Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

I typically don’t do posts that are merely links to other things on the web. However, there are two articles that I read that I just thought were too good for any Steelers fan to miss. They are both about James Harrison, and his incredible path to becoming A.P. Defensive Player of the Year.

The first article is from the New York Times, and can be found here.

The second article is from Yahoo Sports, and can be found here.

I hope you all enjoy these articles as much as I did.

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No, you’re not trapped in a loop in the space-time continuum. It just seems like it. Today the Steelers cut running back Najeh Davenport. Again. What’s that, the third time? Fourth? Fifth? I’ve stopped counting.

To make us feel even more like Bill Murray in “Ground Hog Day”, they also resigned Scott Paxson. You know, the defensive end from Penn State who has been released and resigned by the Steelers more often than Paris Hilton’s been filmed naked. Yawn.

Let me guess, next week the Steelers will release punter Mitch Berger and sign Paul Ernster. Well, at least the Steelers are predictable.

By the way, that was a joke about signing Ernster. I thought I should clarify that before thousands of Steelers fans started committing suicide.

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Today, the Steelers released punter Paul Ernster (again) and brought back punter Mitch Berger (again). Is it just me, or is this getting to be a bit redundant?

Mitch Berger beat out Ernster during training camp, but then developed gimpy hamstrings. When Mike Tomlin finally got tired of seeing Berger limp around the field, he released him and brought in Ernster. Ernster made the most of his opportunity by averaging a whopping 31.6 yards per punt. For those of you who have been living on another planet, that ain’t good.

During the Steelers’ game against the Bengals, Ernster punted 5 times for an average of 28.4 yards. His shortest punt during that game traveled only 23 yards. I’ve never even punted a ball before, and I could punt it farther than that. To put it into perspective just how bad Ernster was, the average punting distance for the top 3 finishers in the 12-13 year old girls division of the 2008 Pass, Punt, & Kick competition was 31.2 yards. That’s right, 31.2 yards. That’s almost 3 yards longer than Ernster averaged in an actual NFL game. Heck, Ernster’s average for the season was only 31.6 yards per punt. Where are the 12 year old girls when you need them?

Steelers' next punter

But let’s look at the bright side (if you can call it that). Ernster only had two punts returned for a total of 4 yards during his time with the Steelers. That’s pretty good, right? Well, not really. Most of Ernster’s punts went off the side of his foot and traveled such a short distance that there were rarely opposing punt returners anywhere near the vicinity of the ball.

So the Steelers cut the punter who can’t punt it farther than adolescent girls, in favor of the punter who has 2 gimpy hamstrings. Wow, I feel more comfortable already.

What I don’t understand is how Berger ended up with 2 pulled hamstrings in the first place. After all, the average punter probably spends a total of about 48 seconds on the field during the average NFL game. So what does he do during the rest of the game? My guess would have been “stretch his hamstrings”, but Berger disproves that theory.

But at least Berger averaged a more respectable 41.9 yards per punt this season. That’s more than 10 yards better than Ernster. He’s got my vote already.

For those of you who are wondering, Berger’s punting average would have earned him 2nd place in the 14-15 year old girls Pass, Punt & Kick division. Believe it or not Steelers fans, that is a step in the right direction.

Please get well soon Dan Sepulveda. Otherwise, the Steelers may have to start scouting 12 year old girls.

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The Steelers cut kick returner and backup running back Najeh Davenport.  Davenport had spent the past 2 seasons as a mostly unproductive running back with the Steelers.   This year, Davenport was brought back as an insurance policy when the Steelers suffered a rash of injuries to their running backs.

In his previous 2 seasons, Davenport gained a combined 720 yards rushing for the Steelers.  He also had 377 receiving yards.  However, despite being 6’1″ and almost 250 lbs., Davenport never played like a “big back”.  Despite his impressive size, Davenport seemed to eschew contact. 

This year, the Steelers used Davenport primarily as a kickoff returner.  He was averaging 21.7 yards per kickoff return, and was leading the Steelers in total kickoff yardage. 

Was it just me, or did Davenport always seem like a compromise solution?  Each time I watched him perform, I always got the nagging feeling that the Steelers could do better.  Each time Davenport had the ball, he always seemed to be running in slow motion.  It still amazes me that he was the Steelers’ best kickoff returner.  I’m not sure if that says something positive about Najeh, or something negative about the rest of the Steelers kickoff returners. 

The one positive that Davenport did bring to the kick return game was his propensity to go north-south, rather than east-west.  Davenport understood that the goal of a kick returner was to get the ball closer to the goal line.  His technique was simple; catch the ball, and then run towards the goal line as fast as you can before the opposing team tackles you.  Davenport’s speed was never impressive, but his understanding of high school geometry was.  He remembered the mathematical rule that the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line.  When Davenport returned kicks, he never really tried to evade tacklers.  He simply ran in a straight line until he couldn’t run any more.  He would usually gain about 21 yards before that would happen.

I’m not sad to see Davenport go.  He never was a fan favorite.  However, I hope that the Steelers’ remaining kickoff returners will learn something from Davenport.  Go north-south rather than east-west.  Afterall, the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line.

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