Dear Hines,

Growing up in the DC area, I would watch the occasional Redskins game, root for them when it was convenient, but I never really felt like a part of the Burgundy and Gold. It wasn't until 2004 that I really started paying attention to football. My dad loved to push people's buttons, so he rooted for the Cowboys. After the Steelers beat the Cowboys that year, he wouldn't stop talking about how overrated Ben Roethlisberger was and how much he hated the Steelers. Maybe I got it from him, but I started rooting for the Steelers to get under his skin. What I didn't know was how that would grow into a love and passion for this team.

Continue reading this post »

A couple days ago I took a look at my top 11 1st round prospects for the Steelers and today I will look at my top 11 2nd round prospects.

Requiring a Trade Up

1. Cordy Glenn, OG, Georgia - I listed Glenn at the very bottom of the 1st round prospects and suggested that I would love to trade down to the 30-34 range and take him. If we could do that while aquiring another 2nd or 3rd round pick. I think a good trading partner would be with Philadelphia, which would put us with picks at 14 and 19 in the 2nd round to go along with our pick at 24.

2. Dontari Poe, NT, Memphis - If we could complete that trade with the Eagles, I would suggest grabbing Poe at 14 or using our new wealth of picks to trade up (above the Chiefs) in the 2nd round to take him. He is a great NT prospect that could become an elite player in the NFL. However, at this point, I would be more comfortable taking him in the 2nd round because he has never played against good competition.

3. Ronnell Lewis, LB, Oklahoma - Lewis is an athletic LB built in the mold of a Lawrence Timmons. With the new era of the TE's that are just freaks, having two great, athletic ILBs might be a necessity.

4. Kelechi Osemele, OG, Iowa State - Osemele is a good, mauling prospect who has some athleticism as well. He will probably go between 10 and 20 in the 2nd round.

If we stay put

5. Alameda Ta'amu, NT, Washington - Ta'amu is the 2nd best NT in this class but he is a very good prospect. In my opinion, we must land either Poe or Ta'amu because after that there are question marks with all the NTs.

6. Markelle Martin, FS, Oklahoma State - Martin is a very athletic, play making safety. His stock is currently the mid to late 2nd round.

7. Kevin Zeitler, OG, Wisconsin - Zeitler is not great at any one thing but he is good at everything. He would be an instant upgrade to both our guards.

8. Nate Potter, OT, Boise State - Potter is the last OT prospect that projects as a possible immediate starter at LT. He may never be elite but he should be better than Starks at LT.

9. Dwayne Allen, TE, Clemson - Remember what I said about TE's now a days? Remember when Todd Haley said he likes TE's? Well Allen is an absolute freak but he is more of a luxury pick. However, if he is available at 2(24) (which is highly unlikely) we have to take him. You can't pass on a player of his talent that late in the 2nd round.

10. Juron Criner, WR, Arizona - Criner is a massive WR with good hands and route running. He has seen his stock soar recently and would be a good pick at 24.

11. Josh Norman, CB, Coastal Carolina - Norman is a small school corner who has great size and speed and is a ball hawk. If none of the above prospects are available, I would be comfortable taking him at 24.

If none of these players are available, I want to trade down.

What I want in the first two rounds (I will expand on this as I continue to publish this series)

Trade Round 1 PIck 24 to the Eagles for Round 2 Pick 14 and Round 2 Pick 19

Round 2 Pick 14 - Dontari Poe, NT, Memphis

Round 2 Pick 19 - Kelechi Osemele, OG, Iowa State

Round 2 Pick 24 - Kevin Zeitler, OG, Wisconsin

I think in the first two rounds we have to avoid the luxury picks and bolster our line. Adding Poe would give us flexibility when dealing with Hampton's contract and adding Osemele and Zeitler would give us bookend guards and make our OL go from VERY bad to VERY good.

Here's my take:

5. Jack Lambert

4. Troy Polamalu

3. Joe Greene

2. The Bus

1. Hines Ward

There are certainly many others that could be placed on this list but the rationale for this specific fanpost is that many Steeler fans' #1 player would be Hines Ward. He is everything that embodies not only Steeler football but the general identity of the region's people: hard work, perseverance, toughness, and resiliency. It would certainly be a day of mourning when he isn't wearing Black n' Gold.

