"With the 15th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers ... "

With the 15th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers ... should pass on players with "red flags," question marks, lack of motivation, "character issues" and unresolved legal problems, criminal charges and general douchebaggery.

Just our opinion.

One player projected to go in the Top 15 is Michigan tackle Taylor Lewan, who still faces arraignment, on May 19th,  related to assault charges, including aggravated assault. Lewan's name has also been linked to consistently dirty play and other ugliness. No, thanks.

Less serious, but still a bit of a concern, is when we hear about reports like Florida State wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin "blew off" a meeting with an NFL coach because he was "tired." If Benjamin was that worn out from the job-interview process for a job that could pay millions of dollars, he and his agent shouldn't have scheduled the meeting.

Aside from that one reported incident, Benjamin looks like he could be a big-time receiver in the NFL, but his on-field film also shows a raw player who drops a few too many passes to merit being the 15th overall pick, in our opinion.

With so many other excellent receivers (and other players) available in this draft, the Steelers don't need to roll the dice on a player who is a developmental project with "upside." Not at wide receiver or any other position.  Not with the 15th pick; not after consecutive 8-8 seasons.

There is room for improvement on this team, that's for sure, and the 15th overall pick should be an immediate plug 'n play starter and immediate upgrade over the incumbent. Not just a guy, but an impact player. Sound reasonable?

Lots of players in this draft have had various issues, ranging from suspensions for "team violations" to  fairly serious legal problems, etc. The Steelers themselves have been bitten in recent years with wasted draft choices such as Alameda Ta'amu and Chris Rainey, who were later-round picks, but still wasted picks -- and a waste of time, money, and effort.

We can tolerate a certain amount of leeway, but there is no reason to spend the 15th overall pick (or any draft choice) on a guy with red flags, question marks, legal problems and "character issues."

Speaking of character issues, The Onion reports offers a story headlined "NFL Increasingly Worried About Character Issues of Fans." In an unrelated story, The Onion also report that "Dad Announces Plan to Honk When He's Out Front."

Mike Tomlin Makes Easy Draft-Day Decisions

"It was an easy decision for me."
-- Mike Tomlin

Sunday's game at Lambeau Field will feature a pair of second-round rookie running backs who appear to be damn good players. The Steelers chose one over the other, and the more Mike Tomlin talks about draft-day decisions, the more he makes it clear that they are his decisions.

Tomlin made the following comment in response to a question this week about the decision to draft running back Le'Veon Bell with the 48th overall pick instead of Eddie Lacy, who went to to Green Bay with the 61st overall pick.  

“It was an easy decision for me. Again, probably because of the things that I talked about with his versatility that he’s displayed here but also at Michigan State. Obviously, Lacy is a top-quality back and rightfully so. He was a great back at Alabama. Obviously, he is over 1,000 yards and is proving his worth in Green Bay. Probably it’s just a matter of preference. Just like I am sure Cincinnati went through the same discussions and thoughts when they took Giovani Bernard in front of both of them.”

Got that? No mention of Kevin Colbert or anybody else ....

"It was an easy decision for me."

Who Makes the Decisions?

Tomlin has made similar veiled statements previously. Which raises the question: Who's been making key draft-day decisions since Tomlin's first year, 2007, when the Steelers selected Lawrence Timmons?

In 2008, was Tomlin's decision "an easy one" to draft Rashard Mendenhall over Ray Rice or Matt Forte or Chris Johnson?  There's not one player left on the Steelers' roster from that infamous, unfortunate draft class.  Nor is there is a single player other than disappointing first-rounder Ziggy Hood left on the Steelers from the wasted 2009 draft class.

Was Tomlin also the one who made the decision to draft, say ... Alameda Ta'amu, Chris Rainey and, oh, take your pick? 

We'd like to know, but we never will.

Those draft-day decisions -- those failed drafts, the whiffs and misses -- are a large reason why the Steelers are where they are today. 

For the Record
We like Le'Veon Bell and believe he'll be really good. And, if you watched last Sunday's Green Bay-Dallas game, you'll probably agree: Lacy played like a ferocious beast -- fast, powerful, explosive. He ran hard, determined, and was extremely tough to bring down. He has a presence that is impossible to ignore. We'll see if it lasts, but he sure was impressive in Dallas.

