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RB Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers

HT: 5-10, WT: 209, Born: 11-11-1980, College: North Carolina, Drafted: ---

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - After a relatively slow start to the day, Parker finished the day averaging over four yards per carry, padded by runs of 22 and 25 yards. Unfortunately, on the carry immediately after his long of the day, he lost a fumble deep into Cleveland territory. Parker was relieved on third downs all afternoon long. All four touchdowns by the Steelers came from outside the five yard line, preventing any goal line carries for Parker or any other Steelers running back.

Week 2 - Parker has rushed for over 100 yards in both games this season. He used his speed to get outside for big gainers, but also was able to use his power to gain yardage in the middle of the line. Parker had six runs of at least nine yards, including an eleven yard touchdown run, where he was barely touched. Parker caught two passes. He gained eight yards on the first and lost a yard on the second.

Week 3 - Parker leads the NFL in rushing and has run for over 100 yards all three games this season. He gained more than seven yards per carry in the first half and averaged 5.5 for the game. Parker uses his speed to accelerate through holes or get around the edge. What makes him special, however, is his patience to wait for the hole to develop. On one play, Parker executed a beautiful stutter step. When the hole opened, he pounced for a 15 yard gain. He had a long run of 23 yards.

Parker is proving to be a workhouse. He led the NFL with 50 carries coming into the game and added 24 more attempts. There is some concern that the Steelers may be giving him too big of a load. So far, however, he is holding up well.

Parker caught one pass for a nine yard gain.

Week 4 - Parker had no room to run against the Cardinals defensive front finishing with only 37 yards on 19 carries. His longest run was for 20 yards. He added 29 more yards on four pass receptions. 14 of Parker's 19 rushes went for less than three yards each.

Week 5 - Parker almost notched a 20 yard touchdown scamper that was ruled down inside the one after the replay. Davenport then got the call and ran it in. Parker got his yards slowly but surely, eclipsing 100 on the day. He also had a 30 yard rush called back due to penalty. He is the clear cut starter, however, he was replaced on third downs and near the goal line.

Week 7 - Parker had a rough time running the ball early on, but got on track thanks to three 20 plus yard gains. His speed is unmatched, and he is very hard to catch once he gets past the first two levels of the defense. Despite the good match up, he didn't perform as well as expected. Denver clearly focused on stopping the run in this game, and while he did gain 127 total yards, he didn't find the end zone. Backup Najeh Davenport spelled him a couple times, including one down near the goal line.

Week 8 - Parker looked very quick against the Cincinnati defense. He hit holes with precision and often broke through into the secondary. His goal line touchdown came on a run just before time expired in the first half.

Week 9 - Baltimore has one of the stingiest run defenses in the league and did a good job of stopping Parker in the first half. Parker did not find much running room in the half as he had only 27 yards off of 16 carries in the first half. He did add one reception for 17 yards. He only had seven carries in the second half for 15 yards, and Parker averaged less then two yards a carry in the game.

Week 10 - Parker was contained through parts of this game, but with twenty five carries, averaged over four yards per carry and passed the century mark. Parker's biggest play came when he was stopped at the line of scrimmage, spun out to gain 31 yards and forcing the Browns to adjust how they defended against both the run and pass, opening up the field for Ben Roethlisberger. Parker attempted a halfback pass in this game, but pulled up for the pass too quickly, and was unable to connect with a covered Heath Miller.

Week 11 - Parker had a tough time finding running room against the inspired the Jets' defense. Though he only averaged 2.5 yards per carry the Steelers never benched him even when Davenport found more running room.

Week 12 - As expected, Parker was the focal point of the Steelers offense. He ran hard and busted off a few good runs, and his final stats were pretty solid considering the rain and the awful field. Still, the Dolphins found a way to stop Parker when they absolutely needed to (a telling stat: he was held to two yards or less on 12 of his 24 carries). Parker had one red zone carry, and he was also targeted by Roethlisberger in the end zone on the game winning drive.

Week 13 - After gaining only four yards on his first four carries, Parker picked it up a bit on the Steelers' fourth drive of the game. On that series, he rushed the ball five times for 23 yards as he helped drive Pittsburgh to their first touchdown. Parker finished the first half averaging 2.9 yards per rush on 10 attempts and caught one pass that went for 14 yards. He followed up his first half performance with an 18 rush second half that gained 58 yards. Parker had a problem holding on to the wet football as he put the ball on the ground four times (Though replay challenges of his first and third fumbles showed that he was down before the ball came loose.) His third quarter fumble gave Cincinnati the football at the Pittsburgh 25 yard line and ultimately resulted in a Bengals' field goal. His fourth quarter fumble gave Cincinnati the ball at the Bengals' 46 yard line but did not result in any points.

Week 14 - Parker was one of the only bright spots for the Steelers in the loss. Parker added to his conference leading rushing totals and ran hard and with purpose. He hit the seams with speed and fought hard for the extra yards.

Week 15 - Parker had his NFL best eighth 100 yard rushing game of the season and leads the league in rushing yardage. He entered the game also leading the league in attempts and runs of more than 20 yards. Parker was effective, but was limited by the Steelers' difficulties on offense and received only 14 rushing attempts. His best gain came on a pass play: As Ben Roethlisberger was being sacked, he was able to flip the ball to Parker, who found open running room and gained 27 yards. Because Roethlisberger flipped it backwards, it was a lateral and Parker's yardage is counted as rushing yardage. Parker also had runs of 16, 13, and 13 yards. All but one of his big runs went around the left end of the Steelers' line.

Parker caught two passes for a total of nine yards.

Week 16 - Parker appeared to get hurt on the second play of the game for Pittsburgh. He appeared to get his ankle twisted and Parker came out of the game after the play. It was initially reported as an ankle injury and he did not return to the game. He was seen on crutches later on and it was reported as broken fibula, likely a season ending injury.

Week 17 - Parker did not play due to a broken leg.