Toussaint could have chance to shine in Bell’s absence
Steelers young running back Fitzgerald Toussaint was a goat in January after fumbling in the fourth quarter of what soon became a 23-16 come-from-ahead loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs.
But at least Toussaint didn’t follow up his untimely fumble by missing a mandatory drug test, and then publicly deny it.
This is reportedly what Steelers all-world running back Le’Veon Bell did earlier in the offseason, and now he’s facing a four-game suspension to start the 2016 regular season.
For the Steelers, the consequences of Bell’s apparent suspension are quite clear: A tougher road to Super Bowl LI in February.
For Toussaint, however, the team’s consequences could be his opportunity to establish himself as an NFL running back.
Toussaint bounced between the Steelers’ and Ravens’ practice squads in 2014 and 2015, while only enjoying a brief cup of coffee on each team’s active roster. But after rushing for a combined 54 yards on 12 carries with both Baltimore and Pittsburgh, Toussaint was suddenly thrust into the spotlight during the Steelers postseason run last year.
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Veteran DeAngelo Williams, who rushed for 907 yards in 2015 while Bell missed 10-plus games because of a two-week drug suspension followed by a season-ending MCL tear, was lost in Week 17 with a foot injury and out for the playoffs. In his place, stepped Toussaint, who ran for a combined 97 yards and one touchdown in two games and added another 62 receiving yards on seven catches.
Not great numbers, and certainly not enough to make one forget about Bell’s magnificent talents that helped him post a combined 2,215 yards from scrimmage two years ago.
Unfortunately, unless he can pull a rabbit out of his hat, Bell is almost surely going to miss a month’s worth of action to start the year. Obviously, Williams will get the lion’s share of the work this September, but that doesn’t mean Toussaint won’t get a decent amount of carries in his own right.
Let’s face it, Williams, 33, is certainly no spring chicken, and unless the Steelers pull a Mike Vick 2.0 and sign Ray Rice to offset Bell’s absence, there really isn’t anyone on Pittsburgh’s depth chart to block Toussaint from making his mark.
And guess what? In today’s day-and-age, it doesn’t take a whole heck of a lot for NFL team’s to move on. Do you think head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert want to put up with much more of Bell’s immature antics? With Bell in the final year of his rookie deal, they may decide he’s simply not worth the trouble. Instead, they might concentrate on pleasing receiver Antonio Brown and guard David DeCastro, both of whom are looking at huge paydays in the near future, and tell Bell to have a nice life.
That’s where Toussaint comes in.
Oh sure, he may never provide the kind of running back play Bell is capable of, but he may prove to be more reliable, which, in the end, could be what leads to a long and successful NFL career.
Fitzgerald Toussaint is certainly no Le’Veon Bell, but that might actually be a good thing.
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