Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Friday came to an end, and it turned out to be a day of defections from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Three players signed contracts with new teams on Friday, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Mundy, and Willie Colon.  Lets take a look at each of these signings, and discuss what it means for the Steelers.

Keenan Lewis
Starting cornerback Keenan Lewis was the one free agent that I was most hoping would decide to stay with the Steelers, but that didn’t happen.  Lewis signed with his hometown team, the New Orleans Saints.

The disappointing part of Lewis’ departure is that the Steelers could have kept him if they wanted to.  But they didn’t even make him an offer.  He didn’t get an offer last year when he was a restricted free agent, and he didn’t get an offer this year as an unrestricted free agent.  The Saints ended up stealing him for a price that will only count for $2.2 million against their 2013 salary cap.  That’s very cheap for a starting NFL cornerback.

In my opinion, Lewis is more of a philosophical loss than any of the other players.  The Steelers drafted Lewis, and he struggled for his first three years with the team.  But it all finally came together for him last year, and he emerged as a starter.  But now that he’s become a viable player for the Steelers, they let him leave for another team.  NFL teams can’t afford to invest time and money into grooming young players only to see them leave once they’ve become a finished product.  Now that Lewis is 26 years old, he is in his prime playing years, and the Steelers won’t get to reap the benefits of their investment into his development.  Hopefully, this isn’t a pattern that we’ll be seeing very often with young players.

Ryan Mundy
Mundy has been a mediocre backup for the entire time he’s been with the Steelers.  He never even came close to becoming a starter.  Moreover, he never did anything that couldn’t have been done by any random undrafted free agent.  So losing him is not a big loss for the Steelers.

Mundy signed with the New York Giants today, but other than his wife, I don’t think anyone really cares.

Willie Colon
Colon is also going to New York.  Only he won’t be joining Ryan Mundy on the Giants.  Instead, Colon signed with the New York Jets. 

I had been suggesting that the Steelers should move Colon to guard for years, and then last year they finally did, and he was great in the position.  The problem was that Colon just couldn’t stay healthy.  He missed 36 games over the past 3 years.  And made a fortune while missing all of those games.  So he can afford to sign for the one year, $1.2 million contract the Jets gave him. 

Others to watch
We’ll be watching anxiously to see which of the other former Steelers will be signing with new teams.  Rumor has it that James Harrison has had some very fruitful conversations with the Baltimore Ravens, who have lost 3 linebackers since the Super Bowl.  I would hate seeing Harrison wearing purple and black.  I’d also hate to see the Steelers have to face him twice per year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Carolina Panthers in their final preseason game of the 2009 season by a score of 21-10.  However, winning or losing was the least of coach Mike Tomlin’s concerns.

With final 53-man rosters due to the NFL on Saturday, Tomlin and his staff have some very tough decisions to make.  The players who hadn’t yet secured a place on the Steelers’ roster had one final opportunity to do so.  The NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” league, and this game was the ultimate example of that.

Because the goal of the game was to evaluate players who were “on the bubble”, Tomlin barely even played most of his starters.  Instead, players like Mike Reilly, Justin Vincent, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Mundy got to show their stuff.

“I don’t make the decisions,” said Tomlin, “They make the decisions by how they play.”

The player who did the most to help his cause was Stefan Logan.  On his first and only punt return of the game, he returned the ball 80 yards for a touchdown.  Welcome to the Steelers, Mr. Logan.

Others who helped their causes included Isaac Redman, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Mundy, and Arnold Harrison.

Isaac Redman led the team in rushing with 79 yards on 12 carries, while also scoring a touchdown.  He averaged an impressive 6.6 yards per carry.  He also fought for some tough yards on his touchdown run.  Redman ends the preseason as the Steelers rushing leader and touchdown leader.  Not a bad resume to leave for the coaches.

Rookie cornerback Keenan Lewis also helped himself.  Lewis had been very impressive at Steelers training camp, but hadn’t shown as much during the first 3 preseason games.  However, in this final opportunity to shine, Lewis led all tacklers with 10 tackles while also adding 2 passes defensed.

Second year safety Ryan Mundy also helped his cause.  Mundy had 5 solo tackles and one assist.  But much more important than the tackles was the fact that Mundy intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown.

“Any time you run one back, that gets your attention” Tomlin said.

