Continue reading »]]> After tearing his ACL in the loss to the Denver Broncos in the 2011 playoffs, Max Starks came back and played every snap for the Steelers at left tackle in 2012. Even though Starks has been a more than solid tackle for the Steelers in his career, the team decided that it would move on with Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams at the tackle positions. The Steelers made an attempt to bring Starks back but the veteran tackle still viewed himself as a starter and the team would not give him that opportunity. That being said, there had been little interest in Starks for most of the offseason and there was hope from Steelers’ fans that the team would be able to re-sign him at some point.

Those hopes were shot down on Tuesday, May 21, when according to Bill Williamson of the Associated Press via ESPN.com, Starks signed a one year deal with the San Diego Chargers.

The Steelers tried to get rid of Starks before and even went into the 2011 regular season with Jonathan Scott as the starting left tackle. After watching Ben Roethlisberger get killed to start the season, the team re-signed Starks and he started the rest of the year. Then after Starks tore his ACL in the playoff loss to the Broncos there was speculation that the team would not re-sign him again. As stated above, Starks went on to start every game in 2012 on an offensive line that seemed to get someone else hurt every week.

With Starks leaving that leaves Ben Roethlisberger as the last one left from the 2004 draft class and puts immense pressure on whoever wins the left tackle job for 2013. I expect Marcus Gilbert win the job and if he stays healthy I think he can do the job. The problem is that we’re going from a known commodity in Max Starks to the unknown in Gilbert and Adams. Another factor is that both Gilbert and Adams are coming off of seasons where they ended up on injured reserve. Even if Starks didn’t begin the season as a starter, he would have given the team great depth in case of injury.

Right now the Steelers do not really have a backup left tackle on the roster other than whoever loses the job between Gilbert and Adams in camp. The only other tackles on currently on the roster are Guy Whimper, Kelvin Beachum, Joe Long, Mike Farrell, and Ramon Foster. Foster will be the starting guard and only really has experience at right tackle. Guy Whimper is a veteran but he is a right tackle and I don’t even consider him to have a legitimate shot to make the roster. Joe Long is just a camp body and although I think Mike Farrell has a good shot to make the roster, he is an undrafted rookie and I would hope the team doesn’t have to rely on him this season. That leaves Kelvin Beachum who is being groomed to be the ultimate swing offensive lineman but even he hasn’t gotten time at left tackle.

I actually think the team should have a very good offensive line this season but all it will take is one injury to completely change that. The past couple seasons the team has had the luxury of being able to call Max Starks and bring him in as an instant starter. Now the team is going to find out if they made the right decision in going all in with the two young tackles in Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams.

Let’s just hope everyone can stay healthy and although it is hard to see Max Starks go, I wish him luck with his new team.

Continue reading »]]> The Pittsburgh Steelers are set at the starting outside linebacker positions with LaMarr Woodley and Jason Worilds. Add the fact that the team just drafted Jarvis Jones in the first round as an instant pass rusher and eventual starter and that really only leaves one roster spot left at the position. The Steelers did keep five outside linebackers on the roster last season in Woodley, Worilds, James Harrison, Chris Carter and Adrian Robinson. A huge reason for that though was because both Harrison and Worilds were dealing with injuries to start the season.

With both of them sidelined, Chris Carter got the start to begin the season and ensued to tally only eight combined tackles and zero sacks. Once Harrison and Worilds were healthy, Carter was relegated to being a backup and ended up on Injured Reserve for the rest of the 2012 season. If Carter had been able to show more with the opportunity he received last season I would think he was a lock for the roster this year. With the release of Harrison, you would think the team could just keep Carter and Robinson and carry five outside linebackers again.

I really don’t see that happening this year because of the injury to Heath Miller, and the lack of depth on the offensive line and at safety. If the team concludes that Miller is not going to be ready to start the season they could decide to keep an extra tight end in David Johnson. The fact that the team always sustains injuries on the offensive line means they could keep an extra offensive lineman on the roster as well. I actually really like the players the team has on the roster at the safety position but they could decide to sign a veteran instead of going into the season with just Robert Golden and Shamarko Thomas as backups. Throw in that I believe the team really wants to possibly keep Josh Victorian or DeMarcus Van Dyke as an additional corner and there really isn’t an extra roster spot to go around this year.

