RB Benny Snell - Pittsburgh Steelers

5-10, 224

Born: 2-27-1998

College: Kentucky

Drafted: Round 4, pick 2019

Main Career stats Game Logs Game Recaps Split Stats Play-by-play Latest News

Photo: Charles LeClaire, US Presswire

Traditional view FanDuel view DraftKings view

Preseason player page

News you need to know

From the upgrade/downgrade report (Mon Dec 9): Snell was tied for the lead in rushing yards for the Steelers in Week 14 even though he had 16 carries to Kerrith Whyte's five. James Conner could be back this week. Even if Conner remains out, Snell is just a desperation play.

Week 15: vs Buffalo Bills

All RB vs BUF

FBG says: Good matchup. James Conner looks ready to return Sunday from his shoulder injury, and he'll immediately slot in ahead of Benny Snell as the Steelers' bell cow runner. Still, even over a full, healthy game, it's hard to project Conner to much efficiency. He's only topped 50 yards twice over his 7 full games, averaging an anemic 3.8 per rush. In fact, aside from his Week 8 eruption against the lowly Dolphins, his mark sits at just 3.1. And there's no guarantee he'll even finish Week 15 on the field after aggravating the injury in mid-Week 11. The Steelers boast one of football's strongest front lines, headed by a pair of dominant interior blockers in Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro. But Conner and backup Snell (just 4.0 himself) are generally slow-footed plodders, and neither has picked up more than what's been blocked. It's puzzling as to why the Steelers seem to have given up on Jaylen Samuels as more than a complementary runner. With just 21 carries over the past 4 weeks, he looks locked into a third-down role. The team may need his dynamism, though, if they're going to generate any difference-making runs Sunday. The Bills defense has earned a strong reputation here in 2019, but it's been built almost entirely against the pass. The run defense has been fairly beatable for much of the season, sitting 21st league-wide on a per-carry basis. To their credit, they do stand as the only Ravens opponent since Week 3 to hold Lamar Jackson under 60 yards (40 on 11 attempts last week). There are definitely impact players in this unit, such as first-round rookie tackle Ed Oliver, who has made a number of splash plays in the backfield over the past month. But overall, it's a relatively soft group, one that's been picked through efficiently by speedsters (Phillip Lindsay, Adrian Peterson) and power backs (Ezekiel Elliott, Nick Chubb, Jordan Howard) alike. The linebackers aren't particularly strong in gap discipline and pursuit, so safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde are relied upon heavily. They're perfectly capable, but it's never a good sign when the safeties are the unit's best run-stoppers. The Steelers boast a strong front line, with a pair of pulling technicians in Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro. That could be deadly for a Bills defense that struggles to contain the run on the second level.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	RSH	YD	TD	TARG	REC	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
11	at CLE		0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
12	at CIN		36	21	98	0	1	1.0	5	0	0	10.3
13	vs CLE		23	16	63	1	1	1.0	4	0	0	12.7
14	at ARI		24	16	41	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	3.1
15	vs BUF	PROJ-Dodds	*	8	*	*		0.0	*	*	*	*
15	vs BUF	PROJ-Tremblay	*	6	*	*		0.2	*	*	*	*
15	vs BUF	PROJ-Bloom	*	2	*	*		0.0	*	*	*	*

Weekly Performance vs RB 1, RB 12, RB 24, RB 36

Percentile ranks

Benny Snell's percentile rank in each category, among RB with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2019 Week 14 vs ARI (16 / 41 / 0 rush, 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

The Steelers have a lot of faith in Benny Snell being their grinder and their primary ball carrier. On the first drive after the punt return for a touchdown, Snell fumbles the football. Instead of removing him from the game, the Steelers went back to him. Snell's best run came in the third quarter. Snell managed to just barely get to the outside and was able to use good leg drive to push forward to make a manageable third down for the Steelers. Snell drew a facemask foul, which could have been called a horse caller, and got the ball placed at the one-yard line.

2019 Week 13 vs CLE (16 / 63 / 1 rush, 1 / 1 / 4 / 0 rec)

Started entering the game in the third quarter after the game was tied. Steelers showed a lot of trust when, after a defensive pass interference call put the ball at the one-yard line, was given the goal line carry. Snell made a strong run up the middle and squirmed free for a touchdown. Snell's best run came on a 14-yard carry. Snell ran through first contact, bounced off another defender, and lowered his head and kept driving his legs for additional yardage. Not to be outdone, Snell had a second tremendous run late in the fourth quarter with the Steelers backed up to their own one-yard line. Snell burst behind the left guard for a more than ten yards and a first down. More importantly, Snell was able to keep the clock rolling on the Steelers final drive of the game.

2019 Week 12 vs CIN (21 / 98 / 0 rush, 1 / 1 / 5 / 0 rec)

Snell has not played since the Steelers played the Miami Dolphins. Returning after arthroscopic knee surgery and being used as the primary ball carrier in place of the injured James Conner. For the most part, Snell got just what was blocked ahead of him. He was able to follow his blockers and displayed good vision, showed enough burst, and didn't fumble the ball. However, trying to run Snell outside of the tackles does not end well. He doesn't have enough speed to get to the outside on defenders. Snell did show how he was getting better throughout the game as he was wearing down the defense. On a third and short late in the fourth quarter went for 21-yards. The middle of the field was stuffed expecting a run up the middle. Snell saw no holes and bounced the ball outside.

2019 Week 8 vs MIA (5 / 13 / 0 rush, 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

This was not the right game for Benny Snell. While he did have opportunities, Snell's skillset matches up to what the Miami Dolphins do well between the tackles. To take things a step further, Snell had one run of five yards. His remaining 4 carries went for eight total yards. Snell left Week 8 with an apparent knee injury. No additional details have been released.

2019 Week 6 vs LAC (17 / 75 / 0 rush, 1 / 1 / 14 / 0 rec)

With Jaylen Samuels out for an extended period, the Steelers needed someone to turn to behind Conner. Snell is not the same type of smooth runner Conner is, but generates good build up speed and power through the hole once he gets a runway and Snell had the runway against the Chargers. The Steelers were routinely blowing the Chargers off the line of scrimmage and pushing them backwards. In the fourth quarter Snell's best run came on a power run concept. The lineman were all one on one and won at the point of attach and created a massive hole for Snell to run through. Snell exploded through the hole and gained good speed at the second level. Snell ended the contest with a lot of confidence from the coaching staff, receiving the last eight running back touches of the game.

2019 Week 2 vs SEA (1 / 23 / 0 rush, 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

It was only one touch, but Snell showed why he was picked in the fourth round and how he earned a game day active. On his first carry, Snell had excellent blocking ahead of him, was in his lineman's back pocket as he approached the line, and made a simple cut to find his running lane. Snell accelerated quickly through the hole and evaded multiple arm tackles through the pile.

Latest News

Steelers | Benny Snell bottled up (Sun Dec 8, 10:09 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers RB Benny Snell rushed 16 times for 41 yards in a 23-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 14. He also lost a fumble.

link to story

Steelers | Benny Snell runs for 63 yards, TD (Sun Dec 1, 05:13 PM) - Pittsburgh Steelers RB Benny Snell Jr. posted 16 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown in Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns while adding a four-yard catch on his only target.

Our View: Snell split carries with Jaylen Samuels and Kerrith Whyte early, but was the back who got all of the work when the team needed to salt away the lead. He should be a flex play against Arizona next week if James Conner is still out.
link to story