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AFC North Review: Pittsburgh Steelers

June 07, 2009 By: Admin Category: Draft/Free Agency

June 7, 2009
By Donald Starver

This is part 4 of our AFC North review. On Thursday, Joe Barnes from the Baltimore Ravens blog The Ebony Bird started things off with a review of the Baltimore Ravens’ off-season. On Friday, Adam Kiefaber from the Cincinnati Bengals Blog Bengal Stripes gave us his review of the Bengals’ off-season. On Saturday, Don Delco from the Cleveland Browns blog No Logo Needed shared his perspective on the Browns’ off-season moves. Now it’s my turn to share my views on the Steelers’ off-season thus far.

AFC North Offseason Review: Pittsburgh Steelers

2008 overall record: 12-4

AFC North record: 6-0

Key losses: CB Bryant McFadden, WR Nate Washington, ILB Larry Foote, QB Byron Leftwich, S Anthony Smith

Key Free Agent Signings/Trades: CB Keiwan Ratliff, WR Shaun McDonald, P Dirk Johnson

Key Draft Selections: Round 1 – DT Ziggy Hood (Missouri); round 3A – OG Kraig Urbik (Wisconsin); round 3B – WR Mike Wallace (Mississippi); round 3C – CB Keenan Lewis (Oregon State); round 5A – CB Joe Burnett (Central Florida); round 5B – RB Frank Summers (UNLV); round 6 – DT Ra’Shon Harris (Oregon); round 7A – C A. Q. Shipley (Penn State); round 7B – TE David Johnson (Arkansas State).

Best free agent signing and impact:

As usual, the Steelers were not active in free agency. Rather than participating in the free agent bidding wars, the Steelers sat on the sidelines and picked up a few leftovers when the bidding had subsided. Keiwan Ratliff will provide another veteran defensive back, where the Steelers are woefully short-handed. However, the greatest impact will probably be from WR Shaun McDonald. McDonald is a solid veteran receiver who played for a very bad Detroit Lions team. He was the Lions’ leading receiver in 2007 before losing the title to superstar Calvin Johnson in 2008. McDonald will make a great #3 receiver, although he will be pushed by 2nd year player Limas Sweed and rookie Mike Wallace

Biggest Loss and Impact:

The Steelers suffered 3 key losses during the off-season. Wide receiver Nate Washington signed with the Tennessee Titans, cornerback Bryant McFadden signed with the Arizona Cardinals, and LB Larry Foote signed with the Detroit Lions. None of these players constitute a major loss, and all should be easily replaced. Washington was the Steelers #3 receiver. He will be much easier to replace than a #1 or #2 receiver would be. McFadden was a starting cornerback, but he was splitting time with William Gay. Gay will step in and replace McFadden full-time just like he did last year on a part-time basis. Like McFadden, Foote was splitting time with former 1st round pick Lawrence Timmons. Timmons is younger, faster, and more talented than Foote. Despite the 3 losses, the Steelers should actually emerge as a stronger team because of them.

What is your reaction to the Steelers’ draft? I really like the players the Steelers selected. Ziggy Hood adds much needed youth to the Steelers defensive line. Kraig Urbik should be able to win a starting position at right guard by mid-season. Mike Wallace has amazing speed, and is a star receiver of the future. Keenan Lewis should see some playing time if he can learn the playbook. Frank Summers is the short yardage back that the Steelers have lacked since Jerome Bettis retired. And getting a center in the 7th round who won the Rimington Trophy in 2008 was the icing on the cake. The Steelers addressed most of their needs, got much stronger in their return game, and added pieces for the future. Overall, an excellent draft.

Was the Steelers’ biggest need addressed? Yes and no. Some fans would say that the Steelers should have taken offensive linemen in all 7 rounds. The fact that they only took 2 offensive linemen will be viewed as a failure by some. After all, $100 million quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked 4 billion times over the last two seasons (okay, maybe not that many time, but he’s been sacked a lot). I think the offensive line will be much better next year. But of course, I said the same thing after the 2007 season.

What storylines will you follow in camp? 1) Will the sophomores finally make an impact. Rashard Mendenhall, Limas Sweed, Tony Hills, and Bruce Davis need to make their presence felt this year. They were all MIA last year, and that will have to change if they want to hold onto their roster spots. 2) How is Lawrence Timmons adjusting to being a starter? I think he’ll do fine, but I’d like to see it on the field. 3) Can the Steelers’ offensive line finally figure out how to keep QB Ben Roethlisberger off his back? Let’s face it. Big Ben gets sacked way too often. If he is going to last in this league, he is going to have to get better protection. 4) Can Joe Burnett and Mike Wallace make an impact on the return game? The Steelers didn’t have many weak spots last year. Their return game was one of the few.

So, that is my review of the Steelers’ off-season so far. I really like what they’ve done. I don’t think we’re going to miss any of the players who left, and I think the rookies are going to be solid. We won the Super Bowl last year, despite having the toughest schedule in the NFL. The road to the Super Bowl will be much easier this time around.

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