Adrian Robinson showed some pass rushing potential during the Preseason yet he never saw any game action in 2012. The big knock on Robinson has been his apparent inability to play special teams which a backup linebacker must be able to do on the Steelers. He is going to have to prove he has developed since his rookie year as a special teamer and as an overall player.

Everything being even I give the edge to Chris Carter mainly because he has a year more experience on Robinson meaning he should have a better understanding of the defense. That being said if Carter gets injured, again, that would obviously severely hinder his chances to make the team. In a perfect world, Woodley would stay healthy for the entire season, Worilds and Jarvis Jones would prove to be viable options on the other side and this conversation would have been made about a guy who did nothing but play special teams. Unfortunately though, injuries are always a play away in the NFL and either Carter or Robinson could be forced to be major contributors in 2013.

Statistics from ESPN.com.

Continue reading »]]> In case you missed it, we’re counting down the five best multiple-pick rounds in Pittsburgh Steelers drafts since Kevin Colbert started running the draft in 2000.

After revealing No. 4 and No. 5 in Part 1 of this series (click here), we’ll unveil the top three here.

Prosportstransactions.com was used for information on draft trades.

3. 2002 Seventh Round

The Steelers likely will continue to reap the benefits of the 2002 draft in 2013. Seventh-rounder Brett Keisel figures to be with the Steelers for at least another year.

Keisel began making an impact in 2005 with three sacks. He became a starter at defensive end the following year. He’s had 25 career sacks, broken up 31 passes, forced six fumbles and recovered seven fumbles in his career.

Keisel made the Pro Bowl and helped the Steelers get to the Super Bowl in 2010.

The Steelers’ third-best multiple-pick round of the Colbert era also comes with subtle infamy. Before taking Keisel with the 242nd pick, the Steelers traded kicker Kris Brown to the Houston Texans for the top pick in the seventh round. With the 212th pick, the Steelers drafted LaVar Glover. The defensive back appeared in two games in 2002. The problem was that it was with the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Steelers couldn’t be blamed for dealing Brown, who missed 14 of 44 field-goal attempts in 2001. However, Brown kicked a field goal to help the Texans stun the Steelers 24-6 at Heinz Field in 2002. That loss to the 4-12 Texans cost the Steelers home-field advantage in the playoffs, where they lost at Tennessee in overtime in the divisional round.

2. 2010 Sixth Round

Now we get to multiple-pick rounds that actually include more than one productive pick.

The Steelers selected running back Jonathan Dwyer with their original sixth-round pick, No. 188. Dwyer hasn’t exactly been Franco Harris, but at least he’s more than just a forgettable name in the Steelers’ draft archives.

Dwyer started six games for the Steelers in 2012 and led the team with 623 rushing yards. He also caught 18 passes. The Steelers drafted Michigan State running back Le’Veon Bell in the second round last month and he’ll get every chance to start as a rookie. But Dwyer is projected to provide depth.

Seven picks after taking Dwyer, the Steelers knocked their next pick out of the park by drafting Antonio Brown at No. 195. The Steelers traded a 2010 fifth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals to acquire Bryant McFadden and the pick that was used for Brown.

Brown’s breakout moment in his rookie year came in the AFC divisional playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens. He pinned a 58-yard Ben Roethlisberger pass to his helmet on third-and-19, setting up the winning touchdown.

Brown was the Steelers’ Most Valuable Player in 2011. He caught 69 passes, two for touchdowns, and returned a punt for a touchdown. He was second in the NFL with 2,211 all-purpose yards and led the league with 16.6 yards per touch.

Last season, Brown caught 66 passes, including five touchdowns. He fumbled four times, however, and will need to fix that problem in 2013.

1. 2009 Third Round

Even though the Steelers no longer will enjoy the fruits of this round, it’s still the best multiple-pick round in any Colbert draft.

As defending Super Bowl champions, the Steelers picked last in every round in 2009. So they traded their second- and fourth-round picks, Nos. 64 and 132, to the Denver Broncos for their two third-rounders.

