on the Steelers 90-man roster. McFarland is the most experienced player of the group with 42 career rushing attempts. Hagans is an undrafted rookie while Bell and Lovett have never played in an NFL regular season game.
Of those running backs, McFarland has been impressive during training camp.
“McFarland has shown crisp route running and aptitude to working out of the backfield and into the slot as a receiver,” wrote Steelers Now’s Nick Farabaugh.
Although signing a different free agent running back isn’t completely out of the question, it appears as though the Steelers will be counting on McFarland to fill Snell’s role as the team’s No. 3 running back.
It will be interesting to see if McFarland also plays Snell’s snaps on special teams or if that responsibility will fall to another player. McFarland has played eight special teams snaps in his three-year NFL career.