BTSC Steelers Daily Six Pack - CBA Optimism Edition

by John Stephens on Feb 22, 2011 9:42 AM EST in BTSC Steelers Six Packs

IX- Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel? Steelers veteran Quarterback, Charlie Batch, seems to think the labor negotiations are going well at the moment. The owners and players spent 25 hours over the last 4 days with a mediation group trying to sort out the CBA. Charlie did not give away any details, but finally seeing some optimism from this entire fiasco is refreshing. Still, I remain pessimistic about the chances of anything being established by March 3rd, but at least we are making some sort of progress.

X- I have never heard of Tony DeFazio, but apparently he has worked very closely as a writer of Pittsburgh sports for some time now. Anyway, someone gave me a link of a nice interview he did discussing a few points with the Steelers. He touches on a few interesting topics that you would not normally hear detailed information about. The most interesting question he is asked about is the older players and their large salaries. He is asked if there is any players he believes should be cut. His thoughts touch right along with mine where he questions the worth of Antwaan Randle El, Larry Foote and a few other veterans.

XIII- Steelers Lounge has put together a nice comprehensive digestion of the Steelers draft needs and prospects. They break down their positions of need, which would be CB, OT, OG, DL, FS, and WR. They have some very accurate analysis and they pull no punches in their break down. Their ideal first four rounds ends up being OG Mike Pouncey, CB Brandon Burton, FS Deunta Willians, and NT Sione Fua. I would be very pleased with those 4 picks.

XIV- Occasionally, Bleacher Report will actually have an interesting story. Recently, a writer, Nick Signorelli, decided to answer the question, "Could Mike Wallace become the best receiver in the NFL?" Off the bat, I would say no because he does not have the height or size to be a redzone threat. However, Hines Ward made a career off shear toughness and was the best Steelers RZ target for years. The writer does not really do a great job explaining if he thinks Wallace can be, but he does put together a nice recap of Wallace's NFL career. Do you think Wallace can be the best?

XL- James Harrison finally under went his off season back surgery and Mike Tomlin called it a success. The surgery had been postponed previously when Harrison came down with a fever. Apparently, James had a herniated disc that bothered him the majority of the season. Seriously?!? This guy had a herniated disc and still tallied up 100 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 6 forced fumbles while gathering the 3rd most votes in the Defensive Player of the Year running? Unbelievable.

XLIII- Which team has the best stadium in the league? That is probably a question than can never be answered for sure, but this article has done a nice break down of the issue. Their idea was to take 5 criteria and rate each stadium on them. Those 5 criteria were architecture, history, weather, fans, and location. I enjoy that when they rated weather they had the opinion that "football is meant to be played outdoors, so the dome teams are going to take a slight hit in the rankings." Amen.

Heinz Field came in fourth place, which is very respectable. However, somehow the new Dallas Cowboys stadium ranked above them despite being indoors and having absolutely no history except for other teams winning the Superbowl there. Lambeau comes in first, which I would not disagree with. At third, between Cowboys Stadium and Heinz Field, is the Seahawks Qwest field, which I would also disagree with.

Heinz_field_medium

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A rich collection for today, thank you

The Deebo legend continues…wow, a herniated disk! That is usually a crippling injury for most athletes, and this guy never even begged off the field!

Mike Wallace, the best? Not until Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson and Roddy White retire. To me, if he reached Top 5, that would be quite an accomplishment. One thing is sure: with Hines around, he can round his game up enough to do it.

"No changes are permanent, but change is." Neil Peart - Rush

by Flying Polamalus on Feb 22, 2011 9:58 AM EST reply actions

No-no-no-no!

No way in hell I play with a herniated disc. I had one two years ago – the most painful thing in my life. I can turn off other pain (Smash my thumb with a hammer, burn myself, cut myself), but not the nerve pain that resulted from herniating my disk. My friend, who had the same thing, described it like this: “If someone came up to me and told me they could take the pain away if I killed someone for them, I would have said, ’Who do I have to kill?” I had surgery four days after I herniated the disc. I spent all four days laying on my side and couldn’t be up for more than five minutes at a time.
The man is a beast.

by WyoFan on Feb 22, 2011 11:00 AM EST up reply actions

Larry Fitz is all alone

And frankly the only person who is close to even see Larry Fitz is Andre Johnson.

by theobserver on Feb 23, 2011 1:52 AM EST up reply actions

I think Mike Wallace can be one of the top ten because there is no substitute for speed

and he seems to be rounding out the other areas of his game quite nicely, as well

by Anthony Defeo on Feb 22, 2011 10:23 AM EST reply actions

mmmm

What would the title be when we get seven?

by steelerstyle on Feb 22, 2011 12:12 PM EST reply actions

I was thinking about that leading up to the SB

I assume something like “Seven Links to Heaven” or something

"It’s easy to lie with statistics, but it’s easier to lie without them." -Fred Mosteller

by John Stephens on Feb 22, 2011 12:19 PM EST up reply actions

walldawg is a ways off from being the best wideout because he can’t work the middle like a champ. i dont want him and his lanky bod getting messed up over the middle anyway. send geriatric ward

by klompus on Feb 22, 2011 12:26 PM EST reply actions

he has a pretty solid frame, imo.

by tkired on Feb 22, 2011 5:06 PM EST up reply actions

Steelers Lounge piece

is a nice read.

