Pittsburgh Steelers final 2009 53-man roster
September 5, 2009
By Donald Starver
The Steelers have finally published their final cuts for the 2009 season. Head coach Mike Tomlin was originally scheduled to announce his cuts yesterday at a press conference at 4:00PM. However, the Steelers decided not to give the other NFL teams advance notice of which players the Steelers would be releasing. The Steelers believed that would have given the other 31 NFL teams too much time to negotiate with and steal players that the Steelers would like to sign to their practice squad. So instead, the Steelers kept their official cuts secret until the last possible moment.
Among those cut by the Steelers were preseason star Isaac Redman, last year’s 3rd round draft pick Bruce Davis, fullback Carey Davis, Dallas Baker, and 2009 draft picks Sonny Harris and A.Q. Shipley. Also cut was CB Anthony Madison, who was seldom used as a defensive back but was the team’s leading special teams tackler.
The Steelers tried to make last minute trades, but appear to have been unsuccessful. One area that they would have liked to upgrade is their backup left tackle position. Tony Hills is the top backup at left tackle, but the Steelers would rather have a more experienced veteran playing this critical role.
So the Steelers’ roster appears to be as follows:
Quarterbacks – Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch,and Dennis Dixon.
Running backs – Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall, Mewelde Moore, Frank Summers, and Stefan Logan.
Stefan Logan
Wide Receivers – Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Limas Sweed, Mike Wallace, and Shaun McDonald
Tight ends – Heath Miller, Matt Spaeth, and David Johnson.
David Johnson
Offensive linemen – Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu, Justin Hartwig, Trai Essex, Willie Colon, Doug Legursky, Neo….ummm, I mean Tony Hills, Ramon Foster, and Kraig Urbik.
Defensive linemen – Casey Hampton, Chris Hoke, Aaron Smith, Brett Keisel, Ziggy Hood, Travis Kirschke, and Nick Eason.
Linebackers - James Harrison, James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley, Keyaron Fox, Patrick Bailey, Andre Frazier, and Arnold Harrison.
Safeties – Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Tyrone Carter, and Ryan Mundy.
Ryan Mundy
Cornerbacks – Ike Taylor, William Gay, Deshea Townsend, Keenan Lewis, Joe Burnett, Keiwan Ratliff.
Specialists – Jeff Reed, Dan Sepulveda, and Greg Warren
This is almost the exact roster that I predicted last week in this article. The only real changes are Summers instead of Redman, Eason instead of Harris, Ryan Mundy instead of Donovan Woods, and Joe Burnett instead of Anthony Madison.
So this is the group that will take the field for the black and gold in their quest for championship #7. Here we go!
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THESE AWESOMELY TALENTED AND CHOSEN MEN WILL BE THE OWNERS OF THE 7TH RING! THEY WILL ALSO BE THE ONES WHO BEAT THE HELLLLL OUT OF THE titans ON THURSDAY!!!
1Thanks for the updated info. I look forward to this season as it gets under way. One day I hope to see a game live at Heinz Field. Best wishws for another winning seasin!!!!!!! GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!! Here we go!!!!!!
2Looks like Mike T. has assembled another great team heading towards the super bowl title.
3I still cant believe that the steelers cut redman….this may come back to haunt them and deservedly so
4We have to have the greatest scouting department in all of football, these guys deserve a lot of credit for our team success, they keep finding players that fit the traditional Pittsburgh Steelers Mold, my hat goes off to them.
5It’s looks like both Isaac Redman and Donovan Woods were signed to the practice squad. I think that we’ll probably see them both on the active roster in the future. Redman looked great but you can’t argue that Willie has to produce to pay the bills next year, we haven’t got a real good look at Mendenhall yet, and Mewelde towed the line last year amidst all that injury.
6Excellent roster. Glad to see each an every name on that list. I can’t say the same for the last couple of years so I’m really excited to see that the seventh ring is on it’s way. Go Steelers!!!
7Three issues 1.Frank Summers over Issac Redman.What exactly did Summers do in the preseason??2.Mike Wallace over any of the many WR they cut. Ditto for Wallace.3.Keenan Lewis over Anthony Madison (your leading special teams tackler).These decisions have one thing in common.The Steelers kept their Draft picks over anyone(except the last 2 which are on practice squad.)Why??Who knows, but in Redman’s case its an obvious mistake. Arnold Harrison over Bruce Davis was also a minor shock to me.
8Also,is it just me or does Rashard Mendenhall seem to lack quickness and acceleration.Every time he carries,I’m expecting to see 2-3 yds and a cloud of dust.
9GE Winkler,
1) Redman was not necesarily in direct competition with Summers. Redman is a RB, Summers a FB/RB combo. Redman’s direct competition was against Parker, Mendenhall, and Moore – which is one he could not win. The only way he would have made the roster is if the Steelers decided to carry 4 RB’s and no FB’s – which was possible but unlikely. What did Summers do? He blocked and played ST’s well.
2) I am at a loss on this one. You actually think there was a WR cut who did better and has more upside than Wallace? He’s one of the fastest guys on the team, has huge potential, made a lot of plays in practice (and a few in the preseason games), and is only a rookie.
3) Keenan Lewis was always safe this year as a third round pick. Madison lost his spot to Burnett. The issue here is that Madison was only a ST player and was never going to be a CB. With Burnett and Lewis, they are contributors on ST but also have the potential to develop into good CB’s. So, while Madison is currently better than they are as a gunner, they have the potential to be better overall players in the long run.
4) While the Steeler’s management is human, so they do make mistakes, they do not keep their draft picks over anybody. For just about ANY team in the NFL – if you are picked in the top 3 rounds – you are going to make the team for the first year based on potential alone. After that, for the Steelers, it goes by talent. The Steelers are one of the best teams at allowing undrafted players to make the team (Harrison, Parker, Stapleton…etc.) but they are also a very good drafting team.
For 2007 for example, only 4 of the 6 drafted players are still on the team – they are Timmons, Woodley, Spaeth, and Sepulveda – all key contributors. For 2008, only 5 of 7 are still on the team. The most questionable is Hills but he made the team essentially because there was nobody else available (neither Parquet or Capizzi appeared any better).
So, in summary, I think you are going a little overboard. Yes, Redman played well in the preseason. I like him, I think he has potential, and I’m glad he made the practice squad. If Mendenhall doesn’t show anything this year or if Parker isn’t resigned, Redman will have the chance to take one of their spots next year. But, let’s take a deep breath. He cleared waivers so 31 other teams do not think it was an obvious mistake.
The only issue that irritated me about the cuts was the choice to keep Eason over Sonny Harris. What were they thinking on that one?
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