Parker 'a little surprised' Steelers drafted Illini's Mendenhall

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers can't afford to have the wheels come off Willie Parker again.

NFL teams rarely devote a first-round draft pick to a position of strength, but that is exactly what the Steelers did by choosing Rashard Mendenhall of Illinois with the No. 23 pick last weekend.

Suddenly, Willie Parker -- the NFL's leading rusher until breaking his right leg on Dec. 20 -- finds himself competing for every carry and every snap. The Steelers didn't draft Mendenhall to sit him, and that means Parker must share a ball that rarely wound up in any other Pittsburgh back's hands last season.

Parker and Mendenhall were on the field together for the first time Friday during the Steelers' mandatory three-day minicamp, and the Steelers' Pro Bowl running back acknowledged it was a bit of an adjustment sharing a position.

"I mean, I was a little surprised" when Mendenhall was drafted, Parker said.

Still, Parker said the move "might add some years to my career" and could prevent another late-season fade by the Steelers, who lost four of their final five last season.

The Steelers had almost no running game during their 31-29 wild-card playoff loss to Jacksonville, a situation that likely wouldn't have occurred if they had possessed a second capable running back.

Mendenhall, who was presented with a Steelers No. 1 jersey during a photo opportunity Friday but will wear No. 34, said Parker welcomed him immediately. It is somewhat like the situation in 2004, when established star Jerome Bettis helped then-rookie Parker get through his first season.

"Just how to be a professional," Mendenhall said when asked what Parker has shown him so far. "He's been here for a few years. How to work, what to do, how to carry yourself as a professional and as a man."

Not that the 20-year-old Mendenhall ever felt like he wouldn't fit in, despite falling to the Steelers after being projected in many of the countless mock drafts to go in the middle of the first round.

"I have a lot of confidence in myself," Mendenhall said. "I'm supposed to come in here and produce. That is what I am planning on doing."