Linebacker Arnold Harrison helped his cause by doing a very good imitation of James Harrison.  He recorded a sack, forced a fumble, and recovered the fumble, all on the same play.  He also combined with Ryan Mundy to stop the Panthers on a fourth and one play.

One player who could have done more to help his own cause was rookie RB Frank “the Tank” Summers.  Summers only gained 4 yards on one carry.  However, Summers does benefit from the fact that he had several nice blocks, and he is a good special teams tackler.

The Steelers don’t have much time before their first game, since they kick off the NFL season next Thursday against the Tennessee Titans.  Thus, coach Tomlin said that he is going to announce his final roster at a press conference today at 4:00 PM.

We will all be waiting anxiously to see who makes the team.

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July 28, 2009
By Donald Starver

Three more days until the start of training camp.  I was hoping to have this series completed before training camp began, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen now.   Darn!

In part 1 of this series we looked at the defensive line.  In part 2 we looked at the linebackers.  In this installment, we are going to turn our attention to the safeties.

In the 2 years that Mike Tomlin has been coach, he has typically carried 4 safeties on the roster.  This number has gone as low as 3 at times due to injuries.  However, 4 seems to be his preferred number.

With that in mind, let’s assume that this year, the Steelers will come out of training camp with 4 safeties on the roster.  The Steelers will go to training camp with 5 safeties, so our task is to identify who is likely to be the odd man out when training camp ends.

Troy Polamalu – Had it not been for James Harrison’s super-human season in 2008, most Steelers fans would have been pimping Troy Polamalu for Defensive Player of the Year.  Polamalu rebounded from a sub-par, injury-riddled 2007 season with a vengeance.  In 2008 he recorded 73 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 24 passes defensed.  Those are exceptional numbers by anyone’s standards.

I think the Steelers should keep this kid.  Don’t you?

Ryan Clark – Clark has always been a competent, if unremarkable safety for the Steelers.  He does his job well and without fanfare.   However, Clark made some devastating hits last season that made fans stand up and take notice.  His hit on Patriots receiver Wes Welker particularly stands out.  That play alone probably made him a favorite of many Steelers fans, and earned him a spot on the 2009 roster.

Tyrone Carter – It is no secret that I am not a fan of Tyrone Carter.  While Carter has been adequate when called upon to play, I have always felt uneasy about his physical stature.  There just aren’t many 5’9″, 195 pound strong safeties in the NFL.  Carter is okay in a pinch, but if anything were to happen to Troy Polamalu, I wouldn’t want to depend on Carter as a long-term solution.

Carter is a 10 year veteran, so his experience counts for something.  However he is 33 years old.  That’s 79 in football years.  His time with the Steelers will not last much longer.

Ryan Mundy – Mundy lost his rookie season due to injury.  With the loss of Anthony Smith, Mundy is going to have to step up and earn his paycheck.  This is likely, since the Steelers’ coaching staff has had nothing but good things to say about Mundy since he joined the team.  I feel confident that Mundy is going to be given every opportunity to make the team.

Derrick Richardson – The free agent from New Mexico State has a real chance of making the Steelers.  He was a second team All-WAC selection his senior year.  He led the nation in tackles per game with 12.5 per game.  That was more that .5 tackles per game more than his closest competitor.  He recorded 8 games with double digit tackles, and had a 21 tackle performance against UTEP.  In 2008, no NCAA defensive player was more of a playmaker than Derrick Richardson.

Richardson is a tough, aggressive safety who is excellent in run support.  That will play well in Dick LeBeau’s defense where safeties MUST be strong in run support.  He is physical, and is always around the ball.  He is also an aggressive special teams player.

Richardson is not as strong in coverage, and has marginal ball skills.  He is not going to lead the league in interceptions.

Richardson is primarily a strong safety, so he will be going head-to-head with Tyrone Carter.  While I would like to see Richardson beat out Tyrone Carter, I just don’t see it happening.  Ryan Mundy is essentially a rookie, and I just can’t see the Steelers coming out of training camp with 2 rookies as the back-ups at safety.  That would leave the team too exposed if one of the starters suffered an injury.

Therefore, I project that Derrick Richardson will be placed on the practice squad, and Tyrone Carter will maintain his position on the 53-man roster.

