Pittsburgh Steelers fill holes via draft
The Pittsburgh Steelers have received a lot of unwanted attention over the past few weeks and it was nice to see that the coaching stff was able to keep focused on the team’s needs in the draft. The Steelers needed help line hlp on both sides of the ball and addressed that need. Pittsburgh might have gotten a steal in the 6th round with RB Jonathan Dwyer.
CB McFadden returns, Faneca next?
It has been announced today that CB Bryant McFadden will return to the Steelers organization. McFadden joins WR Antwaan Randle-El and LB Larry Foote as former players who have returned to Pittsburgh this offseason.
With the Jets announcement today, one has to wonder if another former player might be returning as well. OG Alan Faneca. New York drafted Vladimir Ducasse OG Massachusetts and decided to release Faneca. Faneca was part of a offensive line group which led the league in rushing during 2009, paving the way for 2756 rushing yards. The Steelers running game has suffered since Faneca’s departure and would likely welcome him back.
Faneca, 33, was due a 7.5 million dollar contract and with the Jets needing to extend contracts of CB Antonio Cromartie and WR’s Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, the Jets obviously thought he was expendable even while still having something left in the tank.
At #18, Steelers select…
Steelers select OG/C University of Florida player, Maurkice Pouncey
Rooney’s can’t turn back now
With the announcement that Ben Roethlisberger will be suspended by the NFL for the first 6 games of the league this coming season, has also come the speculation that he will be traded.
I’ve written as much and I believe it’s a forgone conclusion that by tomorrow night, Ben will be packing his bags to one of the following locales. Buffalo, Oakland, St. Louis or one of my two wildcards, San Francisco or Jacksonville.
I believe that St Louis is going to entertain the thought of Roethlisberger under center for the Rams, especially if they get a new owner and Bradford’s shoulder is a question mark, but they will wait until the very last minute to see what the waters look like to Roethlisberger interest around the league.
I am totally convinced that Ben will never take another snap for the Steelers ever again, Pittsburgh just extended the contract of Byron “The Human Windmill” Leftwich, who they just traded for from Tampa Bay. Dennis Dixon can’t run the Steelers offense and Charlie Batch is about 56 years old.
Oakland is always a wildcard in the draft process as long as the Crypt Keeper is calling the shots. However, if the asking price for Roethlisberger is going to be two 1st round picks, the Raiders will be out of the running as they already have surrendered next year’s first round pick to trade last season for DE Richard Seymour.
Yes, Buffalo needs a quarterback, but they have other serious needs as well and if they could get Jason Campbell, who I think can be a successful starter in a stable system, for a 5th round pick to the Redskins, that is a much smarter move for a team which is suffering from money issues.
But what about one of my darkhorse picks to be in the Roethlisberger sweepstakes, the 49′er’s? San Fran owns the 13th and 17th pick in the first round. Why not package those two picks and say a 4th round pick next year for Roethlisberger and the Steelers #18 pick in the draft this year? Utah grad Alex Smith is serviceable, but really, is he going to take Mike Singletary’s team to the next level? The 6 year pro has proven he can manage a team but last year only threw 18 touchdowns (TE Vernon Davis caught 13) and has had Frank Gore in the backfield for several years.
Up and coming WR Michael Crabtree might really flourish by having a quarterback of Roethlisberger’s caliber under center. I speaking of quarterback talent, not character here.
Finally, the last team which I think might really be the darkest horse in the mix is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville is a team with a fanbase which is in serious decline. Head coach Jack Del Rio is really on the hotseat this year. Jags ownership was rumored to be interested in drafting University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow just to try to jumpstart the season ticket sales, but when ownership but the question out on the internet to the season ticket holders and Jaguar fans, it was a resounding NO vote. Besides, according to almost all accounts and scouting, Tebow will not be ready to play under center for at least 2 years at the NFL level.
The Rooney family has very strong roots in the Steeler community and have been owner’s with a very high character for decades. They already raised the bar on Roethlisberger by sending WR Santonio Holmes out of town for a song and now as the internet is buzzing with everyone speculating where Big Ben might land, the Rooney’s might have no choice left but to ship him out on Thursday regardless of what they receive in return. With all that has been written and said over the past few weeks, Roethlisberger might want out of Pittsburgh as well.
So perhaps it’s time to simply say, Ben, thanks for the 2 Super Bowl titles but it just isn’t working out. Take the best deal you can get in trade and simply move on. Yes, it makes life much more difficult for head coach Mike Tomlin, but sometimes life doesn’t go as planned, deal with it. The fans of the Steelers have made it very clear to the Rooney’s they are very upset with Roethlisberger’s behavior and if he is shipped out, the fans would support that decision.
With less than 24 hours until the draft commences, I’m sure the lights are on in the Steelers front offices and they are taking all calls.
Don’t doubt me! I told you
Okay, I wrote a column about Byron Leftwich returning to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, and I got a lot of flack in my comments.
I wrote this column about Terrell Owens coming to the Redskins and took just as much flack.
Let’s review what I wrote about the Steelers back up plan for Ben Roethlisberger on April 4th.
Then again on April 9th.
I was called crazy, insane, out of my mind, stupid and some things I can’t print here. But what happened here today? McNabb is lobbying for TO in Washington and Leftwich just got traded to Pittsburgh from Tampa Bay for a 7th round pick.
Don’t doubt me. I straight up picked the Saints in the Super Bowl last year before week 1 and beat all of the ESPN “experts” on my straight up week to week picks last season. You need to be reading this blog and the rantsports.com network if you really want to know whats happening, even if you might not like it.
