Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler has to deal with Bills quarterback Josh Allen this weekend and he knows that Allen poses a threat to his team through the air and on the ground.
Allen threw 37 touchdowns while completing over 69 percent of his passes and running for eight scores last season, so it may come down to the Steelers picking their poison. Based on Butler’s comments on Thursday, the Steelers might choose Allen as a runner.
Butler drew a comparison to Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and noted that Allen doesn’t shy away from contact as a runner while saying the Steelers won’t shy away from it either.
“I hope he does try to finish his runs like a running back,” Butler said, via Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We’ll treat him like a running back. If he wants to be treated like a running back, we’ll do that, too. . . . And you don’t see Ben run as much as you used to, do you? That’s an important position. And if you are going to run the ball, that ball attracts a lot of attention in the National Football League. There is usually a price to pay. So we’ll see what happens in the game.”
Allen avoided paying any heavy prices for running the ball in 2020. The Steelers will try to start his 2021 season in a different fashion on Sunday.
Keith Butler on Josh Allen: Usually a price to pay for QBs running the ball originally appeared on Pro Football Talk