As many of you know one of the biggest need for the Pittsburgh Steelers is at the guard position. Whether it is because both Ramon Foster and Doug Legursky are Restricted Free Agents or because Chris Kemoeatu has arthritic knees and a deteriorating mind, the Steelers will need to address the guard position in the draft. However I am sure most of the average fans only see the names of these players and don't know why they are rated as they are. Having played on the offensive line and specifically the guard position I love watching good guard play. I have watched a lot of video on each guy I am talking about. ( except one who literally has like two videos since he plays at Nowhere State) The following is my analysis of the the guards, how I rate them and why. (With links to video of them playing) I will also include the consensus on where the "experts" believe they will be drafted. This is the updated version after the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game additions. There were some guys that caught my eye and I went back and watch even more tape on them. Others may have changed my mind so I re-watched tape on them. This will include updated measurements for those that went to a bowl game. I'd also like to state I dropped Peter Konz from this list as the more tape I watched I think he will be a much better center than guard and should be drafted as such. In this update I added more prospects, and more analysis of each guy.

Continue reading this post »

According to NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora, the Steelers do not want Hines Ward to return for the 2012 season. We'll see if either party confirms or denies this. This may come as a shock to some, but many users here on BTSC have stated that they wanted the Steelers to cut Ward to make room for younger receivers who could contribute on special teams or another veteran presence. If this report is true, we may see the Steelers signing unrestricted free agent Jerricho Cotchery. If we remember, Cotchery started to play well down the stretch once he healed up from his injury. He even made a pretty amazing touchdown catch during the wild card game in the playoffs where we saw our Steelers fall 29-23 against the Tebow-led Broncos.

I for one am not really surprised. I feel like Hines still has some gas left in the tank, but perhaps Bruce Arians preferred the speedier options in Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders (we all know Arians likes the deep ball). Hines was still a big part of the running game, so we'll see if the other receivers can step it up and fill in the shoes of one the, if not the best blocking receivers this game has seen.

In his 14 year NFL career, Hines has broken many Steelers receiving records. He has amassed 1000 receptions, 12,083 receiving yards, and 85 receiving touchdowns. If this report is true, I hope Hines decides to hang up the cleats and retires. I know he has said he is willing to play for another team if need be, but that would be heartbreaking as a Steelers fan to watch.

Thoughts?

Round 1 (23) - Rashard Mendenhall, RB, Illinois - Grade: B

Other Possible Selections: Chris Johnson, Duane Brown, Kenny Phillips, Brandon Flowers, Matt Forte, DeSean Jackson,

Round 2 (53) - Limas Sweed, WR, Texas - Grade: F------

Other Possible Selections: Ray Rice, Terrell Thomas, Jamaal Charles

Round 3 (88) - Bruce Davis, LB, UCLA: Grade: F-----

Other Possible Selections: Jermichael Finley, Cliff Avril, Mario Manningham, Red Bryant

Round 4 (130) - Tony Hills, OT, Texas - Grade: F

Other Possible Selections: Josh Sitton, Brandon Carr, Tim Hightower

Round 5 (156) - Dennis Dixon, QB, Oregon - Grade: F

Other Possible Selections: Carl Nicks, Jonathan Goff

Round 6 (188) - Mike Humpal, OLB, Iowa - Grade: D

Other Possible Selections: Ahtyba Rubin, Pierre Garcon, Matt Flynn, Peyton Hillis,

Round 6 (194) - Ryan Mundy, FS, West Virginia - Grade B+

Draft Grade: D

This was a terrible, terrible draft. Had Colbert done a good job on this draft, we would have at least one more Super Bowl and probably more. There was soooooooooo much talent available in every round we picked and other than Mundy, there was a better pick to make at every spot. The only two picks that worked out at all were Mendenhall and Mundy.

Pro Bowlers: 1 (Mendenhall)

Contributors: 2 (Mundy, Dixon)

Failures/Wasted Picks: 4 (Sweed, Davis, Hills, Humpal)

Dream Draft (How much does it hurt reading this?)

Round 1: Ray Rice, RB

Round 2: Terrell Thomas, CB

Round 3: Mario Manningham, WR

Round 4: Brandon Carr, CB

Round 5: Carl Nicks, OG

Round 6: Matt Flynn, QB

Round 6: Ryan Mundy, FS

Oh how good we would be with the most versatile RB in the game, two lockdown corners, a slot WR, the best OG in the game and a valuable trade chip in Matt Flynn.

Flynn would have gotten to play in spot starts all those times Ben got hurt and had he done as well as he did in spot starts for Rodgers, we would have been able to trade him before the start of this past season for a 2nd or 3rd round pick.

Dear Kevin Colbert,

I love you and you are a great GM and drafter, but this was a complete and epic failure. Total failure. If an outsider looks at your draft here and not the team name, they would mistake us for the Cleveland Browns and that is an utter embarassment. Please never do something this awful again.

Sincerly,

Adam

Today I am going to look at my 11 favorite targets for our first round pick. Some are dreams, while others are very realistic.

The Dreams:

Number 1: David DeCastro, OG, Stanford - DeCastro is rated as a top 15 prospect and rightfully so. However, if the Cardinals and Cowboys pass on him at 13 and 14, we should make an aggressive move up to 15 to jump the Jets and the Bengals (who would both take him in a heartbeat) and grab DeCastro.

Number 2: Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College - Kuechly seems to be solidly cemented as a top 20 pick, however, I could see him falling on draft day. If the Eagles pass him up at 15 (highly unlikely), I see him being available to us unless someone trades up because the teams picking from 16 to 23 don't need a LB. Kuechly is a brilliant player that is always around the ball and I would love to land him.

Number 3: Dre Kirkpatrick, CB, Alabama - While CB is not a big need at all, Kirkpatrick is a stud. He is a top 10 talent but a failed marijuana test could cause him to fall. If he is still available around 18 to 20, we should jump up and nab him as he is an absolute lock-down corner.

Realistic Targets:

Continue reading this post »

Rotoworld is reporting that Ike Taylor has agreed to restructure his contract from a 2012 base salary of $5,750,000 to $825,000 with $4,975,000 as a signing bonus pro-rated over the next three years.

Brian McIntyre of Football Outsiders reports that this brings the Steelers on the upside of $18,000,000 of cap space created/saved for 2012 so far this offseason.

Not too shabby, nice to see the FO working so quickly and proactively to get their house in order.

Yesterday I looked at the Steelers 2010 Draft and today I will look at the 2009 Draft. While the 2010 Draft featured 2 Pro Bowlers and 6 total contributors, the 2009 draft featured just one Pro Bowler and 3 contributors.

Round 1 - Evander Hood, DE, Missouri - Grade - B- - Thus far in his career, Hood has done a decent job filling in for the oft-injured Aaron Smith. However, Hood has to become more consistent if he wants to keep Heyward from taking his starting spot. You have to think the Steelers could have used a guy like Sebastian Vollmer with this pick.

Other Possibilities: Patrick Chung, Rey Maualauga, LeSean McCoy, Sebastian Vollmer

Round 3 - Kraig Urbik, OG, Wisconsin - Grade D - The Steelers selected Urbik and he has a bad two years, causing the Steelers to cut him. However, this year for the Bills, Urbik was their best OL. Its too bad the Steelers did not give Urbik one more year because if they did, they might not need to select a guard in the early rounds this year.

Other Possible Selections: Lardarius Webb

Round 3 - Mike Wallace, WR, Mississippi - Grade: A+ - You know what makes this pick even better. The New England Patriots selected Brandon Tate the pick right before it. What a genius Bill Bellicheck is.

Round 3 - Keenan Lewis, CB, Oregon State - Grade: B - His first two years were massive dissapointment, but this past season, Lewis emerged as the Steelers #2 corner and he did a damn good job. This grade could be an A or a C after next season depending on how Lewis plays this year.

Other Possible Selections: Mike Thomas, Austin Collie

Round 5 - Joe Burnett, CB, Central Florida - Grade D - The Steelers tried to bolster up their secondary here but took the wrong developmental prospect. McCourty was arguably the Titans Defensive MVP this year and would have looked great in Black and GOld.

Other Possible Selections: Jason McCourty

Round 5 - Frank Summers, FB, UNLV - Grade D - Summers was on and off the Steelers roster and got cut last year.

Round 6 - Ra'Shon Harris, DE, Oregon - Grade D - See above

Other Possible Selections: Bernard Scott

Round 7 - A.Q. Shipley, C, Penn State - Grade C - You can never expect anything from a 7th rounder and that is what Shipley contributed.

Other Possible Selections: Julian Edelman

Round 7 - David Johnson, TE/FB, Arkansas State - Grade: B - When you are picking in the 7th round you're hoping to find someone who can make the roster. Johnson has done that and more and has become the teams #2 TE and FB. It hurts though that they passed on three great players that went un-drafted.

Other Possible Selections: Ricky Jean-Francois, Ryan Succop, Arian Foster

Undrafted Free Agents: Ramon Foster

Summary:

Pro Bowlers: 1 (Wallace)

Contributors: 3 (Hood, Lewis, Johnson)

Wasted Picks/Busts: 5 (Urbik, Burnett, Summrs, Harris, Shipley)

Grade: B - This draft was not as good as most of Colbert's, but even in a bad year he managed to pull in a Pro Bowler and 3 contributors. Also, Colbert made a good evaluation on Urbik but the Steelers coaching staff did not wait on him to develop long enough, so in reality, this should have been 4 contributors. Passing on Arian Foster 9 times really hurts but every other team in the NFL did that as well.

The Dream:

IN the last post, people posted what their dream draft would have been in this draft. Here is mine:

Round 1: Ziggy Hood - Surprised to see me keep him here? Well, Vollmer would have been great but what would we have done the past two years without Ziggy Hood? When Aaron Smith went down, who would have replaced him? And I think Hood has a very bright future.

Round 3: Kraig Urbik - Again, surprised? You shouldn't be. Urbik was one of the top 20 guards in the NFL this year and had the Steelers simply kept him one more year, their guard situation would be MUCH better

Round 3: Mike Wallace - NO explanation

Round 3: Keenan Lewis - No explanation

Round 5: Jason McCourty - The Steelers knew they needed another corner and instead of taking Burnett, McCourty would have been perfect. McCourty has become a lock-down corner for the Titans and pairing him with Lewis, Gay, and Taylor would be remarkable.

Round 5: Julian Edleman - Edleman would have been the guy to kick return and would have filled a role at WR. He also could play some corner if we got really desperate.

Round 6: Ricky Jean-Francois - Jean-Francois has become a very serviceable DE for the 49ers. He would give us the 4th DE we need to pair with Keisel, Hood, and Heyward.

Round 7: Arian Foster - How did 32 GM's pass up this kid 5 to 11 times each? They should all be fired.

Round 7: David Johnson - Johnson has done about what you expect from a 7th round pick and fills a valuable role

AS you all know, I normally don’t mock trades but this time I am going to. However, it is not going to be for the 2nd pick in the draft because I think the Rams are going to take Matt Kalil. However, I am going to have the Redskins trade up to the #3 spot and give up their 1st, 2nd, and 5th round picks.

Round 1

1. Indianapolis (2-14) – Team Needs: QB, OG, OC, 2CB, WR, SS, TE, DE, LB, RB – Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

2. St. Louis (2-14) – 2OT, 2WR, 2OLB, FS, CB, DT, OC, RB, FB – Matt Kalil, OT, USC

3. Trade - Washington (5-11) – QB, WR, LG, ILB, RT, CB, NT, TE, OC, SS, K, Rush LB –Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

4. Cleveland (4-12) – QB, WR, RT, DE, CB, OLB, RB, OG, FS, DT, K – Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State

5. Tampa Bay (4-12) – 2CB, 2LB, RT, WR, OC, RB, LG, FB, DT, QB, K – Morris Claiborne, CB, LSU

Continue reading this post »