With the 79th pick, the Steelers chose guard Kraig Urbik. He doesn’t factor into these rankings because a player’s career with another team isn’t considered. The Steelers let Urbik go after one year, and he’s started 28 games for the Buffalo Bills over the past three seasons.

Five picks later, however, the Steelers chose Mike Wallace with the other pick they acquired from the Broncos.

Wallace caught 39 passes as a rookie and led the NFL with 19.4 yards per reception. He was instrumental in the Steelers’ Super Bowl run in 2010, catching 60 passes for 10 touchdowns. He was second in the league with 21 yards per catch.

Wallace made the Pro Bowl in 2011 with a career-high 72 receptions, including eight touchdowns. After catching 64 passes and scoring another eight touchdowns in 2012, Wallace signed with the Miami Dolphins as a free agent. The Steelers would have kept him if it weren’t for salary cap restrictions.

The Broncos, meanwhile, chose tight end Richard Quinn with the second-round pick they got from the Steelers. He’s now with the Cincinnati Bengals, his third NFL team, and has one career reception. In the fourth round, Denver took Seth Olsen. The guard has five starts under his belt and joined his third team when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason.

With their original third-round pick, No. 96 overall, the Steelers drafted cornerback Keenan Lewis. He was slow to develop, starting just one game in his first three seasons.

Then in 2012, Lewis emerged as a shutdown corner, starting all 16 games and breaking up 23 passes, second in the NFL. The Steelers felt Cortez Allen was ready to become a starter and let Lewis go to the New Orleans Saints as a free agent.

It’s telling that the Steelers’ best multiple-pick draft round since 2000 is one with a four-year expiration date.

It’s a lot easier to find five multiple-pick rounds where the Steelers whiffed.

Stay tuned.

Follow Mike on Twitter.

Continue reading »]]> If the 2013 Pittsburgh Steelers draft was made into a movie, the dramatic climax would come in the fourth round.

The Steelers traded next year’s third-round pick for the Browns’ fourth-round pick, No. 111, to draft flashy safety Shamarko Thomas. Then, four picks later, the Steelers dropped some jaws by drafting Landry Jones.

Jones is the first quarterback the Steelers have drafted in five years. The last time the Steelers went five years without drafting a quarterback was1949.

The Steelers drafted Oklahoma wide receiver Justin Brown in the sixth round, then used their compensatory sixth-round pick to take Florida State inside linebacker Vince Williams.

The fourth and sixth rounds of the Steelers’ 2013 draft were their 20th and 21st multiple-pick rounds since Kevin Colbert became director of football operations in 2000.

Like every team, the Steelers have stacked multiple picks in one round from time to time either by trading picks or through compensatory picks.

Some of those rounds have turned out better than others.

Not including the 2013 draft, we’ll look at No. 5 and No. 4 on our list of the top five multiple-pick rounds in Steelers drafts during the Colbert era.

5. 2007 Fifth Round

Guard Cameron Stephenson, taken with the No. 156 pick, didn’t make it with the Steelers and didn’t play a down in the NFL. But William Gay, taken 14 picks later with the Steelers’ compensatory pick, was a decent role player for five years and had enough of an impact to offset the Stephenson pick and make this round one of the Steelers five best multiple-pick rounds since 2000.

After playing a year in Arizona, Gay is back for a second act in Pittsburgh.

Gay’s biggest contribution came in 2011, when he started 15 games at cornerback. He made game-saving, fourth-quarter interceptions in wins over the Bengals and Browns that season. The Cardinals cut Gay after the 2012 season, and with Cortez Allen replacing Keenan Lewis as a starter, the Steelers brought back Gay to replace Allen at nickelback.

4. 2000 Fifth Round

The Steelers drafted outside linebacker Clark Haggans with the 137th overall pick. He broke out in his third season and had 32.5 sacks and 17 passes defended between 2002 and 2007. He started at least 13 games beginning in 2004 and had six sacks for the 15-1 Steelers that year. He also had one sack in both of the Steelers’ playoff games in 2004.

Haggans turned in his best season in 2005. His nine sacks and four forced fumbles during the regular season and 1.5 sacks in the postseason helped the Steelers win their fifth championship.

