Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Today was cut day.  All 32 NFL teams have until 9:00p.m. to announce their 53-man roster.  The Steelers wasted no time announcing theirs.

There were a few surprises, but for the most part, everything went as most fans probably expected.

The biggest surprises were that they cut Trai Essex and Jeremy Kapinos.  Essex has managed to hang onto a position for years, despite his obvious deficiencies.  I guess that position flexibility outweighs overall ineptitude.

One move that may have come as a surprise to some, but not to me, was that they chose to keep Charlie Batch.  Batch clearly outplayed the much younger Jerrod Johnson during the preseason.  And his knowledge, experience, and leadership made him an easy selection, despite his age.

QB Charlie Batch

Despite generating a lot of excitement when he was drafted, due to his size and speed, the Steelers also cut rookie wide receiver Toney Clemons.

So the Steelers’ 2012 roster is as follows:

Quarterbacks (3):  Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich, & Charlie Batch.

Running Backs (6):  Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer, Baron Batch, Chris Rainey, & Will Johnson

Offensive Linemen (9):  Max Starks, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster, Marcus Gilbert, Mike Adams, Doug Legursky, David DeCastro, & Kelvin Beachum.

Wide receivers (4):  Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Jericho Cotchery

Tight Ends (3):  Heath Miller, Weslye Saunders*, Leonard Pope, and David Paulson

Defensive Linemen (7):  Ziggy Hood, Casey Hampton, Brett Keisel, Al Woods, Steve McLendon, Cameron Heyward, Alemeda Ta’amu

Linebackers (9):  LaMarr Woodley, Larry Foote, Lawrence Timmons, Chris Carter, Brandon Johnson, Stevenson Sylvester, Adrian Robinson, James Harrison, Jason Worilds.

Cornerbacks (4):  Ike Taylor, Keenan Lewis, Cortez Allen, Curtis Brown

Safeties (5):  Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Ryan Mundy, Will Allen, Robert Golden

Kicker:  Shawn Suisham

Punter:  Drew Butler

Long Snapper:  Greg Warren

Injured Reserve:  Sean Spence

Note:  Weslye Saunders is not technically on the team because he is suspended for the first 4 games.  When he comes back, David Paulson will probably be moved to the practice squad.

Mike Wallace returned to the Steelers on Tuesday.  Finally!

Wallace showed up at the Steelers offices and signed the one-year, $2.7 million tender offer that’s been on the table for months.

After a long holdout that apparently gained him nothing, Wallace was back on the sidelines at Steelers’ practice.  Although in accordance to the new collective bargaining agreement, he isn’t allowed to practice with the team yet.

“I couldn’t even go on the field. That was a little different,” said Wallace.  “I am here now, learning the plays. I get to at least see it. At home I couldn’t even see it. At least getting to watch those guys I am getting a couple of mental reps.”

Even though he wasn’t allowed to practice, Wallace was happy to be back among his teammates.

“My teammates need me,” Wallace said when asked why he decided to report after missing nearly all of training camp and the preseason.  “It’s time to get ready for the season. I felt like it was time to go.  I’m ready to roll.  I’m here.  That’s really all that matters to me.”

Wallace has been working out, and he’s in very good physical condition.  However, being in good shape is not the same as being in good football shape.

WR Mike Wallace

“As far as conditioning-wise we have two weeks until the game,” said Wallace.  “I have been working out, doing really good conditioning so that is not going to be a problem.  Nothing is like getting in football shape.  It’s a little different.  The first couple of days I might be a little more tired than the rest of the guys, not because I am not in shape but because it’s different with the pads on.  I will be ready when it’s time to go on Sunday night against Denver.”

Both Wallace and offensive coordinator Todd Haley believe that Wallace can be ready in time for the season opener against Denver.

One thing that Wallace’s absence did do was answer the question of whether Antonio Brown could thrive without Mike Wallace to draw double teams.  Brown answered that loud and clear, as he dominated in the preseason, despite being the Steelers #1 receiving option.

Now that Wallace is back, Brown should become even more dangerous.  And Brown’s emergence should help reduce the number of double teams that teams are able to throw at Mike Wallace.  Defensive coordinators will have to pick their poison.

