Running for Cover

To anybody who has been paying attention, it’s clear the Steelers plan to add some fresh wrinkles to the offense under new head coach Mike Tomlin and new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. More spread formations, crisper rhythm all around, greater use of the (gasp!) tight ends, more swing passes, quicker breaks, etcetera.

All long overdue and, hopefully, these changes will help the Steelers offense open lanes while shoring up their weaknesses (pass protection) and optimizing their strengths (getting Fast Willie Parker out in space, as in, open field, and moving the chains with quick-hit passes to receivers, including tight ends).

We keep hearing coaches and players use the term, “less predictable” in reference to the offense, and that should be a good thing.

All well and good, indeed. Especially if Fast Willie Parker maintains the blessed good health he enjoyed throughout last season … if, however, he goes down, God forbid, what then?

It’s a fair question not only because of who the Steelers may have available to step in, but also because of what type of backs they are likely to have. If FWP goes down, will that force a return to the kind of crimped, between-the-tackles inside running game we’ve grown so accustomed to around here?

After all, in their quest to find a big back to complement FWP, the Steelers have quietly stockpiled a bevy of fairly big backs. Nobody quite as big or as productive as Jerome Bettis — who is? … he was one of a kind — then again, nobody as fast as Fast Willie Parker, either, but who is?

Najeh Davenport (250 lbs.), John Kuhn (255), Kevan Barlow (235), Carey Davis (235), Paul Mosley (235),Verron Haynes (225): All these guys are between-the-tackles types, and all are at least 235 pounds, with the exception of Haynes, who’s never been a burner in any case.

The only exception to the between-the-tackles model would be undrafted free agent rookie Gary Russell, who is listed at 5’11”, 215 pounds, and is evidently a slasher. We don’t know yet what we have in him. But if Fast Willie Parker goes down for the season this weekend in minicamp, Russell would be the closest thing to him in terms of approximate physical stature and, possibly, running style.

So, we’re just asking.

And that brings us to the subject of Kevan Barlow (pictured above). Our reaction to his signing? Eh. We’ll see. Does he bring anything that you’re not getting already from Najeh Davenport, who performed well last year, or John Kuhn, who looked good in training camp last year and could play on all special teams? Hard to say. Will Barlow even be willing to play special teams? … and we’re not even talking about returning kickoffs? Will he make a block or bust a wedge? Has he ever?

Again, just asking.

Willie Reid, if he makes the team, presumably will take over the primary kickoff return duties from Davenport. But Davenport actually did pretty well in that role last year, and he showed he could catch the ball out of the backfield. He did everything he was asked to do.
So has Verron Haynes, who has always excelled on special teams and in the role of the third-down back, as a blocker, runner and pass-catcher out of the backfield, but his health presently makes him a question mark.

Bottom line: We’re not as excited about Barlow as some people. At least he gives them an option at running back, and he’s signed at a cut-rate price. He was a star at Peabody, at Pitt and in the NFL with the 49ers, so he’s worth a look. We just wonder if he has anything left – and, if his skills have diminished as a running back, well … he’s not likely to give you what you need from your third running back on all the various special teams.

Tag! You’re it!

Silence.

After all the hysterical pre-draft trade speculation, nobody’s talking about Alan Faneca. The Steelers’ front office is silent. The Faneca camp is silent. Even the grubby mainstream media is silent.

Not Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls.

Hey! Somebody’s got to say it!

What?

The Steelers plan to franchise-tag his ass.

What’s that mean?

Along with Minnesota’s Steve Hutchinson, Faneca is one of the two best guards in football. Faneca’s contract expires after the coming season, so before the April 28 draft most people assumed one of three things would occur: (1) The Steelers would sign him to a lucrative five-year extension with a signing bonus in the very posh neighborhood of $50 million, a bar set by the recent contracts given to Faneca’s legitamate peer, Hutchinson, and Eric Steinbach, a journeyman who’s never been All-Pro; (2) Trade Faneca for a high-round draft pick, with Arizona discussed as the logical destination because of Faneca’s pronounced affection for former Steelers’ assistant coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, now in charge in the desert; or (3) let him play out his contract and become a free agent following the coming season.