In the opening series of Super Bowl XL, Haggans sacked Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck for a 4-yard loss on third-and-9. That forced the first of four Tom Rouen punts near midfield that could have pinned the Steelers deep in their own territory, but instead went into the end zone for a touchdown.

Haggans earned his ring.

The Steelers didn’t do so well with their other fifth-round pick. They’re among 31 teams that missed the boat on Tom Brady, the most glaring reminder being their selection of Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin with their compensatory fifth-round pick, No. 163 overall.

Martin never threw a pass for the Steelers and was gone after two years. Brady was chosen in the sixth round at No. 199, but the Steelers’ restitution for passing on Brady came when they drafted Ben Roethlisberger four years later. Still, if a round in which Tee Martin was chosen is No. 4 on this list, it doesn’t speak well of the Steelers’ ability to capitalize on multiple-pick rounds.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll look at the top three multiple-pick rounds in Steelers’ drafts since 2000.

Follow Mike on Twitter.

Continue reading »]]> The Chris Rainey experiment only lasted one disappointing season for the Steelers because of off the field issues the team just didn’t want to deal with anymore. Not that I disagree with the decision to waive Rainey, however, it’s worth noting that he was a very good kick returner for the Steelers in 2012. In fact, Rainey finished his rookie year tied for seventh in kick return average (26.5), and eighth in yards (1035). His release, coupled with the fact that the Steelers want to decrease Antonio Brown’s role on special teams, leaves the team with an open competition for both kick and punt return duties.

Current players on the roster who have any kind of experience returning kicks are:

RB LaRod Stephens-Howling
CB Terry Hawthorne
WR J.D. Wood
WR Markus Wheaton
WR Derek Moye
WR Kashif Moore
WR David Gilreath
WR Reggie Dunn
WR Emmanuel Sanders
RB Isaac Redman

Wood, Moye, Redman and Moore are the least likely to get serious looks, as combined they have 344 return yards in their career. Emmanuel Sanders has the ability to be used in both kick and punt returns though I think the Steelers would rather him focus more on being a receiver. So in my opinion that leaves LaRod Stephens-Howling, Terry Hawthorne, Markus Wheaton, David Gilreath and Reggie Dunn as serious candidates to return kicks for the Steelers.

Stephens-Howling, being a four year NFL veteran clearly has the most experience and has 4067 yards and three touchdowns in his career. It’s this experience that makes Stephens-Howling a lock to make the 53 man roster in my opinion with the only problem being that he hasn’t returned a punt to this point in the NFL.

Terry Hawthorne impressed at the Steelers rookie mini-camp at cornerback and his return ability is just added bonus to him potentially making the roster. In college Hawthorne had 347 kick return and 46 punt return yards in his four years at Illinois. I think Hawthorne will at least get a look at returning kicks but otherwise I don’t see him winning the job.

Markus Wheaton has the least experience of my personal five finalists for the job with only 149 combined return yardage in his entire college career. Wheaton will get his shot to return kicks but like with Hawthorne, I don’t see him winning the job in the end.

Reggie Dunn was brought in as an undrafted free agent and his only chance to make the roster out of camp is going to be his ability to return kicks. In his college career Dunn racked up 1482 yards and five touchdowns with little to no experience returning punts. Dunn is going to have to prove he is more than just a return specialist for the Steelers to consider keeping him on the roster.

David Gilreath made his first appearance in the NFL last season and returned two punts for eight yards for the Steelers. In college Gilreath had 3008 kick return yards, 738 punt return yards and two combined touchdowns. Gilreath has a great shot this year in camp to prove he can contribute as both a returner and a receiver. His versatility could put him ahead of a veteran like Plaxico Burress and could force the team to keep six receivers out of camp.

This is going to be one of the more interesting position battles in camp and in the end I see the Steelers ultimately going with LaRod Stephens-Howling as the kick returner and David Gilreath as the punt returner for the 2013 season.

Statistics gotten from Pro-Football-Reference.com, Sports-Reference.com, and ESPN.com

Continue reading »]]> Once again, incendiary comments from a Steelers safety are written on a whiteboard somewhere in the recesses of Gillette Stadium.

Just what the Steelers needed.

Thank you, Ryan Clark.

