Willie Parker is a far cry from the bruising running backs the Steelers have featured in the past, but he's already recorded his second straight 1,000-yard season.

PITTSBURGH — Although Willie Parker is not the typical power running back the Steelers have used through most of coach Bill Cowher's tenure, he's fast becoming one of the game's best backs.

The 5-foot-9, 209-pound Parker ranks third in the AFC and fifth in the league with 1,199 yards rushing. He is also third in the NFL with 13 touchdowns.

"It's a great feeling knowing I'm in an elite group of names, but at the same time, you've got to thank the people around me for making all these (accomplishments) possible," Parker said before practice Wednesday.

Playing for a franchise with a reputation for elite backs, Parker is making his mark in the team's record book. He already holds two of the three-highest single-game rushing totals in Steelers history — each coming in the last five games. And there is a very real chance he'll finish the season with the third-highest single-season rushing total in club history.

Three yards away from his rushing total for last season, Parker also could be named to the Pro Bowl.

San Diego's LaDanian Tomlinson and Kansas City's Larry Johnson — whom Parker said he voted for — are virtual locks to take two of the conference's three spots.

"The Pro Bowl is not a team award, so I sort of stay away from all that," Parker said. "That's an individual accolade that will take care of itself."

While his mentor Jerome Bettis, who retired after the team won the Super Bowl last season, used a bruising style, Parker relies on speed. That has led some observers to speculate that the reason for the Steelers' disappointing 6-7 record is because of a change in philosophy in the running game.

"From the outside looking in, that's easy for everybody to say," receiver Hines Ward said. "But to have two 1,000-yard seasons back-to-back, you ever heard of people complaining about a 1,000-yard running back that scores 10 touchdowns?

"Yes, he's a different style of running back we're not accustomed to, but that's not the reason why we're 6-7 or whatever, because we don't have a power-running type."

Parker said it was important to establish his own identity this season and prove he could carry the load without the help of the Bettis, who ranks fifth in NFL history among rushers.

Right tackle Max Starks dismisses the notion that it is a difficult adjustment to blocking for Parker this season.

"It leads to a lot of versatility in the running game, knowing that you don't exactly have to block a guy perfectly for Willie to get a hole," Starks said. "You give him enough time and space — even a crack, as we saw in Thursday night's game — and I think he'll make something happen."