Because I am extraordinarily bored this offseason I wanted to write up who I thought were the top 5 in their position and see where the Steelers rank. I want to open this up for discussion and see what the rest of you think as well. I am throwing stats out of the window for this, and going off of gut. It also leaves more room for everyone else to argue using stats, and should allow more debate.

I'm not going to bother with certain positions that the Steelers cannot compete in such as Punter, or Guard, which makes me kind of sad since for so many years we had the best guard in the NFL.

I will do two posts as I can't devote the time to both Offense and Defense at one time.

OFFENSE

QB - RB - TE - WR

Even though the numbers may not support my arguments here, I would like to argue using points that I pull out of thin air, and end any arguments with "well, this other guy didn't win the Superbowl, neener neener" I jest, sort of.

QB - #3

When it comes to quarterbacks I think we can go ahead and table the argument about the 2004 draft class, and pick up the argument of who is the best quarterback in the NFL right now.

Ben has to be in the argument of the top 5 quarterbacks in the NFL right now. His performance at the end of Superbowl XLIII put him over competators such as Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, Donovan McNabb, Eli Manning and others that might have had better or more numbers through the season but couldn't get it done when it mattered most. I put him as the number 3 best quarterback in the league right now after Peyton and Brady.

Our backup situation is enviable as well, you have Batch who can fill in games and knows our system very well, Leftwich has expressed a desire to backup Ben just to stay in Pittsburgh, and Dixon has nothing but upside.

RB - #5

I think that this is the one that I am going to get argued with the most, and rightfully so. FWP started the year strong, and finished the regular season strong as well, but was injured for over half of the season. He can be made a non-factor by especially stout defenses, and is not a huge threat in the passing game or on the goal line. Rashard started one game and was on IR, and Moore played well, but not amazingly so.

So why would I argue number 5 for our running backs? Because there is amazing potential for them to improve this coming year, and after all is said and done I believe that at the end of next year the Steelers will be near the top of the NFL in terms of rushing yards. My reasons for this belief are:

1. The offensive line will improve and have the opportunity to gel behind four guaranteed returners and someone new. Simmons is going to have a chip on his shoulder about missing the Superbowl, and the man needs to be challenged to be at his best. He played well when Chris K was breathing down his back for two years. He will be challenged this year by someone.

2. Rashard Mendenhall is going to keep FWP fresh, and Mewelde Moore is going to make the third down catches, and I see them bringing in someone to compete with Russell as a short-yardage back.

3. The pass game is going to include Heath more and open up more leads for the running game to run out the clock.

4. Our scheduel will not dictate as many close games or come from behind wins, meaning we will not have to abandon the run as soon as we did this past year.

I am not sying FWP is going to be the number 5 best running back, we have become a committee. I am saying that Pittsburgh is going to have a top five rushing team next year.

I see the Vikings, The Titans, The Giants, and the Pathers being better this next year. I see us rising above The Chargers, The Falcons, The Jets, and the Ravens.

TE - #3

For what our tight ends do there are not many all-around tight ends better than Heath Miller. He is a good blocker, a good route runner, an excellent reciever, and a great target in the End Zone.  Matt Spaeth is adequate and if he can improve his hand eye coordination over the next year I challenge you to find a better duo of all around TEs in this league.

I'd say that for his all around impact there are maybe one or two better TE's out there Antonio Gates (when healthy) and Tony Gonzolez (when healthy), I'd put Heath's all-around contributions above KII, Shianco, Daniels or anyone else.

WR - #5

There are alot of individuals who put up better numbers than any of our wide-outs last year, there were a few tandums that blew us away, and there was even one team with three wideouts comparable to our number 1 guy.  Oh yeah and we are almost assured to lose Nate W. So how can I say that our recieving corps will be a top 5?

The guys on this WR corps are clutch. Hines and Tone make a defense decide who is going to kill them, and if the D was really good we had to trust Nate to do so, and he stepped up. Now we will have to trust Limas Sweed, and you know what? Limas has all the tools to be twice the reciever that Nate ever was.... except for hands, no, not even hands, Sweed has some paws on him, huge hands like Randy Moss, it's his hand-eye coordination that is lacking. Things like that can be fixed. Look how many years we waited for Nate, and he had nowhere near the pedigree, size, or speed as Limas, and judging by that block in the AFC Championship game I'd say that this guy is definitely Steeler material.

Hines showed us last year that he still has a lot left in the tank, and looking at guys like TO, Galloway, Harrison,  playing well into their 30's Hines can probably have 3 or more years of greatness left in him. Ben has built trust with these guys, and like I said before the O-line can only go up from last year, Ben will have more time next year. 

I'm not going to even bother to try and give a case for Tone, as I could never compete with the amazing writing of Maryrose.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2009/2/23/764795/is-santonio-holmes-the-rea

This group will never put up the numbers of the Cardinals, the Colts, or the Saints, but that doesn't mean that they aren't better. We haven't seen but the tip of what this group of recievers can do. I believe that next year we will.

Look out for my Arguments of the top 5 Defensive positions next year on Sunday.