SteelerWatch

Now be honest. You just looked at that headline and your jaw hit the floor. “Our franchise quarterback, only the ninth-best player on the team?!” I mean no disrespect, folks. It’s just a simple fact that Roethlisberger is a great game manager, but until he proves otherwise, he’s just not one of those “top-five” quarterbacks in the league. He’s not Peyton Manning, he’s not (this hurts to say) Tom Brady. Yes, he posted a phenomenal record in his first two years, but he slipped a lot last year. Part of that was due to the injuries from the motorcycle crash. But there are too many unknowns to rank him any higher.

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I’ll be honest with you up front: the top nine were easy to pick. It was that tenth spot that was tough. Marvell Smith has been great, but he slipped a good bit last year. Anthony Smith will be on this list for years to come, but he hasn’t had the playing time to date that can show the kind of consistent play needed to make the cut. Same goes for Brett Kiesel, Nate Washington and Bryant McFadden. Even Ike Taylor fell out of favor at SteelerWatch after last season. Chances are he’ll be here next year, but this is a list of who is the best going into training camp.

Santonio Holmes had his work cut out for him last year. Your top draft pick always will,but he had the added weight of being regarded by most as the
best receiver in the 2006 Draft. Had they said he was the best punt returner in the draft, we likely would have lynched the football “experts” by week five.

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To borrow a descriptive phrase from my “sports mistress” — auto racing — we’re in the home stretch.  Two weeks from today, the players and coaches will take to the field at St. Vincent College for the first training camp session.  Or, to put it in football terms, consider the next 14 days to be the first of two bye-weeks this year.

To celebrate the fact that we’re also less than a month away from the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, which should go pretty well since Ohio is the Steelers’ stomping ground away from home, we’re giving you our thoughts on the guys we consider to be the top ten Steelers currently on the roster.  Picking an all-time team would just be too hard — we’d get hung up helplessly at linebacker.

So sit back and enjoy the countdown.

If any of you are faithful Mondesi’s House readers, you’ve probably found this little gem.  Otherwise, unless you have nine-hundred sixty-one Steelers sites in your RSS reader like me (that’s only a small exaggeration), you haven’t seen it.

Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline (sorry Mondesi, it’s not SI.com) ranked his top 50 players for the seventh year running.  Now, I don’t know who he ranked where in previous years, but this year he blew it big.

While the Steelers were 8-8 last season, they are one year removed from a Super Bowl victory with the vast majority of the starters from that season still on the roster (gone are Jerome Bettis, Jeff Hartings, Antwaan Randle El, Kimo Von Oelhoffen,  Chris Hope and Joey Porter, meaning they still have 16 of 22 starters).  You can’t tell me that one year after a Super Bowl, all 16 of those players have fallen so far as to not be included.

Here’s a sampling to show you how dumb Prisco is:

1) Willie Parker may only have three seasons under his belt, but he has improved each year.  In fact, he had over 1,700 yards from scrimmage and 16 touchdowns in 2006, behind a line that looked average at best and inept at its worst.  He posted two games over 200 yards rushing, and could have potentially come close to breaking the single game record in one of those outings had he not been pulled with over half the fourth quarter to go.  Yet he gets snubbed.

2) Troy Polamalu played 2006 through constant injuries and still managed to be an impact player, particularly in the second half of the season as the defense improved as a whole.  That improvement was due in large part to Troy’s improved health.  Putting his slight drop-off aside, he’s played at a level above and beyond even the upper echelon of safeties his entire career.  He is the centerpiece of a championship defense, and is undoubtedly the defensive MVP.  Prisco included safeties Kerry Rhodes, Bob Sanders, a highly overrated Sean Taylor and — at 22nd, no less — Adrian Wilson of the Cardinals.  But no Troy.

3) Pete got jiggy wit New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith at number 27.  Not surprisingly, the only 3-4 DEs on the list are Richard Seymour (who I admit deserves to be there) and fellow Patriot Ty Warren (who is good, but not top-50 good).  Why?  Because 3-4 ends get less respect than Rodney Dangerfield when it comes to defining a “great” player.  But Aaron Smith, the strongest, most athletic 3-4 DE in the league, is missing — even though he is the other half of the trench stuffing tandem of Smith-Hampton.

