The Steelers expect running back Rashard Mendenhall to play in 2012. What they don't know is when or in what capacity. Mendenhall tore his ACL in the Steelers' regular-season finale, and general manager Kevin Colbert said later that the two-time, 1,000-yard rusher probably would need a year to fully recover.
"To clarify, what I said was I never think players coming off an ACL are 100 percent for a full year. It doesn't mean they can't play," Colbert said Sunday before the start of the NFL owners meetings. "At some point, we'll have Rashard back. I'm confident of that." Mendenhall, a first-round pick in 2008, is going into the final year of his contract.
Mendenhall injured his knee in the team's regular season finale, so he'll be hard pressed to contribute at the start of the season, and probably won't be himself until 2013. If the Steelers don't shore up the RB position any further, Isaac Redman would get a big boost in value.
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