I don’t hide that I’m a giant Illinois fan even though I should based on how they are playing this season, but one of my favorite all time Illini is Rashard Mendenhall. He was a great college runner who I thought would be a great pro runner as well. He’s always had a case of the fumbles and I expect that to creep back in here with him playing more and more but he’s a game changer and we finally got to see it.

I was really looking forward to the Steelers game Sunday night just to watch him play and he didn’t disappoint. He hit the holes hard and ran hard and didn’t go down on first contact. He has breakaway speed also so it isn’t like he’s just a 2-4 hole type of back.

What do the Steelers do when Willie Parker comes back? They have to stick with Mendenhall and let him play now. The door opened up and he finally burst through it and looks like he is to stay. Teams will now gear up a bit more to shut him down but the Steelers just learned that they have a qb who can throw for 300 yards a game and a back that can run for a 100 at the same time and that’s something to worry about for the other AFC teams.

Nice work Rashard and it’s about time.

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