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March 11, 2009
By Donald Starver

Note: This is the fifth installment in a series.  If you haven’t already read earlier installments, please click the links below

Part 1,

Part 2,

Part 3

Part 4

In our last installment in this series, we talked about what the Steelers’ top priority should be in the upcoming draft.  Most fans probably think that the Steelers’ top priority is the offensive line, and most mock drafts reflect as much.  However, I argued that the Steelers’ top priority should actually be the defensive line.

Having established what the top priority should be, I now want to move on to the Steelers’ second priority in the 2009 NFL draft.

I can hear some of you saying, “finally, he’ll address the offensive line”!  Ummmm, no.  In my opinion, the offensive line is not the Steelers’ top priority in the 2009 draft, nor should it be their second priority.  Nope, that honor falls to the defensive backfield.

The Steelers need DB’s much more than they need offensive linemen.  No, I haven’t been smoking crack.  I’m completely serious.  The Steelers have their entire starting  offensive line from the Super Bowl returning next year.  Every single player will be back.  Moreover, they also have lots of young talent waiting in the wings to challenge the starters for playing time.

Last year’s 4th round draft pick Tony Hills will have a year under his belt, and will actually know what is going on.  Trai Essex looks like he’ll still be around, even though he hasn’t been able to win a starting job after 4 years with the team.  Jason Capizzi is huge, and seems to have potential.  Doug Legursky also shows promise.  As does Jeremy Parquet.

In addition to all of those players waiting in the wings, the Steelers will almost certainly take at least one offensive lineman in the upcoming draft.  So offensive line is covered.  Sure, they’re not world-class, but they’ll do.

Contrast that with the Steelers’ defensive backs.  Unlike the offensive line, the DB’s did lose a starter.  Cornerback Bryant McFadden signed a free agent contract with the West Pittsburgh Cardinals.

We all know that Ike Taylor is the Steelers’ most talented cornerback.  But Bryant McFadden was probably their most consistent cornerback last year, and he was definitely the best in run support.  He will certainly be missed by the Steelers.

Backup cornerback William Gay did get a lot of playing time last season, and Defensive Coordinator Dick LeBeau feels that he’s ready to step in and replace McFadden.  But Gay is not as good as McFadden.

Frankly, I still question the mental competence of William Gay.  After all, he’s the same guy who wore a NY Yankees cap and Arizona Cardinals colors to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl victory parade.  How smart can the guy be if he can make such an inexcusable (and unforgivable)  faux pas?  (Note to William Gay:  our baseball team is the Pittsburgh Pirates, and our team colors are BLACK AND GOLD!!!).

Deshea Townsend is still on the roster as a backup, but Deshea has never been an incredible talent.  Deshea has remained in the league because he is one of the smartest players on the team.  He’s neither big, nor fast, but he seldom makes mental errors, and he never gets caught out of position.  That is a great asset to have as a backup, but Deshea is in his 13th year in the league, and it’s time to yield to younger, faster legs.

What would happen if Ike Taylor ruptured his achilles tendon and had to miss the 2009 season?  The Steelers would be screwed, that’s what would happen.  They have no other cornerback on the roster who can defend top-tier wide receivers, and they have almost no depth at the position.

The situation is not quite as bad at the safety position, since they didn’t lose a starter.  However, the Steelers did lose depth at the position when safety Anthony Smith was allowed (or should I say, “asked”) to leave.

Troy Polamalu is All-Universe, and Ryan Clark is solid.  Their positions as starters are basically guaranteed.   No worries there.

Tyrone Carter is the only other safety on the Steelers’ roster with any actual NFL experience.  Last years’ 6th round draft pick, Ryan Mundy, spent most of the season on the practice squad after being released during the Steelers’ final cuts.

Tyrone Carter has always played competently when called upon.  However, I have always felt uneasy having to rely on a 5’9″ safety.  Sure, lots of 5’9″ guys flourish at cornerback.  But not many do at safety.

Earlier, I listed a slew of young, aspiring offensive linemen waiting in the wings for the Steelers.  As you can see, we have no such list at defensive back.  We basically have an old man, a munchkin, and a practice squad player.  That is our depth in the defensive backfield.  Does that make you feel either comfortable or confident?  Me neither.

That is why if I were Kevin Colbert, my second priority in the 2009 NFL draft would be defensive backs, NOT offensive linemen.

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