Steelers fill out roster after injuries mount

by cgolden on Jan 2, 2008 1:28 PM EST in News Comment 9 comments

The Steelers had to make a couple of moves to fill the roster after Starks and Clint Kriewaldt were placed on IR and those moves have been made. The Steelers signed Jason Capizzi to their 53 man roster and promoted offensive linemen Jeremy Parquet from the practice squad. Jason Capizzi was originally signed by the Steelers as an undrafted rookie earlier this year but was cut and since spent time on the practice squad with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets and, most recently, the Kansas City Chiefs. Capizzi is a moster of a man at 6'9 315lbs but hopefully won't do much more than collect a paycheck this year. Parquet (6-6, 321) was originally drafted out of Southern Mississippi in the seventh round by the Chiefs in 2005 and spent time on the St. Louis Rams active roster and practice squad the past two years.

In order to fill out the practice squad the Steelers made a very interesting move in signing former Colorado Buffalo and former professional skier Jeremy Bloom. I'm sure most of you guys know his story as a guy who was declared ineligible by the NCAA after receiving endorsements as a professional skier. It'll be interesting if he ends up getting a chance to compete for the returner position next year.

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Need A Return man For 08

Never heard of this Bloom kid but I have no problem with them signing a skier, a Giant Iggle bag man or a purse snatcher (on second thought leave that to the Bungles) if he can run fast and can return kicks.
Someone on this post recently paid homage to Randle El. We sure miss his return AND recieving abilities but I understand the business. I give Tomlin and Steeler Management props for going out and getting Rossum after the preseason look at Reid, Wilson and Coclough. Rossum was a step up from those 3 inadequates but only because he usually caught the ball.
The Steelers desperately need OL and DL help in the draft and Free Agency but they also need a return man in the worst way.
Their best bet in the return game against Jax is Davenport on kickoffs and Santonio on punts. We probably won't see either.

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Jan 2, 2008 1:58 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

bloom

Had a big chance to make the Eagles as their full-time returner this year but couldn't stay healthy and was cut. The Eagles eventually had enough of Bloom's pretty boy act and cut him, then used veterans Mahe and Buckhalter on PR and KO respectively. Neither was very good. Bloom is a very good athlete but not much of a football player. He might only be on the practise roster so the Steelers can get a look at him just in case Rossum can't go, so they have an option either against Jax or in Round 2 if the Steelers are still alive. Bloom is definitely not the long-term answer.

Reid's struggles show just how hard it is to find a top-notch returner. He was great in college. Holmes has been banged up this year even without returning punts so I'm glad Tomlin didn't use him. Wilson would not do any better than Rossum on PR, though granted he might not do any worse, either. Randle El really struggled returning punts this year in Washington. He was one of the few guys in the league with a worse PR avg than Rossum (6.1 per return for Randle El, 6.4 for Rossum, and his longest PR was just 27 yards (Rossum had a 49-yard long). Randle El had just one KO return, for 17 yards.

Only five guys in the NFL had more kick returns this year than Rossum's 74 combined punt and KO returns. Of those five (Cribbs, Hester, Breaston, Burleson and Ginn), only Cribbs had better return averages than Rossum in both categories. Hester's KO return avg of 21.7 was less than Rossum's 23.3, but of course that was because of teams pooch kicking to Hester. The Bears still got very good field position on KO returns.

Rossum is okay on KO returns. He is a lousy on PR, the only saving grace being that he is sure-handed. Our special team blocking overall seems very poor. We are going to need to sign a free agent or two who can return punts or use a draft pick on a guy who has return skills. And while ST coverage has improved, it still isn't good enough. It all adds up to Tomlin hiring a new ST coach.

by steeler lifer on Jan 2, 2008 6:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You're right, sort of

Not many guys boast return averages that are better in both categories, but that's because not many guys do both. In truth, Rossum isn't in the top 20 in either kick return or punt return average.

