SteelerWatch

All-time team leader in receptions.  Single-season team record-holder for catches (112) and receiving touchdowns (12).  Three-time team MVP.  Four straight Pro Bowl appearances.  Known as the best blocking receiver in the league — maybe in the history of the NFL.  Super Bowl XL MVP.  700 yards shy of breaking John Stallworth’s 20-year-old team record for most career receiving yards.  The consummate professional.  And he’s the only wide receiver, to my knowledge, who has given a linebacker a concussion.

How do you not put a guy like this in the top two?

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The Steelers have, for decades, been known for their offensive line. Chuck Noll was a big supporter of run-first offense, and his successor, Bill Cowher, didn’t change a thing. Steeler runners have long been comforted knowing their blockers were some of the best in the business. That has held particularly true with the guys who have played since 1998, and they’ve been led by left guard Alan Faneca.

The landscape has changed a bit, though. Faneca is no longer happy with his contract and wants out of Pittsburgh. But, a few temper tantrums this spring aside, Alan has been the consummate professional when it came time to work. That simply underscores his career-long work ethic that resulted in him being named as a team captain three times. The question now, of course, is whether or not a player who has put himself in a lame duck position by publicly stating he does not want to re-sign with his current team should be put in a position of leadership.

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List of the Top 50 players?  No Steelers.  Top 25 wideouts, and Hines Ward is only listed at number 23?  Someone is smoking something good.  For a team one season removed from winning their fifth Super Bowl, they sure aren’t given much credit.

Finally, though, someone recognized the talent in the organization.  ESPN.com’s Jeffri Chadiha realized that just because you aren’t in the headlines all the time (mostly for the wrong reasons, at least if you’re a Bengal), it doesn’t mean you aren’t immensely talented.  The only “Doh!” about this is that it’s for a player in the least-utilized position for the Steelers over the last 15 years: Tight End Heath Miller.  Miller was picked as Chadiha’s offensive breakout player, and for good reason: he’s likely to spend a lot of time as the team’s slot receiver, if Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians has his way.  And, given that Mike Tomlin knows he’s going to have to make a big impression to win over most Steeler fans — after all, we are probably the hardest fans to please because of the city’s history of great sports teams — it’s pretty likely that Arians will be given a lot of creative freedom, and a very long leash as long as things start off smoothly.  Let’s all hope his grooming of Peyton Manning wasn’t just a fluke.

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.

So, Faneca wants out after all. It’s not just unhappiness now; he’s officially disgruntled. That’s a cancer that can only grow, and there are too many people on this team up for contract talks in the next two seasons.

What to do? How about a trade? he’s been asking for it since February, apparently, and he’s good enough to get something big in return. Maybe a less-qualified guard and a draft pick? Whatever we get, we need to do it soon.

Al, you’ve been good to us. But now you must go.

Will the Steelers re-sign Alan Faneca?

• Yes
• No

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Well, it looks like we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Left guard Alan Faneca and strong safety Troy Polamalu — two of the four players SteelerWatch has named indispensable — will participate in the minicamp that begins today. Also joining them will be Clark Haggans, who missed the voluntary workouts to be with his wife and new child.

While Polamalu had been excused from voluntary workouts last month due to personal reasons, some speculated it was because of frustration over non-existent contract negotiations. For Faneca, though, there was no speculation. Plain and simple, he wants his new contract.

While he has been frustrated over the Steelers passing on former offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt former offensive line coach Russ Grimm in favor of new head coach Mike Tomlin, Faneca has been involved in stagnant contract negotiations. Not playing in his favor is the fact that the team prefers youthful players while the bruiser is a nine-year veteran. As offensive linemen go, he probably only has three more Pro Bowl-caliber years left in him, but is likely seeking a contract that will keep him in black and gold for the remainder of his career — five years or more is a safe wager. While the Steelers don’t have much proven talent in reserve on the line, they truly are loaded with big, young bodies. They have guys like Chukki Okobi, Marvin Philip, Chris Kemoeatu, Trai Essex and some new draft picks and rookie free agents waiting in the wings. And don’t forget the signing of Sean Mahan this off-season.