4) Speaking of Casey Hampton, he isn’t there either.  How — how on earth?! — do you leave the best nose tackle in the last decade off this list?  It’s so hard to find a good, let alone a great, nose tackle, and yet Hampton is so athletic even at 320 pounds that he can drop into shallow coverage over the middle on tight ends and running backs.  There is no other defensive tackle in the league as versatile, and — if you believe the Pro Bowl Bench Press competition is a good indicator — only a single player in the entire league (Larry Allen) stronger than Casey.

5) Hines Ward doesn’t put up outrageous numbers.  He never has.  But he’s a perennial Pro Bowler, and is the most complete receiver in the league.  He’s not the fastest, or the tallest, and he doesn’t have the best hands.  But there are few receivers I would want on my team over Ward when it came down to making sure grabs when it counts, and there is no — no — receiver I would want on the field over Ward on a running play.  And dammit, he’s a Super Bowl MVP.  But Lee Evans is there at number 36, and Prisco himself even said that Evans only “flashed star potential” in 2006.  News flash, Pete: Evans will one day be a star.  Ward already is, and has been since he first became a starter.

6) We may no longer like the guy here at SteelerWatch, but Alan Faneca is one of the top two guards in the league.  Depending on who you talk to, he’s sometimes mentioned as the best, ahead of Steve Hutchinson.  But he was ignored, while Eagle Shawn Andrews was included at #31.

There are non-Steeler items as well.  Things like snubbing Eagle Brian Westbrook while including his teammate, the oft-injured Donovan McNabb.

I understand that this is one man’s opinion.  But if that one man clearly hasn’t watched a game of football in the last six years, then he shouldn’t be allowed to get paid for writing that kind of drivel while those of us who are passionate about it are struggling to pay our hosting bills, just to be heard.

That’s all I have to say about that.

Why hasn’t SteelerWatch already mentioned that this is the anniversary of Big Ben’s tiptoe through the tulips some old lady’s windshield?  Well, for starters, I don’t care to relive the day.  I was sitting around the house when I got a phone call from one of my closest friends — an Eagles fan, can you believe it? — telling me that the future of the Steelers was now in the past, with Ben lost for the season.  While he’s been known for stretching the truth so thin you could read a cable company’s fine print through it, the fact that Ben had just peeled his own face off the pavement certainly made me worry.  If you ask my wife, she’d probably tell you I spent the day acting like he was my own brother, checking for news updates about every 17 seconds.

Ben himself wants us all to move past it.  It happened, and there’s nothing anyone can do to change that.  But in the end I think we’ll be celebrating this anniversary as the day Ben got his reality check, rather than dreading its coming as the day that ruined a promising young career.

Darkest day, or best day?  What do you think we’ll all be saying ten years from now?  Chime in.

Warning: no football content!

Troy Polamalu is being honored by the Downtown YMCA today as their Person of the Year.  He is also forming a foundation to support war vets.  But the bigger story isn’t what he has done, so much as it is what he said regarding his actions, that urged me to write this.  His general attitude is something that players all over the league should pay close attention to, particularly those guys with tiger stripes on their helmets (and a guy in Atlanta who has a fondness for pit bulls).

Sayeth Troy: “I don’t really feel comfortable taking credit for anything.  To me it’s something we’re supposed to do.”

strong>Also sayeth Troy: “The easiest thing to do is to give money, especially when you have a high-paying job.  I think when you sacrifice time is when you really sacrifice something.”

Pay attention, players.  The standard to which you need to live has been set.

Last year was a comedy of errors — albeit, not a very funny one — for the Steelers. On offense, our quarterback was taken out before the season started in part by a Chrysler, but mostly because of the immature mistake of feeling invincible. He quickly came crashing back to earth — with a quick but sudden stop on a windshield along the way — and, to the dismay of we the loyal, he stayed there until the beginning of November.

But that was just the beginning of the problems. We suffered from an underachieving offensive line, an inexplicably — and inexcusably — passive defense, and worst of all, we had a disinterested head coach. Those three problems have been quickly and definitively addressed this off-season, and now that we’ve reached the midpoint of our annual Wait From Hell, it’s time to analyze what’s been done and what remains.

Block, Dangit!
Beyond Ben Roethlisberger’s quick trip over a car hood and the subsequent slide in his confidence and play, the offense had a major failing in 2006. Ironically, it was the part of the team that has been the most consistent throughout the last decade.

