Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Johnny Unitas could have been a Steeler Hall-of-Famer, but he was cut by the Steelers in 1955

You have heard that classic rock song, "Should I stay or should I go?", right?   The Steelers will soon be deciding who should stay and who should be cut.  This is not an exact science.  The Steelers once cut hometown hero (and future hall-of-famer) Johnny Unitas, whereas they recently cut ties with Limas Sweed who probably took up a roster spot for a couple years too long. 

It has been described as a cutthroat business.  One minute, you are on top of the world boasting that you are a member of the proudest franchise in the NFL and the next minute it's "grab your playbook, coach wants to talk to ya".  Cutting players from the roster is never easy.  It's kinda like telling someone that their dog died.  These decisions are sometimes easy and sometimes they can be brutal.  How do you decide to keep or get rid of a 3 year veteran who is an average player at his position but plays well on special teams versus taking a leap by keeping a 5th or 6th round pick in his rookie year?  Does the rookie stay motivated when the season starts?  Will he develop into a better player than the veteran you already have?  Do you have salary cap considerations that price a 10 year veteran off your team?  That's what the Steelers face this year.  Sure, most positions on the defense are already set.  (If healthy) Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton and Brett “the Deisel” Keisel will be the starting defensive line.  James Harrison, Lawrence Timmons, James Farrior and Lamarr Woodley will be the starting backers.  And Ike Taylor (when healthy), Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark and (probably) Bryant McFadden will start.  The tough selections will be Crezdon Butler, Donovan Warren, Cortez Allen and Keenan Lewis.  Which of those guys makes it and who gets put on the practice squad or cut altogether?  Has Baraka Atkins done enough so far to earn a roster spot?  If so, does that mean that Larry Foote becomes a salary cap casualty?

The offense is even harder to figure out.  Trying to select who will be the starting 5 up front is like predicting the numbers for the next powerball drawing--you might get a couple but you probably aren't getting all 5.  Pouncey is a lock (barring injury).  Will it be Jonathan Scott, Chris Kemoeatu, Ramon Foster and Willie Colon?  That is the educated guess right now but the Steelers could still re-sign Flozell Adams or Max Starks at any time to put that group in jeopardy.  Who will take over the right guard spot?  Tony Hills, Ramon Foster, Doug Legursky or the never ending saga that is Trai Essex?  We will have to watch it play out. 

It sounds like Antonio Brown had the best training camp out of anyone.  

It was said that he was in excellent shape, caught the vast majority of passes thrown to him and the only person who could cover him was Lawrence Timmons (who is more of a freak of nature than Javon Kearse ever was).  I remember last year seeing Tyler Grisham catching a lot of balls in camp but not seeing him get much game time after the season started.  In his case, the positions of RB and WR usually come down to numbers.  Do you want to carry 6 or 7 WR's?  5 or 6 RB's?  Who makes the practice squad?  Is Emmanuel Sanders healthy enough to start the season or should the Steelers place him on the PUP list? 

Tonight’s preseason game will be the last time we see the first team offense and defense in full force before the regular season starts.  The first round of cuts are scheduled for 8/30/11.  Most of the cuts next week will be expected.  The final round of cuts just before week 1 of the regular season is where we could see a surprise or two.  Tonight is the last chance for some guys to make their case as a Pittsburgh Steeler.  I have no doubt that the Steelers will do their best to keep the top 53 guys they have in camp.  Whether those 53 perform well enough to make it back to the super bowl is up to them.

 photo courtesy of examiner.com

Move it along people, Nothing to see here

William Gay would have trouble covering this woman right now

For those who prefer to live their life immersed in drama, you might want to stop reading now.  The Steelers lost their initial pre-season game (oh the humanity!) to the Washington Redskins on Friday night.  For some, it is the end of the Steeler empire.  For those of us living in reality, it was a pre-season game. 

There were a few things that I thought were interesting.  Yes, Big Ben overthrew Mike Wallace and Byron Leftwich overthrew Antonio Brown (who is looking better every day).  This is what happens when guys haven't played together for 6 months.  This was a recurring theme throughout the game.  There were episodes where the timing was off and that affected the defense, blocking schemes and pass patterns.  Am I concerned?  Only about injuries.  The pre-season is conducted to work out the kinks so that the regular season showcases the true abilities of the NFL's athletes.  Practice heals most wounds, especially with a veteran team where they know the playbook but just need to fine-tune the timing.  There were some other observations and here they are:

I said last year that Rashard Mendenhall had more spin moves than The Four Tops.  It appears that Isaac Redman is following in his (spinning) footsteps.  Add Hines Ward (and his DWTS moves) to the mix and we are a lead singer away from having the best 60's R&B group in the league.

Speaking of Isaac Redman, if you are going to try to tackle him, you better bring your crew because he sees the first tackler as a mild nuisance.

The more I watch William Gay in coverage, the more I need to drink while watching the game.  Right now, he couldn't cover the woman in the picture.  It just seems like WR's are always open when the ball is thrown in his direction.

In the long run (the 2011 season), I think the lockout will benefit the Steelers due to our advanced age on defense.  In the last 3 years, this veteran team has played more games than any other team in the league.  Our guys needed rest this spring, not more minicamp or OTA reps.  Be patient Steeler fans and don't panic unless we don't see any progress by the end of the 3rd preseason game.



The Steeler Way

I know that around the league when people say "The Steeler Way" of doing things, it either sends a feeling of pride through the veins of a Steeler lover and a shiver of jealousy through the bones of the Steeler haters. But I think we saw 3 examples of "The Steeler Way" today from three players who love their team and what has become their town.

First, there was Willie Colon. I have been listening to Willie, on Sirius NFL radio for the last year, talk about how much he loves the Steelers and that he didn't want to play anywhere else. Some people questioned that loyalty because they knew that Willie would receive free agent offers from other teams that could very well rival what the Steelers could or would offer him. Willie agreed to a 5 year, $29 million contract with the Steelers today. You might say that $29 million buys you a lot of loyalty. But when a player is offered $3 million more dollars by another team (10% more than the Steelers were offering) and he has just come back from a serious injury, I think you can assume that he values "The Steeler Way".

The other two Steeler players that I am referring to are Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace. James Walker, who writes the AFC North blog for ESPN, tweeted "after being told WR Emmanuel Sanders is aiming for 1000 yards, Mike Wallace then said his goal is 2000 yards receiving". This might be the most competitive group of wide receivers we have seen since Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were chewing Terry Bradshaw's ears off for the football. Word was that last year, the competition between Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders was so fierce, that coaches struggled up until gametime to decide who would be activated.

All in all, this team is a fiercely competitive one and failure is NOT an option.

Photo courtesy of Steelers.com

Plaxico Redux?

Maybe they think we will only remember the good times. Maybe they think you can go home again. Maybe they believe this time will be different. What I recall about the Plaxico era in the Burgh was a guy who had some spectacular catches and games (I was at the tie game vs Atlanta in 2002), and some seriously bad screwups (spiking the ball 2 separate times before being called down by the referees). We know that Ben would love to have him back, but at what cost? Are we forced to cut Randle El who is a dual threat at receiver and punt returner? Does this mean that we have to cut somewhere else to save money (we are still $10million over the salary cap). I just don't see where this helps the Steelers. We have Ward, Wallace, Sanders and Brown that are the core receiving group (and don't forget Heeeeeeeath). How many catches would Plax have in that rotation anyway? Plax isn't a necessity and I just don't see him being a priority right now. I say pass ON Plax, not pass TO Plax.