I feel that Faneca is blowing the situation out of proportion, given the massive turnover in the coaching staff. Under the old regime, the starters in good standing generally received a contract extension a season before their contract expired. however, with a mostly new coaching staff, the new group most likely wants to see who steps up before making any new, long-term commitments. That’s especially understandable when talking about a guy who has nine pro seasons under his belt.

Pittsburgh native Kevan Barlow is coming home.

The Steelers on Thursday signed the six-year vet for the 2007 season. He will likely compete for the number two spot behind Willie Parker against Najeh Davenport and possibly Verron Haynes, if he can successfully recover from a knee injury suffered last season.

What does Barlow bring? For starters, a love for the team. he grew up a fan of the Steelers and idolizing Hall of Famer Franco Harris. He also brings a lot more skill than he’s show in recent years. His best season was 2003 when he went over 1,000 yards rushing as a backup to Garrison Hearst in San Francisco.

While he’s about 30 pounds shy of former RB Jerrome Bettis’ wrecking ball-like size, Barlow is likely to serve at least on third downs. Injuries last season to both Haynes and Davenport resulted in Parker shouldering more of the load, particularly on third downs, than the team would have preferred.

The Steelers have released tight end Tim Euhus, possibly indicating that third round draft pick Matt Spaeth is close to signing with the team. In his brief stint with the team, he played one game (the 2006 season opener versus Miami) and was inactive for three more.

The team added a huge weapon (literally, the dude is 6′7″ and 267 pounds) on Saturday when they drafted Spaeth. New offensive coordinator Bruce Arians later voiced his desire to better utilize a three-tight-end set with current starter Heath Miller potentially split out as a slot receiver. With two tight ends with great receiving skills, decent speed and a lot of heft to toss around, the door is now open for more creative use of the traditionally run-oriented set.

Filling the third tight end spot in the set is long-time Steeler Jerame Tuman. Tuman is used primarily as a blocker due to his less-than-adequate receiving abilities and the speed of, well, there’s no real speed there to speak of. Which doesn’t speak too well to the abilities of the newly unemployed Euhus.

The Steelers today signed restricted free agent right tackle Max Starks to a one-year deal worth $1.85 million, fulfilling the qualifying offer they extended to him prior to the start of free agency. Because of the fact that the original offer would have required another team to give up a first-round draft pick in order to sign Starks, it remained unlikely throughout the last two months that anyone would take a chance on the player.

Starks, who has had streaks of absolutely brilliant play, has been hampered by very inconsistent play at times — often at critical junctures in tight games. He stood completely motionless after the snap on a play versus the Ravens in 2006 during which quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was viciously sacked head-on by the defender Starks was supposed to have been blocking. Roethlisberger was briefly knocked out of the game, and the team went on to lose in one of their worst performances of the season. His play in that game, and several others during 2006, is a sharp contrast to his 2005 performance for which he was generally applauded.

Starks had been rumored to be headed to Arizona, where he would have been reunited with his former offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and offensive line coach Russ Grimm. Those rumors were quickly squashed.

Starks has been repeatedly — and viciously — lampooned here at SteelerWatch as one of the primary reasons for the offensive line’s overall poor performance in the first half of the 2006 season. While I saw the re-signing as inevitable, I stand by my analysis.

Remember folks, you heard it here third.

For anyone doubting the Steelers’ ability to build the team through the draft, just consider this statistic: seven of their last nine first-round draft picks are still with the team — and all are starters. They are Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller, Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Kendall Simmons, Casey Hampton and Alan Faneca. Three are All-Pros (Polamalu, Hampton, Faneca) and three more are virtually a lock for the Pro Bowl eventually (Holmes, Miller, Roethlisberger).