The offensive line suffered from a severe lack of, well, blocking ability. Sure, run blocking was alright — Willie Parker did, after all, post better numbers than during the 2005 Super Bowl run. But the life, the drive, the passion…it just wasn’t there. What turned out to be a four-yard run should have been six yards. Had the hole been ever so slightly larger on numerous occassions, Parker likely would have broke loose a lot more often. But running wasn’t the problem.

No, the real failing for the Steelers in 2006 was the pass blocking, or at least the lack thereof. Roethlisberger, already working with shattered confidence (and a shattered face), was in need of help from his front five, and only two delivered on a regular basis. Fortunately, that was his left tackle and left guard. The only bad part was that it meant Roethlisberger got to see the behemouth who would wind up nailing him making a mad bum rush for his head. It doesn’t help wounded confidence when you can’t even depend on the guys who have your back. Or front. Or sides.

In my own defense, I have no defense.
Defensively, there just wasn’t any pursuit. Maybe it was bad coaching (I’ll get to that in a minute). Maybe it was poor conditioning. Maybe it was a simple lack of focus. Whatever the case, the defense just played at a markedly lower level of intensity after they left Detroit in February last year.

What should we do, coach? … Coach?
Of course, it doesn’t help when your coach doesn’t care about the poor performance. Don’t worry about what Bill Cowher said in public. He just didn’t give a damn anymore. His goal was achieved, his decision for the future was made, and he had no reason to fight, especially after starting the season off so horrendously.

And to the future…
The Steelers have quietly had a big off-season. But then, that’s how this team operates. They do their thing and leave the speculation to the rest of the country. So far, they’ve replaced a Super Bowl-winning coach and most of his staff, released one of the most visible linebackers in the league when they gave Joey Porter his walking papers, revamped their defensive scheme, replaced their offensive playbook and drafter a…punter?

Mike Tomlin talks RooneySpeak better than anyone to come along since Chuck Noll, from Bill Cowher to Dick LeBeau to Kevin Colbert. He has a quiet confidence and a “player’s coach” demeanor that has really brought out the best in his players, sans one 300-pound, red-headed man-child who shall remain nameless, but not blameless. Throughout the first few months of his tenure, he has managed to distract his players from the negative and light a fresh new fire under the team. Players are voluntarily working out, often as groups, during their personal time. Attendance at voluntary team functions has been tremendous, as the players are eager to prove their worth to their new leadership — not to mention to get the taste of a bitter, failed season out of their mouths. Players who previously left the leading to other members of the team have begun to step up and take over those leadership positions, both from the departed (Peezy) and those who no longer deserve to lead (Faneca).

Offensively, new coordinator Bruce Arians has created a fresh, new playbook that maintains the Steeler status quo while incorporating new wrinkles like four wideouts on first downs and prominent use of three tight ends. Roethlisberger has spent an inordinate amount of time (for him at least) either speaking with the coaching staff or with his head in a playbook. He’s bonded with Ken Anderson, his new QB coach. Quiet Willie Parker has been relatively outspoken in praising the new offense that will put the ball in his hands in situations that might actually present running room instead of a wall of defenders.

Across the line of scrimmage, the defense has been loaded up too. Defensive end Aaron Smith has been re-signed, and on the other side of the line, Brett Kiesel is learning the nuances of a new philosophy that will have him moving around before the snap to create a whole new level of confusion for opposing offenses. The team added two first-round-quality linebackers in the draft when they picked up Lawrence Timmons and converted end LaMarr Woodley. The secondary should benefit from the return of Ricardo Colclough and the likely emegence of guided missile Anthony Smith. Add in the fact that most of the cornerbacks have been working out in Orlando with conditioning specialists, and this could be a huge year for the defensive backs. The team is going to stay primarily with the familiar 3-4 defensive alignment, meaning there won’t be much of a learning curve for the veterans.

From a strategic standpoint, the biggest move in the league this year may have come when the Steelers moved up in the fourth round of the draft to pick up Dan Sepulveda, a linebacker-turned-punter who has on at least one occassion put up a punt of more than 50 yards and then cleaned the returner’s clock before most of his teammates made it downfield. He punts like Ray Guy and hits like Greg Lloyd, which should result in much better defensive field position for the Steelers this year. Rumor has it he regularly boomed punts of more than 60 yards during workouts this month, putting him in on a level he only shares with the Cowboys’ Matt McBriar. Add in the possibility (purely speculation at this point) that he may be capable of taking over kickoff duties as well, and we could see a lot more touchbacks in 2007 than we have in the ‘Burgh in a quarter century.