Clark said this week on ESPN’s “NFL Live” that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will “duck” and “flinch” even when pressure isn’t there and that he “sees ghosts.” He said that wide receiver Danny Amendola, who the Patriots signed from the St. Louis Rams to replace Wes Welker, is “fragile.”

A guest analyst this week on ESPN, the 33-year-old Clark is preparing for life after football. He’s worked on Pittsburgh TV and radio and seems ready to trade in his helmet for a microphone when his playing days are over. According to SI.com, Clark saw ESPN senior coordinating producer Seth Markman at the Super Bowl and asked if he could intern.

It would have been better for the Steelers if Clark were fetching coffee and doing other intern-like tasks rather than running his mouth on the air.

In the SI.com article, both Markman and “NFL Live” host Trey Wingo called Clark “smart.”

Really?

He does know the Steelers visit the Patriots Nov. 3, right?

Clark is proving no smarter than Anthony Smith, the former Steelers safety who guaranteed a win over the 12-0 Patriots days before the Steelers played them at Gillette Stadium in 2007.

The Patriots won that game 34-13 on the way to a 16-0 regular season. They targeted Smith on two touchdown passes, making it look like he didn’t belong on an NFL field.

Smith had a history of showboating and lasted only one more year with the Steelers. Shamarko Thomas, who the Steelers drafted in the fourth round out of Syracuse, plays the same position and comes from the same school as Smith. Hopefully he shows a little more maturity.

It wasn’t entirely surprising that Smith put his foot in his mouth. But Clark?

Clark has been a leader on the Steelers’ defense. It’s out of character for him to poke the bear.

Even if the most pigskin-brained football analyst concurs that Brady is a little skittish in the pocket, wouldn’t it be wiser for Clark to keep that between himself and the Steelers coaching staff so it can be used to game plan against the Patriots?

Instead, Brady and Bill Belichick have six months to stir Clark’s words in a motivational cauldron like the witches in “Macbeth.”

The Patriots can take a comment about the way Brady knots his tie and turn it into bulletin-board material. Imagine what they’ll do with this.

The Steelers have failed miserably in their two previous attempts to beat a Brady-led Patriots team at Gillette Stadium.

Fresh off their Super Bowl XXXVI title, the Patriots christened Gillette Stadium by beating the Steelers 30-14 in the 2002 season opener. The Steelers defeated the Patriots 33-10 at Gillette in 2008, but that was against Matt Cassel because a knee injury ended Brady’s season in Week 1.

Since coming back from that injury, Brady hasn’t missed a game. That came up Wednesday when former Patriot and current ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi was asked about Clark’s comments.

Bruschi is theoretically one of the people Clark is modeling himself after during his broadcast apprenticeship, and he said that if it seems like Brady is seeing ghosts, it’s only because he’s “protecting the franchise.”

And so the backlash against Clark and the Steelers already has begun.

Bruschi pointed out that Ben Roethlisberger has played a full 16 games just once in his career because his style of play leaves him prone to injuries.

Quarterbacks playing 16 games in a season isn’t a luxury in the NFL.

The one year Roethlisberger did it was 2008, and the Steelers won the Super Bowl that year. Since then, injuries have kept Roethlisberger out of five games and the Steelers have won just one of them.

Had Roethlisberger played every game over the past two seasons, the Steelers might have won one more game in 2011, earned a first-round bye and avoided Tim Tebow in the playoffs. They might have won at least one more game last season and not missed the playoffs.

Yes, the Steelers beat Brady and the Patriots the last time they met. But that game was in Pittsburgh, and LaMarr Woodley hasn’t been the same since injuring his hamstring that day.

Talk about fragile. Woodley’s shuffling in and out of the lineup is another factor in the Steelers’ failure to win a playoff game in the last two seasons while the Patriots have reached the Super Bowl and the AFC championship game.

Perhaps Woodley started the spring tradition of a Steelers defensive player fueling the motivational fire of a rival AFC quarterback. In June of 2011, Woodley told ESPN that Joe Flacco wouldn’t win a Super Bowl “in this lifetime.”

How did that turn out?

Obviously, Clark didn’t learn the lesson.