The fourth option that nobody has discussed in public (that we’ve heard) is The Frachise Tag. In the murky world of Salary Cap Management, players generally hate the franchise tag, and franchises (the Steelers in particular) are loathe to use it. They’re allowed to tag one player per year at a league-average top-five salary for the position.

The club is in control, however, and if ever a situation called for using the franchise tag, this is it.

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls are not cap experts, so feel free to correct us. But, as we understand it, the franchise tag stipulates that the club pay Faneca at the equivalent average of a top-five player at his position – without a signing bonus. Franchising Faneca would put his salary for the 2008-09 season at about $9.55 million -- a one-year commitment that is fair, which is what the Steelers ostensibly are all about. Unfortunately for Faneca – and we should all be so unfortunate to be in a position to receive a one-year salary of about $9-10 million – this represents getting cock-blocked. He’s at an age – in his prime – where he should expect to cash in on a five-year deal at market price: about $50 million guaranteed, with a base salary starting at $7 million and escalating to about $11.5 million over the length of the contract, with the understanding that he’ll never see the back-ended last two years. That’s why, for the player and agent, it’s so important to nail down that guaranteed money in a signing bonus. That’s cash, baby, and money talks.

And bullshit walks.

If the Steelers have proven anything over the years, it’s that they have little patience for bullshit. And if Faneca thought he was going to push his leverage as a pending free agent, that’s bullshit. He can miss voluntary workouts and min-camp. He can talk sweet nothings about his fondness for Whisenhunt and Grimm. He can pout and bemoan the “direction” the Steelers are taking with new coach Mike Tomlin.

But the Steelers won’t be strong-armed. Faneca’s been a great player for them over the years, and a model citizen. He and his wife have done a lot of good work for charities (including The Epilepsy Foundation, among others) in the community. He’s kept a low profile, never gotten in trouble and appears to be destined for the Hall of Fame. He’s earned his right to a big payday.

He’ll get it, eventually. Not here, though, not unless you count $10 million as a “big payday.” I do, and you do. But that’s beside the point.

Next January, the Steelers will franchise Faneca’s ass and effectively cock-block him for another year. They can keep doing this, by the way, for another two years beyond that. He’s not going anywhere. The Steelers have to negotiate long-term contracts with two other elite players, Ben Roethlisgberger and Troy Polamulu. In the meantime, they can hold their cards close to the vest. You can’t give huge signing bonuses to everybody – so they'll assess their options with Roethlisberger and Polamulu, and wait on Faneca. If his play declines or he gets injured, God forbid, they'll let him walk.

He knows it, his agent knows it, and the Steelers know it.

At the moment, however, to Faneca they are saying, effectively, “Tag! You’re it!”

Draft ‘n ‘At

Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls are satisfied with the Steelers’ new crop of draft picks and undrafted free agents.

Lost in the day-after wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Steelers’ failure to draft a running back was the fact that on Monday they did add a running back (two, actually) among the crop of undrafted free agents.

We predict one of them will make the team. That would be Gary Russell, running back from the University of Minnesota.

Why did Russell go undrafted? Well, for one, he didn’t play last year. Injured? No. Too small, too slow? No, and no. Buried on the depth chart, a la Willie Parker at North Carolina? Again, no.

Gary Russell didn’t play last year because he was ruled academically ineligible.

He dropped out of school.

That took him out of the spotlight and almost completely off the radar screen. So, give the Steelers credit for signing this guy. Maybe they had a deal worked out before the draft.

They must have had competition. This guy was no secret.

When he played for the Golden Gophers during the 2006 season, Ross started only game but split time in the backfield with Laurence Maroney, last year’s number one draft choice of the New England Patriots. Maroney and Ross each went over 1,000 yards rushing, and Ross scored 19 touchdowns for Minnesota, 18 on the ground.

This followed a stellar high school career in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. In Russell’s senior year, he rushed for more than 2,100 yards and scored 29 touchdowns, the same number of touchdowns he scored as a junior.

For more details, check out the “strengths” and “weaknesses” listed in his “Prospect Profile” on NFL.com, which compares him to Dallas’s Marion Barber, who’s a pretty good football player, and also had this to say:

“Russell actually looks a bit like a former Cowboy, Emmitt Smith, as he has excellent explosion and cutback ability, along with that low center of gravity that makes it tough for defenders to attack his legs.”

