It is good to be back, so let\u2019s catch up on a few things:<\/p>\n
Steelers signed Charlie Batch:<\/strong> The Steelers need a veteran backup QB and Batch has done an admirable job for the Steelers going 5-2 in spot starts. He has tremendous value beyond his playing\u00a0and has been great in a pinch.\u00a0He will compete with Troy Smith(an interesting signing)\u00a0and this basically closes the door I believe on the often injured Byron Leftwich. Dennis Dixon is almost certainly out now as well. Dixon has good upside but doesn’t fit into the Steelers long term plan.\u00a0He has drawn interest from the Ratbirds and the Broncos.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Steelers sign Leonard Pope:<\/strong> GREAT MOVE, with Wesley Saunders being suspended and most likely\u00a0heading to the chopping block by the Steelers when he is back, Pope is a nice addition and with his familiarity with Todd Haley’s system this is the usual under the radar Steelers move that really helps the team. Heath Miller and Pope give the Steelers an excellent tight end combo! This guy is a bona fide hero and a good character guy.<\/p>\n Mike Wallace:<\/strong> Is still not signed and while he is without question a world class talent, he is not a finished product yet and he isn’t going to command the money he is looking for. I think he should sign a one or two year agreement and then go bust the market up after a great year. BTW RIP Mike Wallace the newsman, great journalist, he one time hit on my sister at a Yankee game!<\/p>\n Offensive Line Moves:<\/strong> Ramon Foster is a\u00a0good guard\u00a0and he will provide stability. It\u2019s no secret BWG is a huge fan of Doug Legursky and\u00a0our belief in him hasn’t wavered. He is athletic and as strong as any guy in the league, the issue is a stiff wind injures this guy. So I am hoping he develops further and stays healthy\u00a0because when he pulls he is a freight train. Trai Essex is a\u00a0serviceable backup and if he is in any semblance of shape provides much needed depth. I like the\u00a0idea of Marcus Gilbert\u00a0moving to the left side and having Willie Colon back on the right. Colon again has to prove he can stay healthy.\u00a0If Legursky and Colon are healthy\u00a0this turns a potential weakness into a strength. Look for\u00a0some draft help as well.\u00a0 As for existing people, my dark horse pick is Trevis Turner the \u201cAbilene Christian Colossus\u201d the guy is a giant and a physical freak!<\/p>\n Dan Sepulveda Moves On:<\/strong> Very productive player but injuries robbed him of any kind of consistency. I know Captain Tailgate is happy to see him go as Mrs. Tailgate was sweet on Dan!<\/p>\n Releasing Ward, Farrior and Smith:<\/strong>\u00a0I hated to see these guys leave.\u00a0These guys\u00a0will always be Steelers,\u00a0but to be fair about it, it was time.\u00a0I don’t believe it is “time” because of playing ability; they all can still play in some facet or the other.<\/p>\n Hines Ward is a great player and for the record he can still get it done, I was in a near rage that the Steelers didn’t work it out with him. Farrior had a\u00a0solid productive season but he clearly isn’t where\u00a0he used to be and Aaron Smith was injured each of the last three years though he always showed flashes of brilliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here is the key though that everyone is losing sight of, all three of them, have younger, less expensive, players behind them chomping at the bit to play. In the NFL it is “next man up” and the Steelers are always dangerous when they reload.\u00a0<\/p>\n You cannot replace these three guys on the leadership side and that gap will be extremely difficult to fill.<\/p>\n The Steelers receivers if they get Wallace signed\u00a0will rival anyone\u2019s combination\u00a0in the league. They have speed, size and\u00a0strength. They are ready to roll\u00a0and they brought back the veteran Jericho Cotchery to replace Hines full time.<\/p>\n The Steelers\u00a0Inside Linebacker situation looks to be in good hands with Stevenson Sylvester and or Jason Worilds expected to take Farrior’s snaps.\u00a0They will get some push by Chris Carter and Morty Ivy. They also retained veteran linebacker Larry\u00a0Foote in case his development is slowed. This gives the Steelers a very\u00a0strong and athletic core of guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aaron Smith’s\u00a0replacement is very cut and dry; you have Cameron “Steelhead”\u00a0Heywood and Ziggy Hood ready to\u00a0step in full time with\u00a0Brett Keisel providing the veteran leadership the\u00a0Steelers are losing\u00a0with Aaron leaving. \u00a0<\/p>\n Ratbirds or Jets on Hard Knocks:<\/strong> Have to confess, I love this show and have seen every episode of every season. My feeling on this, is that the Jets make better headlines and with the Tebow Circus in town most likely will get the show. Plus proverbial big mouth Rex Ryan makes for great copy.<\/p>\n The Ravens would be fun because they imploded last time they were there when they were defending champs. Keep in mind that bloviating windbag Brian Billick was the coach and I can’t see John Harbaugh allowing it since he thinks he is a secret agent.<\/p>\n The Buccaneers passed last year and left HBO high and dry, they were afraid it would be a distraction that wouldn’t allow them to win a whopping four games and finish in last place! Good choice Raheem!<\/p>\n Email:<\/strong> I have over 8000 emails to review and will do my best to get to them. I love getting emails and comments, it is just difficult to weave through the real stuff and the freakin\u2019 SPAM! Please be patient, your comments are appreciated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is good to be back, so let\u2019s catch up on a few things: Steelers signed Charlie Batch: The Steelers need a veteran backup QB and Batch has done an admirable job for the Steelers going 5-2 in spot starts. He has tremendous value beyond his playing\u00a0and has been great in a pinch.\u00a0He will compete […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bwg-gr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=741"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":744,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741\/revisions\/744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}