Wallace isn’t eligible to play in the Steelers’ final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, so he’ll likely make his debut against the Broncos on September 9th.

The Steelers looked like they had the game won.  They were leading the Eagles 23-21 with 12 seconds left in the game.  But Andy Reid called on kicker Alex Henery to boot a 51 yard field goal, and Henery delivered.  Game over.  Steelers lose.

Of course, nobody really cares who wins the first preseason game of the year.  After all, the purpose of the game is to get an opportunity to see the young players under game conditions.  Winning or losing is a secondary concern.

Despite the loss, there were some important things that we saw in the game.

The first thing that we saw was that Ben Roethlisberger looks good in Todd Haley’s offense.  He only played in one series, but Big Ben completed 7 0f 8 passes for 49 yards.

Just as we’ve seen in training camp, Ben threw mostly short passes.  That’s a big departure from the long downfield passes that he used to throw to Mike Wallace when Bruce Arians was the offensive coordinator.

Haley’s new offense may have taken a hit when fullback David Johnson left the game with an ACL injury.  Preliminary reports say that he may be lost for the season.  Unlike Arians’ offense, Haley’s offense sometimes uses a fullback to block.  But with the loss of Johnson, the Steelers are left with only one fullback on the roster.

Rookie tackle Mike Adams also left the game with a knee injury.  But reports from the team say that the injury is minor.  Running back Jonathan Dwyer also left the game with an injury that doesn’t appear to be significant.

In addition to Haley’s new offense, fans also got to see the offensive line for the first time.  And frankly, they didn’t look good.  Big Ben was sacked twice, despite only playing one series.  Byron Leftwich was also sacked twice when he came in to replace Roethlisberger.  And rookie left tackle Mike Adams was responsible for 2.5 of the sacks during the game.  That’s not a good performance by the young guy.

But what was good was rookie running back Chris Rainey.  He caught a short pass, and turned it into a 57 yard touchdown.  Based on what we’ve seen so far, this kid has the potential to be absolutely electrifying.

Another highlight was Baron Batch.  Batch got plenty of opportunities to work of the rust from a season spent on injured reserve.  Batch led the team with 19 carries, and he converted those carries into 41 yards.

Jonathan Dwyer also turned in a 33 yard run in his limited action.  He ended the game with 2 carries for 40 total yards.  That’s not a bad night.

On defense, nose tackle Steve McLendon recorded a sack on Michael Vick.  That’s pretty impressive because Vick is very elusive.  More importantly, it’s one more sack than we’ve seen from Casey Hampton in years.

Overall, I’m not drawing many conclusions from this game.  But the one conclusion that I did draw was that I want to see more of Chris Rainey.

The Steelers begin their 2012 preseason on Thursday, when they face the Philadelphia Eagles.

We all know that the Steelers’ starters don’t typically take many snaps until the third preseason game.  That will likely be true this week as well.  But despite a lack of starters playing meaningful minutes, there will still be some interesting position battles to keep your eyes on.

Here are a few of the players/positions that I think Steelers fans should be paying close attention to on Thursday:

Cornerback

Some are already saying that Keenan Lewis is going to be the starter when the regular season begins, and that Cortez Allen will be the first player called upon in nickel situations.  But I don’t completely agree with that assessment.

Thus far I’ve seen a very tight battle at training camp.  Lewis, Allen, and Curtis Brown have all shown an ability to make plays.  Nobody has separated from the pack.  Because of this, many sports writers and bloggers are saying that Keenan Lewis has the advantage due to his longer tenure with the team.  Cortez Allen got more playing time at nickelback last year than Curtis Brown, so people assume that he will be next on the depth chart.  And finally, they assume that Brown will be third on the depth chart due to his lack of playing time at the cornerback position.

All of that may be true right now, but I’m hoping that one of the three players will separate himself on the field.  Tomorrow’s preseason game will be the first opportunity for one of them to do that.