If anything, Russell reminds us of Kenny Irons, the Auburn running back drafted in the second round by the Bengals. In any case, Gary Russell is an intriguing prospect, to say the least. The Steelers did well to sign him, and we don’t feel so bad about them not drafting a running back.

Which brings us back to the draft.

First round: Lawrence Timmons: Aside from being small, slow, raw and inexperienced, and having Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, what’s not to like?

As noted in this space before the draft, we would have preferred to see the Steelers draft Purdue’s Anthony Spencer, so it will be interesting to see how their respective careers play out. For us, Timmons will always be measured against Spencer and Jarvis Moss (who went just two picks later), as well as two linebackers who went in last year’s draft: Ernie Sims, his predecessor at Florida State, who went number nine overall to Detroit and led the team in tackles his rookie year; and Camerion Wimbley, who went number 13 overall last year and has the look of a mainstay on the Browns’ defense for many years to come.

Second Round: While we are less than enthralled with the Timmons selection, we are very happy that the Steelers were able to add Lamarr Woodley, DE/LB, Michigan, with their second pick. As noted here before the draft – again – we were hoping Woodley, 6-1-1/2, 266, would end up in black and gold … but we figured he’d be gone by pick number 46 overall, so we’re thrilled the Steelers had the good sense to pick him when he was still there. He won the Lombardi Award, the Hendricks Award, and more. He’s a winner, and we expect the Steelers to use him initially in a three-point stance to RUSH THE PASSER off the left edge. Excellent pick.

Third round: Matt Spaeth, tight end, University of Minnesota. This is a head-scratcher. At least, like Woodley, Spaeth, 6-7, 270, won the major individual award (The Mackey Award) for his position as the best tight end in the country, so he’s got that going for him. As for how he might fit into the Steelers’ plans, we should get used to seeing some new schemes now that the Tomlin-Arians era is here. Perhaps multiple tight end sets, with either Spaeth or Heath Miller serving as a slot receiver? We shall see.

Fourth Round: Daniel Sepulveda, P, Baylor. Not to say, “told you so,” but once again we wrote in this space before the draft that we hoped the Steelers would draft either Sepulveda or Adam Podlesh (Maryland). Of course, Ryan Smith over at HeelsSoxSteelers has been trumpeting this pick for months. Like Woodley and Spaeth, Sepulveda won the top award for his position – The Ray Guy Award – which he won not once, but twice, a first for that award. So, we were gratified the Steelers drafted Sepulveda. That they traded up to do so only underscored the urgency of landing this guy after Jacksonville drafted Podlesh, who rated marginally higher as a slightly better technician with no career blocks. Anyway, Sepulveda is a beast who kicks the ball consistently long, with good hang time and down-placement technique. We like this pick a lot, as the Steelers are long overdue for upgrading the play of all special teams. Apparently, Coach Tomlin truly believes that special teams matter, and so do we.

Fourth Round: Ryan McBean, DL, 6-4 1/2, 285, Oklahoma State. We like this pick a lot. We saw McBean play some for Oklahoma State, and he impressed. He’s a versatile guy who should get to play inside as well as outside. Good pick, and good value at this spot.

Fifth Round: Cameron Stephenson, G, 6-3, 306, Rutgers. Maybe a bit of a development project, but the Steelers absolutely needed to shore up depth along the offensive line, and this guy should help. Hey, somebody was clearing holes for Rutgers’ running game, which was among the best in the nation last year.

Fifth Round: William Gay, CB, Louisville. No problem with this pick. The guy comes from a good program and displayed good ball skills. He’ll see a lot of action on special teams.

Seventh Round — Dallas Baker, WR, 6-3, 209, Florida. According to the Post-Gazette, “The Steelers liked Baker because of his size, the fact he started two seasons and was productive for a big-time school and defending national champions.” Hey, for a seventh-round choice, that sounds pretty good.

The Steelers also signed some intriguing receivers from D2 schools as undrafted free agents. Long shots, all, but it’s always fun to watch whether any of these guys will emerge from the pack.