Parker is not a starting
running back in the NFL
Possibly the most overlooked factor of the Pittsburgh Steelers since mid-2004 is this: The Steelers don't have a running game.
Yes, Fast Willie Parker looks the part. He's got that great speed. Occasionally he breaks the long one, and his yardage totals are impressive. This is a valuable weapon in the NFL.
The reality, though, is that Willie Parker is not an effective NFL starting running back and should be considered substandard by any team with Super Bowl aspirations. (That is precisely what the Steelers believed, obviously, in drafting Rashard Mendenhall.)
Parker quite simply is more bust than boom. He is too one-dimensional, too straight-ahead, too easy to tackle. Handoffs to him regularly leave the offense in 2nd and long holes.
The offense this preseason looks much like the 2007 regular season version. All of the highlights are from passing. This isn't sustainable. Last year the Steelers lost two games completely pinned on the offense, at Arizona and at the New York Jets. Parker didn't go anywhere in either game. The passing game needs the running attack to set the table. Some teams pass first, run later. Not the Steelers, never with Ben Roethlisberger. Maybe he is capable of that, but his offensive line, which was mostly never good at pass-blocking under Bill Cowher, is not. Alan Faneca and Marvel Smith, excellent at run-blocking, have never been good pass protectors. It is a run-blocking line and a running offense.
Consider that in 2004, it took Roethlisberger only a few games to get the hang of it before the Steelers put together the most devastating offense in football. That was because of Ben -- and because Duce Staley was enjoying a monster season, averaging a hundred yards a game. Second and short and third and short was the norm. The offense was scoring at will, even dominating the two teams that would end up in the Super Bowl.
Staley got injured or re-injured in one of those games, and it was over. Ben started to wear down, and while Bettis gave them some inspired play, there wasn't much tread left on the tires. By year-end, they were struggling to score and were embarrassed in the playoffs.
Parker became the starter by default in 2005 because Staley unfortunately proved washed up. Parker's effectiveness was wildly overstated after he came up big against two terrible teams in the first two games. The best case against Parker is the 2005 playoffs: he did very little in the first three games. They were carried by Roethlisberger. And in the Super Bowl, Parker had one play of significance.
Parker ideally shouldn't have been the starter in 2005 and absolutely never should've kept the job for two more years. His NFL role is complementary, situational player. He is a tough guy who wants the ball and wants to win, and these are necessary qualities for a championship team. He is an excellent guy to have in the playoffs, which are decided by big plays. Bring him in during the second, third quarter, for a few select plays, see if he can find a crease or wake up a sluggish offense. But keep in mind he's not much of a receiver either.
Bettis, in the prime of his career (which ended about halfway through 2001, if not before), was an exceptional first- and second-down runner. He'd move those chains forward, setting up easy passing plays. He wasn't effective on third down, but was important in keeping the offense going forward.
Parker is not a starter. If this team has Super Bowl aspirations, the answer must be Mendenhall. Just when he looked to be breaking out of his deer-in-the-headlights funk Saturday at Minnesota, he started fumbling. Nevertheless, we saw some real running-back skills there, a guy who can cut in a phone booth, with a burst. Parker cannot come close to returning this offense to its brief Staley-era glory. It's a lot to put on a rookie, but it's up to Mendenhall.