Thursday, January 17, 2013

Changes coming to the Steelers roster? Yes, please.

Steelers personnel punjab Kevin Colbert told mainstream media reporters on Wednesday that big changes will be coming to the Steelers' roster this off-season. Good. We should hope so.

Of particular interest to Joey Porter's Pit Bulls was Colbert's comments about the running backs. Ed Bouchette's article in the Post-Gazette noted that Colbert said:
  • "Where we were in the running game last year was indicative of the talent at the position ... That group of players didn't produce the way we anticipated they would."
To that, we say, Amen!  The Steelers absolutely must add two or three viable running backs this off-season.  Let's take a look at the 2012 stable of running backs:
John Henry Johnson they ain't.
  • Jonathan Dwyer?  He can be replaced. Dwyer is too inconsistent, too soft, too unreliable, misses holes and taps out after three plays to go to the sideline and "take a blow."  He totally blew a golden opportunity to become entrenched as a starter.  Isaac Redman?  He runs tough and is probably a keeper in a limited role, but he hasn't proven he can stay healthy.  Baron Batch?  The late-round draft choice enters his third year still unproven and apparently unable to stay healthy.  Rashard Mendenhall?  Gone and won't be missed.  Chris Rainey? Good riddance.
The entire group must be upgraded.

Regarding the rest of the roster, as noted in our 2012 season recap, the 2012 team had too many players who either under-achieved (Jonathan Dwyer, Mike Wallace, Lamarr Woodley, Maurkice Pouncey, Ziggy Hood, etc.); are past or near their expiration date (Casey Hampton, Larry Foote, Brett Keisel, Charlie Batch, Troy Polamalu, Max Starks, etc., although it should be noted that som of these guys played well last year); are question marks because they haven't really proven anything (Cameron Heyward, Marcus Gilbert, Mike Adams, Jason Worilds, Curtis Brown, Stevenson Sylvester, Sean Spence, etc.), or simply don't have much talent and won't be missed (Ryan Mundy, Robert Golden, Josh Victorian, etc.).  

Not to mention the quarterback situation.  We're a bit mystified and more than a little worried about Ben Roethlisberger. And the Steelers are long overdue for addressing the backup QB position.

There's so much more that can be said about the roster.  It's a long, cold off-season.

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