Running back

Isaac Redman is thoroughly entrenched as the starting running back while Rashard Mendenhall is on the PUP list.  But after him, it’s anybody’s position to win.  Jonathan Dwyer, John Clay, Baron Batch, and Cris Rainey are all very different types of running backs.  They bring different things to the party.  It will be interesting to see which of them is capable of making the biggest impact in Todd Haley’s new offense.

Like so many other Steelers fans, I’m particularly excited to see what Chris Rainey can do under actual game conditions.

Chris Rainey

Wide receiver

Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Jericho Cotchery, and Mike Wallace (when he finally show up), are all entrenched at wide receiver.  Their places on the roster are assured.  But there are two other wide receiver slots on the roster that have yet to be claimed.

Toney Clemons is tall, and he has speed, but he really hasn’t done very much in training camp.  Frankly, he’s looked more like Limas Sweed than John Stallworth.

Frankly, it’s been Marquis Maze and Derrick Williams who have done the best job of holding onto the ball at practice.  But that’s very different from holding onto the ball while a cornerback is trying to take your head off.

Nose tackle

After the draft, everyone assumed that Alameda Ta’amu was the nose tackle of the future.  But from all indications in camp, the future is now, and his name is Steve McLendon.  McLendon is bigger, faster, and stronger than he was last year, and he has been thoroughly outplaying Ta’amu.  In fact, it hasn’t even been close.

Frankly, I’m not sure that Casey Hampton would be able to hold off McLendon from taking his position even if he were healthy (Hampton is currently on the PUP list).

Offensive line

Well, it’s not the entire offensive line that I’m anxious to see.  It’s just the two rookies; David DeCastro and Mike Adams.

Adams has looked good in training camp.  DeCastro…….Ummmm, not so much.  But both will have plenty of opportunities to show what they can do on Thursday.  Coach Mike Tomlin has announced that both rookies will be starting against the Eagles.

Steelers Training Camp is always a well-attended affair. But the most exciting day of training camp is usually the annual “Friday Night Lights” practice.

Unlike the regular practices that are held at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, the “Friday Night Lights” practice is held at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.  Also, while practices at Saint Vincent are always held during the day, the “Friday Night Lights” practice is the lone training camp practice that is held at night.

I have been a regular at Steelers Training Camp for years, and I must say that the annual Friday Night Lights practice is always the best opportunity to get an autograph from your favorite Steelers player. The Steelers have a special time before practice where fans can line up to get autographs from the favorite players. More importantly, the team makes sure that all of the players participate.

Those of you who attend training camp at Saint Vincent College know that certain players like Big Ben, James Harrison, and Troy Polamalu generally don’t spend much time signing autographs. But others, like Ziggy Hood and Ryan Clark, seem to be more than happy to sign autographs for anyone that asks.

Ziggy Hood signing autographs

But at the Friday Night Lights practice, you can get an autograph from just about anybody that you want one from. Even former Steelers (some of them are Hall-of-Famers) sometimes sign autographs.

“Mean” Joe Greene signs autographs

If you plan to go to “Friday Night Lights”, there are a few things that you need to know.  The first and most important thing that you need to know is that “Latrobe Memorial Stadium” is NOT located at Latrobe High School.  The first time I ever tried to go to a Friday Night Lights practice, I thought that the stadium would be located at the high school.  And I wasn’t the only one.  There were probably 50 other cars driving around the high school looking for the practice with me.  In fact, it’s such a frequent mistake that Latrobe High School posts signs all over the high school grounds informing people that the practice is not taking place there, and giving directions to Latrobe Memorial Stadium.

So if you plan to go, get directions in advance.  Don’t be one of the hundreds of people who will inevitably end up at Latrobe High School tonight.

Secondly, get there early.  The practice starts at 7:00 p.m., but the gates actually open at 5:30 p.m.  If you want a great seat, get there early.  Also, be aware that there is an admissions charge.  This is different from the practices at Saint Vincent College, which are always free.

Lastly, don’t forget to bring something for the Steelers to sign for you.  There’s nothing worse than having Troy Polamalu standing right in front of you waiting to sign an autograph for you, and suddenly realizing you don’t have anything for him to sign.