For whatever reason, most guys excel at one type of return more than the other. For example, here is the list of returners with a higher punt return average than Rossum but has fewer than 8 kick off returns:

Rosco Parrish (BUF), Wes Welker (NE), Chris Davis (TEN), Jacoby Jones (HOU), Dennis Northcutt (JAC), Patrick Crayton (DAL), Charles Woodson (GB), Reno Mahe (PHI), Micheal Lewis (SF), RW McQuarters (NYG)

Here is a list of returners who have a higher kickoff return average than Rossum but have fewer than 5 punt returns:

Andre Davis (HOU), Aundrae Allison (MIN), MJD (JAC), Ellis Hobbs (NE), Rock Cartwright (WAS), Miles Austin (DAL), Derek Stanley (STL), Jerious Norwood (ATL), Aveion Cason (DET), Glenn Holt (CIN), Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG), Pierre Thomas (NO), Terrence McGee (BUF), Maurice Hicks (SF), Koren Robinson (GB), Dexter Wynn (HOU), Tyson Thompson (DAL).

In case you're still with me, and counting that's eight teams (BUF, NE, HOU, JAC, DAL, GB, SF, NYG) that have a better overall return game with two seperate guys than PIT currently has with Rossum pulling double duty. With special teams being such a crutch this year, the coaching staff should explore several different avenues to improve next year and hopefully one of those will be at least giving Rossum some seroius competition if he's here next year.

Time to take the training wheels off this offense.

by cgolden on Jan 3, 2008 9:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

I was just trying to point out that Rossum has been paid to do something that is very difficult. Very few guys do KR and PR well. They take a beating doing it. He is not a backup DB, he's a return specialist, and on that basis he is simply not good enough. If he was a contributing player as a DB, it would be easier to live with his limiitations. He isn't, so in order for the team to improve he needs to be replaced.

The return game also emphasizes another point I've made, in that we need better athletes on both sides of the ball. We don't have a backup DB, RB or WR with good return skills, or the durability to take the punishment that comes with being a returner. Most teams do. That was one of the reasons Reid was drafted and it looks like we will need to draft or find a RB, WR or DB who knows how to return kicks.

Another point about special teams is that I don't think it is as negative a factor now as it was in the first half of the season. Punt coverage ranked 14th (8.6 yds) and KO cover ranked 15th (22.6). Punt coverage also benefits from Sepulveda having a relatively low percentage of punts returned. At one point this season we were in the bottom 5 in the league in both categories.

by steeler lifer on Jan 3, 2008 4:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sepulveda

He's really helped out the punt coverage by getting alot of good deep punts that get fair caught

by schnifin on Jan 3, 2008 4:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good points

He is outliving his role of a return specialist, not many guys like make it too far past 30 years old.

After looking at his past seasons he's actually having one of his better kickoff return averages of the past five years but it's his punt returns that are suffering. He's been declining in that area for the past four years though.

Hopefully next year, if he's still here, they haven someone to compete for at least punt returns.

Time to take the training wheels off this offense.

by cgolden on Jan 3, 2008 4:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Cappizi?

Who is this mountain of a man? Don't recall the guy. OT??

"Franz" in NoCal

by franz on Jan 2, 2008 7:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

He's huge and a pretty interesting story

According to Scout.com: He originally went to Pitt but was cited for underage drinking and was never really given another chance by the coaching staff so he transferred to DII Indiana University where he became an All American tackle. He's also apparently been a Steeler fan for life and has been going to games his whole life (his dad has had season tickets since 1970).

I'm not sure what to make of the guy though, he went to a DII school and started every game for three years at OT and was an All-American his senior year but not one single team thought enough of him to draft him (yea yea FWP). He's also been cut by Pittsburgh and been on the practice squad of three other teams meaning he was cut by at least two of them so he obviously isn't showing of ton of promise in practice. Oh well, as injury depleted as the Steelers are any warm body over 300lbs might get a chance somewhere down the line.

Time to take the training wheels off this offense.

by cgolden on Jan 2, 2008 7:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs