IX- A few days ago, some of us were discussing the always relevant question of youth and upside versus experience and knowledge of the playbook. This time, the battle was between rookie Doug Worthington and veteran Nick Eason, two players battling for a spot on the defensive line. Well, JJ Cooper of Steelers Lounge, decided to dive into the topic a little bit deeper. He went back through the game tape and analyzed the play of the 2nd and 3rd string DL for all of their snaps giving a "Yes" or "No" grade if they played well on that snap. The results may surprise you.
X- Jay Glazer is going across the country to visit as many teams that he can in his 'Training Camp Party' special. He visited the Steelers while they were at Latrobe and did a few interviews with some of the players. Once you click the link you will have to scroll over to page 2 on the bottom to get to the Steelers. Anyway, he sat down with Hines Ward, Max Starks, LaMarr Woodley, and Ryan Clark. Some interesting notes, Woodley discusses the dirtiest player he has matched up against, Clark talks Troy Polamalu, and Starks sings.
XIII- A pretty interesting article was written by Sports Illustrated recently. They set out to determine the best player by number from 00 all the way to 99. I will start off by saying they fail pretty tremendously by putting Tom Brady over Terry Bradshaw for #12, citing he won in a 'tougher' era. You know, "tougher" where there are rules giving defenders a fourth of the QB's body they can hit legally. Anyway, 8 Steelers make the list, but you will have to read to find out who.
XIV- If you were not following Steelers news yesterday, you may have missed the memo that Maurkice Pouncey took all of the snaps with the 1st team. This weekend is going to be a big test for him because he will likely start and face off with Jamal Williams, who is old but still a very solid NT. I think if Pouncey keeps up his high motor and great play we might see the Justin Hartwig ask to be cut before the roster trimming so he could potentially sign on with another team.
XL- Daniel Sepulveda took all of the Kickoffs against the Giants and did not 'WOW' me. Tomlin must have liked what he saw or wanted to see more because he is giving Robopunter the chance again to kickoff this week. Over at the Steelersdepot they checked the hang time of his kicks, which except for the first one, were about equal to JefF Reed's hang time. If they are going to have the same distance and hang time, the Steelers would be wiser to go with Sepulveda because he is a much better athlete.
XLIII- In case you missed it yesterday, Troy Polamalu did an interview with Mike & Mike in the morning. His Hairness talks about acclimating himself to NFL game speed, the pain of sitting out last season, and a few other topics. It always cracks me up hearing such a ferocious football player have such a calm voice and attitude. Troy says he feels 100% healthy and that definitely makes me feel great about our defense this year.
Side note: I set up a NFL Pick'em league yesterday and I want everyone to join. If we get enough people I will put a prize toward first place, maybe a Steelers jersey of your choosing or some other Steelers paraphernalia that I decide on.