The Pittsburgh Steelers will have another piece available to their offense beginning this week after the activation of speedy running back Anthony McFarland on Wednesday.
McFarland was on the injured reserve list since the start of the season because of a torn MCL suffered during training camp. He was cleared to practice Oct. 6 and Wednesday was the deadline of a 21-day window in which McFarland needed to be added to the active roster or be deemed out for the season.
Although his production as a rookie fourth-round pick last season was meager (one touchdown, 167 yards on 39 touches), McFarland is viewed as potential big-play threat after running the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds at the 2020 combine and averaging 7.0 yards per carry over his final two seasons at Maryland.
“I mean, you just look and you can see his body’s different (since his rookie season),” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Wednesday. “And I think he took the offseason to really spend time getting his body and his mind right. You don’t see the mistakes that maybe last year he was making as a rookie. So I’m excited to get him on the field.”
Running back Anthony McFarland has missed the first five games of the season, and, even though he is eligible to be activated for the #Steelers’ game Sunday against Seattle, he likely won’t return until after the team’s bye week. https://t.co/DjRDjdyYR3
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 17, 2021
McFarland is expected to have a complementary role to workhorse rookie running back Najee Harris. The odd man out on gameday could be Kalen Ballage because Benny Snell has special-teams value.
Veteran running back Jaylen Samuels was released off the practice squad in a related move. A fifth-round pick in 2018, Samuels had his role gradually diminish in recent years as the Steelers added a running back in each draft since.
Carlos Davis was moved to IR to make space on the 53-man roster for McFarland. Also a second-year player, Davis was expected to be the No. 4 or 5 defensive lineman this season but suffered a knee injury during the opener at Buffalo and has not played since.
Davis returned to practice in recent weeks. His absence has been notable because the Steelers have been without veteran starters Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu for most of the season because of injury.
The Steelers added defensive tackle Chris Slayton to their practice squad. A fifth-round pick of the New York Giants in 2019, Slayton has spent time on the practice squads of three teams but has yet to appear in a regular-season game.
Incidentally, the Steelers’ announcement of roster moves did not include any word on Tuitt, an indication his potential return to practice likely is delayed by at least another week. Tuitt has a knee injury and did not take part in team drills throughout training camp.
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