SCU Awards: Steelers Comeback Player of the Year

by Eric Herrmann (SteelersGrind) on February 10, 2017

Steel City Underground presents the 1st annual SCU Awards. Our panel of contributors all voted on various awards for the Steelers with the player getting the most votes being the winner. Each article will have the list of nominees with one of our contributors stating their case for why that player earned their vote and deserves the award. Comment and let us know if you agree or disagree with our winners and nominees.

The Steelers unfortunately dealt with a lot of injuries in the 2015 season. Both Le’Veon Bell & Maurkice Pouncey missed much, if not all, of the season due to their respective injuries.

Fortunately though, these players came back strong in 2016. Bell was a dominant running the ball while Pouncey opened holes for him and kept Ben clean. Both these players have overcome multiple injuries in their career yet continue to play high-level football.

Ryan Shazier also shouldn’t be forgotten. After being labelled a bust and “soft” by many due to missing multiple games in his career due to injury, Shazier stayed healthy in 2016 and was a leader on this defense.

All 3 of these players deserve commendation for their returns.

Le’Veon Bell

My comeback player award was an easy one for me. You could say it was effortless… effortless like the way Le’Veon Bell seems to run the ball. Bell suffered a horrific knee injury last year and even though we have all grown accustomed to seeing players come back nowadays, there was still worry in my mind that he wouldn’t be the same player… and he wasn’t, he’s better.

If Bell hadn’t been suspended missing a drug test(a policy which they will be debating at the next players association meeting I may add) he would have broken NFL records easily! Not only was his comeback performance incredible for a running back, but Bell emerged as the team’s #2 receiver behind Antonio Brown. Just look what happened to us when he got hurt again. I’m a huge Antonio Brown/Ben Roethlisberger fan, but the offense NEEDS Le’Veon at his best in order to be that “30 point” monster.

Not that he would have won, but Bell even managed to get his name mentioned among the candidates for NFL MVP. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a Vegas favorite to win that next season. What Bell accomplished ranks right up there with Adrian Peterson and Willis McGahee.

– Zac Celedonia

Maurkice Pouncey

My Comeback Player is Maurkice Pouncey. After missing all of 2015 with a broken fibula, Pouncey returned this year as good as ever. He earned his 5th Pro-Bowl nomination and in my mind should have been in the conversation for All-Pro. Pouncey is a center unlike any other in the league. His ability to pull from the center position, and the athleticism with which he plays makes him a weapon on offense. Not to mention his ability to lead the line. He is the heart of that unit and Ben’s safety blanket.

He’s gotten the reputation (an extremely undeserved one) of being injury prone. Pouncey’s injuries do not fall under the type of injury that people are “prone” to. An ACL/MCL tear after David DeCastro caught him with “friendly fire” and a broken fibula because he was downfield making an athletic play and got rolled up on. Those are hardly the kinds of injuries that “injury prone” players continually get. He is a force when he’s on the field, and he showed that again this year as the offensive line had a year of continued growth and cohesion.

– Brian Roach

Ryan Shazier

I chose Ryan Shazier for Comeback Player of the Year. Although he started the same amount of games as he did in 2015, Shazier looked different and played different in 2016. He was always around the ball, making plays and causing problems for every offense. If you think back to some of the Steelers biggest defensive plays in 2016, Shazier tends to be involved. His game-changing speed brings a whole new element to this defense and that was apparent in 2016.

Shazier proved what he is capable of when he can stay healthy. We all knew of his potential, but this year we actually got to see it. He came back from the injury labels thrown at him and become a leader on this defense.

– Josh Fitzer

Winner: Le’Veon Bell (5 votes)

Runner ups: Pouncey (3 votes), Shazier (1 vote)

Bell piled up 1,884 yards from scrimmage during the regular season on 1,268 rushing yards (7 touchdowns) and 75 receptions for 616 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns.

In 12 games.

He wasn’t only a regular season monster, but a postseason beast, breaking the Steelers playoff rushing record not just once, but twice in back-to-back playoff games.