Repeating something we included in an earlier post ...

After battling early-season injuries, Bell has looked solid for the Steelers.

• Bell has 43 catches for 388 yards and 646 yards rushing on 96 carries. 

• Lacy has 31 catches for 236 yards and 1,028 yards rushing on 248 carries and is in a leading candidate for offensive rookie of the year. He had 141 yards rushing last Sunday vs. the Cowboys. 

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls like Bell a lot and wanted the Steelers to draft him -- but we also were surprised the Steelers took him in the second round. He'd been projected to go later (third or even fourth round), so selecting him in the second round seemed a bit of an over-reach. They believe in him, though, and we'd love to see him succeed. Both he and Lacy appear to be good players.

It's very early in their respective careers, and way too early for second-guessing.

Who's better? Just enjoy the show on Sunday.

Has the NFL Jumped the Shark?

This post will go over like a Led Balloon; skip it if you don't want to read anything negative about the NFL.

First, let's be clear: Joey Porter's Pit Bulls remain passionate and emotionally invested in football generally and the NFL in particular.

We love the game of football that appeals to the kid in all of us who played ball in the backyard, in the street, on oil-slicked rock-hard fields, in high school, in college, in highly competitive venues, in crazy situations of all kinds. Intensely. We love football.

But ... this latest bullshit with the oafish, reptilian Richie Incognito and his ignorant apologists is yet another major turnoff in a series of diminishing returns.

The NFL is perilously close to jumping the shark.

As heretical as it sounds, the NFL has lost some of its patina that appeals to the kid in all of us.

The NFL is a multi-billion dollar business. During Roger Goodell's tenure as commissioner, it feels like the NFL sold it soul somewhere along the way.

It's increasingly tough to overlook ... 
the golden goose that is television, with its ceaseless fawning, incessant babble, over-saturation of coverage, Thursday night games, Sunday night games, late-season Saturday games, Monday night double-headers -- oh, and, of course, the all-too-frequent and lengthy commercial breaks during games -- the NFL doesn't seem so special and fun anymore.

It's increasingly tough to overlook ...
performance-enhancing drugs, steroids and human growth hormone; absurd rules changes; rampant bounties; institutionalized extortion, thuggery, hazing, browbeating as "initiation" rites; concussions, CET, brain damage and early-onset dementia; designated "strike zones;" deliberately targeted knee hits prompted by the new rules governing upper-body hits; constant and eternal roster attrition from injuries, injuries and more injuries; the continuous legal squabbling; the ridiculous regular-season games in London and Roger Goodell's continuing threat to move franchises to London (from Jacksonville and maybe other cities) and Toronto (from Buffalo).

It's increasingly tough to overlook ... 
the many, many player arrests (from the seriously disturbing Aaron Hernandez  murder case to the insanely absurd Alameda Ta'amu incident on Pittsburgh's South Side); cretins like Michael Vick; blockheads like Riley Cooper; jerk owners like Jerry Jones, Zygi Wolf and Dan Snyder; asshole coaches like Rex Ryan, Joe Philbin, Greg Schiano, Gregg Williams, Bill Bellichick, et al; Todd Haley and his wife; the selfies; the constant Tweets by clueless self-absorbed idiotic athletes, self-imporant talking heads and former-player blowhard "analysts" like Ray Lewis, Michael Irvin and Warren Sapp; the breathless bloggers, the uber-analytical Pro Football Focus Sabremetric-type "experts" who are about as fun as actuaries ... and so on, and on, and on.

It all detracts, takes its toll, from what used to be a more enjoyable, fun diversion and, yes, a passion that still means a lot to us.

Football is supposed to be a game, but it's got "business" written all over it.

It's as if Roger Goodell and his minions never heard of the adage,"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls remain deeply invested in the whole scrambling omelette, but ... there is something to be said for perspective and balance, if you will, if not wisdom.

We still watch the Steelers closely, with passion and intensity, but ... we're also watching the Aaron Hernandez and Richie Incognito situations, along with all the other crap, almost as much as we're watching the games.  The bad with the good; you don't get one without the other.