I don’t neccesarily agree on all points though

Michigan guard Steven Schilling would represent good value in the fourth round. But if there is no free agency before 2011, Pittsburgh is slated to have nine roster-worthy players back on its offensive line: LT Starks, LG Chris Kemoeatu, C Maurkice Pouncey, RG Foster, RT Colon, T Adams, G-T Essex, C-G Doug Legursky, T Jonathon Scott, as well three more players who were on its Super Bowl roster in T/G Chris Scott, T Tony Hills and C/G Dorian Brooks.

The Steelers should only draft Pouncey — or a pure tackle prospect — because depth is not an issue on the offensive line. Having better starters and a developmental prospect who could start at tackle by 2012 or 2013 are what is needed.

Just because we have a ton of roster worthy O-line backups doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get some better quality starters or backups with some upside. The only one on the team with some upside to be starter quality at RG is Chris Scott since he’s so young. Foster seems to be the best of the rest and he’s probably around the 40th percentile in the league as far as guard play.

I really don’t get the Pouncey or bust attitude. There are a lot of decent prospects at guard such as Ijalana, Cannon, or Pinkston. All shorter college tackles.

by Steely McSmash on Feb 22, 2011 12:50 PM EST reply actions

Interesting quote from Matt Birk about the CBA issue and adding more games.

In an interview with KFAN in Minneapolis, per Carroll County Times, the six-time Pro Bowl center felt it was legitimate for owners to say the current CBA isn’t working for them, but asking for an 18 percent pay cut while also asking for more regular season games isn’t "acceptable in our view."

But, Birk did offer an alternative.

“I would say maybe something like a 16-game season and [eliminate two preseason games] and maybe expand the playoffs by two teams and eliminate the first-round bye for the one and two seeds. That would give you two more playoff games on TV that you could televise.”

Regardless of how the issue is resolved, Birk does believe that there will at least be a season this fall.

“Yeah, I would think that there would be a season with $9 billion at stake,” Birk said. “As the reality comes near that games might be missed and millions of dollars would be lost forever, I would think that cooler heads would prevail. It’s late February and there’s this big March 3 deadline, which is somewhat comical because I checked the schedule and there’s no games scheduled for March or April or May or June.”

"If only Flacco could put up numbers similar to Matt Ryan, or maybe just improve his stats year-to-year, he wouldn’t seem like such a wasted draft pick. It’s as if a young quarterback needs to put up better stats in his first three years than nearly every other quarterback to play in the NFL to justify a first round pick." - Amp

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 1:08 PM EST reply actions

It's an interesting idea

Although I like the advantage the extra off week gives the teams who earned it

"It’s easy to lie with statistics, but it’s easier to lie without them." -Fred Mosteller

by John Stephens on Feb 23, 2011 8:24 AM EST up reply actions

"Occasionally, Bleacher Report will actually have an interesting story."

That line made me lol, so thank you for that.

Sometimes, I will accidentally click on a Bleacher Report link, and it’s always such a trainwreck. Seriously, what a terrible site.

by pwilmoth84 on Feb 22, 2011 2:15 PM EST reply actions

Pretty much

I think I recall seeing a post on there last year or so that pretty much said Woodley was a waste of a roster spot.

"It’s easy to lie with statistics, but it’s easier to lie without them." -Fred Mosteller

by John Stephens on Feb 23, 2011 8:23 AM EST up reply actions

First four picks

I would be pleased if the Steelers draft went that way. All needed positions.

Incredible to hear about Harrison and his herniated disk. The guy is simple a beast.

Wallace could definitaley be one of the best in the league, but thee best is pushing it. However, he just finished his second season and there is still room for improvement which is a scary thought. The sky is the limit for Wallace.

Proud fan of Pittsburgh's professional sports teams and the Pirates too.

by Black&GoldTrain on Feb 22, 2011 2:36 PM EST reply actions

I am not a draft geek...

but I have learned a lot about it and the prospects from the posts on BTSC. Those 4 picks would be good at filling the need at those positions…I do not know too much about the individual players, except for Pouncey 2.0, but the positions do need some improvement. Wallace has the desire, it seems, to be the best in the league, but not sure he will ever be “the best”. I would say he would fall in the top 5.

Things can always be worse....

by ncmt40 on Feb 22, 2011 4:11 PM EST reply actions

Has anyone heard from our New Zealand BTSCers??

They had that earthquake there and was curious if our brethren are alright?

I am going to post this on other poasts also..

Things can always be worse....

by ncmt40 on Feb 22, 2011 6:40 PM EST reply actions

Cheers mate

So far so good up here on the North Island, I do believe KiwiSteelerFan and _Steeler are Wellingtonians so they should be alright too. ’preciate the love, though!

by sylvansteeler on Feb 23, 2011 3:54 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah we are both fine

I didnt know you were a New Zealander though? Where are you living?

A long way from Pittsburgh PA, in fact, 8653.2 miles to be precise. My blood still bleeds black and gold like the rest of Steeler Nation, proud fan since 2002.

BTSC's token Kiwi fan. That means I'm a New Zealander. Yes, that small country next to Australia....no we are not part of Australia

by Michael Hewitt on Feb 23, 2011 6:28 PM EST up reply actions