Follow Mike on Twitter.

Continue reading »]]> There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2013 draft.

Jarvis Jones could make opposing quarterbacks fear the Steelers again.

Le’Veon Bell could be the Steelers’ first iconic running back since Jerome Bettis.

Markus Wheaton could be Mike Wallace with a brain.

Shamarko Thomas could fly all over the field and make plays.

That’s a lot of “could”s.

Was this really a good draft for the black and gold, or is it just fool’s gold?

The 2013 season will go a long way toward answering that question.

Grading a draft before any of the players put on pads is like asking a 5-year-old to write a college application essay. However, it should be evident in the first year if a draft will have any impact.

The Steelers’ 2011 and 2012 draft classes are still in wait-and-see mode. David DeCastro and Mike Adams, the first- and second-rounders in 2012, showed some promise but combined to play in just 14 games because of injuries. Fourth-rounder Alameda Ta’amu didn’t dress for a game.

The 2011 class could begin bearing fruit this year. Fourth-rounder Cortez Allen is set to become a starter at cornerback. Second-rounder Marcus Gilbert is expected to regain his starting job at offensive tackle after missing 11 games with injuries last season. First-rounder Cameron Heyward is still stuck behind Brett Keisel at defensive end. Third-rounder Curtis Brown has developed slowly at cornerback.

The Steelers are waiting for more productivity from their 2011 and 2012 drafts. When it comes to evaluating drafts, however, waiting is overrated.

The Steelers didn’t have to wait to see that they made some good picks in their 2010 draft. First-rounder Maurkice Pouncey won the starting job at center in training camp and made the first of his three Pro Bowls as a rookie. Third-rounder Emmanuel Sanders caught 28 passes as a rookie. Sixth-rounder Antonio Brown’s watershed moment came in the playoffs when he pinned a 58-yard pass to his helmet to set up the winning touchdown against the Ravens in the divisional round.

That 2010 draft was a factor in the Steelers’ run to Super Bowl XLV less than a year later.

Third-rounders Mike Wallace and Keenan Lewis came to the Steelers in the 2009 draft. Their departures this spring are more about the salary cap than the Steelers’ drafting acumen. It took Lewis four years to become a starter, but Wallace reaped instant dividends. He led the NFL with 19.4 yards per reception in 2009 while catching 39 passes, six of them for touchdowns.

Heath Miller also caught 39 passes, six of them for touchdowns, in his rookie year. The Steelers’ first-round pick in 2005, Miller contributed to the Steelers’ Super Bowl XL title.

It didn’t take the Steelers long to see that they nailed the 2004 draft just by taking Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick in the first round. Roethlisberger went 13-0 as a starter that year and led the 15-1 Steelers to the AFC championship game. He earned his first Super Bowl ring the following year.

The Steelers didn’t get immediate help from their 2003 and 2007 drafts, but their impact was as plain as day in Year 2.

Troy Polamalu didn’t start as a rookie, but became a Pro Bowler in 2004 with five interceptions and 14 pass breakups. Fourth-rounder Ike Taylor turned into a shutdown corner in 2005.

The 2007 draft paralleled 2003 with one player blossoming in his second year and another in his third. Second-rounder LaMarr Woodley had 11.5 sacks for the Super Bowl XLIII champs in 2008. Lawrence Timmons became a regular starter in 2009 and had seven sacks.

There were no second-year leaps among the 2011 draftees. Perhaps Allen will burst onto the scene this year like Polamalu did nine years ago.

The Steelers’ 1974 draft is the measuring stick not just for the Steelers, but for all NFL teams. The NFL Network rated it the NFL’s best all-time draft.

That draft produced Hall of Famers Lynn Swann in the first round, Jack Lambert in the second round, John Stallworth in the fourth round and Mike Webster in the fifth round.

The Steelers already were a dynasty in the making. Their five previous drafts all were solid, but the 1974 draft provided another piece for the franchises’ first championship that year. Lambert was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Putting together another draft like 1974 would be like painting another Sistine Chapel. It’s not happening.

However, the Steelers are coming off a .500 season and haven’t won a playoff game in two years. They’re on a downward trajectory and can’t afford a third straight “wait-and-see” draft.

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