It remains to be seen how all the new pieces of the puzzle will fit together. But on the surface, at least, this season has the makings of a contender at the least, and a champion if everyone really gives it the effort they were lacking in 2006.

I write a post about how news is already slow right now, and shortly thereafter the team goes on a…a…a doing-something spree. Let’s skip the gristle and get down to the bone:

1) Steeler assistant sends rude, crude and sexual joke to colleagues. Steelers o-line coach Larry Z. “accidentally” forwards it on further — including to His Highness, league commish Roger Goodell. This comes, of course, on the heels of Goodell’s new league conduct policy, which specifically singles out things of a sexual nature, and makes most things short of playing on Sunday and shaving twice a week a violation of league rules, regardless of whether they violate any actual laws. I’d imagine that would include a certain pair of Redskins publicly stating their support for Michael Vick and his band of traveling KillerMutts. No one expects the two assistants to be punished, but I still think Rog should rub their faces against the screen and say, “No!” Of course, that may have the complete opposite of the desired effect.

One thing worth mentioning: this story was broken by ProFootballTalk.com. They are now officially 2-for-17,331 for accurate reporting. Congrats guys, you just doubled your success level! Bear in mind, this is the same site that runs the Turd Watch and has the Steelers in the top 5 turd-producers a la Richard Siegler, even though the team cut ties with the player prior to his arrest (and, no doubt, because of the warrant). Needless to say, they rank one spot below the third cousin to the Prince of Wales’ chef’s girlfriend on my list of valued NFL news sources.

2) Alan Faneca skips more voluntary workouts. I don’t know how this qualifies as news at this point, considering he said he wouldn’t be there — and the fact that we, the media, have already beat this story to death several times over. If this story was a cat, it would be clinging desperately to life number nine at this point.

3) The Steelers have released Chris Gardocki. File this one under “whoa! Never saw that coming!” You’ll find it in the Sarcasm & Irony Department.

4) Did you hear the Steelers are moving to a new home city? The team will be dropping anchor in Dallas come January 2011 in that ginormous new stadium being built to house the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, after they win the Super Bowl they’re coming back to the ‘Burgh.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Thanks to Mondesishouse.com for the heads-up: It seems the person Alan Faneca was mad at Saturday was none other than head coach Mike Tomlin himself.

Tomlin apparently called the guard out during a morning team meeting, saying he wasn’t going to put up with that type of distraction for the team. Faneca proceeded to throw a temper tantrum by skipping the morning practice session. Later that day Tomlin stated he doesn’t have a personal issue with Big Al.

Way to go Mike. SteelerWatch commends your blunt approach to crybaby millionaires.

All in all, it was a good minicamp from most indications. Even though Alan Faneca, the latest Pittsburgh goat, pitched a fit to the media prior to the start of camp — ever since the hiring of Mike Tomlin, really — the whole thing went off without a hitch.

I know this, because no one in Pittsburgh media made more than a peep about it all weekend.

Every now and again, I make my way northwest to a little town about 100 miles east of Pittsburgh — my hometown, crammed unceremoniously at the approximate midpoint on route 30 between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. From Friday night through Sunday afternoon, I didn’t hear a single mention of minicamp. Not on television. Not in any newspaper. Not even in town (even though I only spent about 15 minutes there). And that means Alan behaved, for the most part.

Oh, he got upset Saturday morning. Someone made some sort of crack to him, or maybe about him but within earshot. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know for certain. But in typical NFL star, holier-than-thou fashion, Faneca disappeared from morning practice. After his pouting and self-imposed timeout, and following a talk with Tomlin, he returned and completed the rest of camp.

He still wants out. Unfortunately, a bunch of overpaid guards this off-season forced the Steelers’ hand. Guys who will only make it to a Pro Bowl if they can get tickets are now being paid millions more than our once-beloved leader, and now he wants to be in that club. So be it. Like every other player on every other sports team, he’s replaceable. It won’t be easy — it will probably hurt a lot, actually — but he will be replaced. And the Steelers will keep on keeping on amongst the league’s elite. I once called him vital to the team’s success, and he has been. But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. For Alan, that means getting paid by a team desperate enough to shell out $5 million-plus per season to a guy with nine seasons on his frame. For Tomlin, Dan Rooney, Kevin Colbert and the entire Steelers organization, it means replacing yet another highly gifted cog with someone younger and somehow (hopefully) not missing a beat.