Steelers Depot

Reading Between The Steelers Lines Post Willie Colon Move To Left Guard

Dave Bryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:08:32 PDT

The long awaited move, at least by me, of Willie Colon to left guard is now complete. While it is never good to speak in absolutes, I can almost guarantee you that the interior of the offensive line left to right will now be Colon, Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro baring any injuries. I know Mike Tomlin will likely say that DeCastro hasn't been given anything yet, but let's be honest, DeCastro is NFL ready right now and is your week one starter at right guard, the position he played at Stanford. (Man it still feels good typing that out.) With the interior of the line now set, there goes the Read more [...]

Willie Colon Interview With Teresa Varley Concerning Move To Left Guard

Dave Bryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:23:23 PDT

Teresa Varley sat down with Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Willie Colon for interview to discuss his move from right tackle to left guard that was publicly announced today in a report by Mike Prisuta. Colon talked about how he is very open to making the move and how he is glad that the decision was made as early as it was to give him time to adapt to the position. Colon told Varley he was notified about the position switch the day after the Steelers drafted David DeCastro in the first round of the 2012 draft last month. You can listen to the audio from the interview below. [audio:http://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/willie-colon-interview.mp3] Read more [...]

Source: Troy Polamalu Will Attend Steelers First OTA Session Next Week

Dave Bryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:43:56 PDT

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have their first OTA session next week and every year one of the questions heading into each OTA session is whether or not safety Troy Polamalu will be in attendance as these sessions are not mandatory participation. In the past Polamalu has chosen at times to stay at home in California and train, but a source informed me today that he plans to be in Pittsburgh next week. Polamalu is coming off another Pro Bowl season that saw him start all 16 games for the first time since the 2008 season. In 2009 and 2010 he missed a total of 13 games due to a knee and ankle injuries. Read more [...]

Report: Willie Colon Moving To Left Guard

Dave Bryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:32:56 PDT

If you have followed this site religiously for a while you know that I have been a strong proponent of tackle Willie Colon kicking inside to guard for some time now. Several naysayers over the years have stated that it would never happen and they included Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, who stated just last May, "The move is not going to happen. Cheerleaders on the sideline at Heinz Field will occur before Colon is moved to guard in this offense." Well it seems that Colon will now indeed kick inside and play left guard according to Mike Prisuta of DVE radio on Twitter. Prisuta reported Read more [...]

Steelers Six From Around The Web – May 16th – Gabe Rivera Elected To College Football HOF Edition

Dave Bryan — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:13:31 PDT

Ben Roethlisberger was on DVE radio this morning to talk about the Black & Gold Fundraising project featuring Big Ben's BBQ Sauce. Roethilberger also talked about how learning the playbook is going and also about the injury to Terrell Suggs. On Tuesday Gabe Rivera, the Steelers 1983 first round pick, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012. Rivera was involved in a two-car crash during his rookie season that left him paralyzed from the chest down. William Walsh (Bill), the Steelers 3rd round pick in the 1949 draft out of Notre Dame, passed away at the Read more [...]

Don’t Overlook The Value Of Ramon Foster In Steelers Line Revamp

Cian Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:50:14 PDT

By Cian Fahey Entering last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff was reluctant to let Ramon Foster remain in the lineup from the previous season. After a training camp battle that began with Chris Scott and Tony Hills, backup center Doug Legursky started the season in Foster's right guard position. Much like the previous occasions Foster got on the field, another injury gave him the opportunity to play when he took over for Chris Kemoeatu at left guard in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Foster still found his way back to the bench until Legursky got injured the next week against Read more [...]

Poor Linebacker Play In 2011 Likely Culprit For Inflated Tackles For Ryan Clark

Dave Bryan — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:43:09 PDT

Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Ryan Clark had a great statistical season last year as far as tackles go. He was in on 100 tackles total with 71 credited to him as being of the solo variety, where he was the primary, or in some cases, the only player involved in making the stop. Both of those numbers were career highs for Clark, but that is not necessarily such a good thing though. The Steelers run defense struggled at times last year and allowed 4.0 yards per carry on the season. Clark recorded 33 of his 71 solo tackles last year against the run according to my stats and on those plays the Read more [...]

New News That There Is No New News With Mike Wallace

Dave Bryan — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:11:52 PDT

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported today that there was no news to report on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace, who continues to refuse to sign his restricted free agent tender until he has to. Schefter said Tuesday on NFL Livethat it "may be awhile" before the Steelers see Wallace at the team facility, and that Wallace won’t sign the tender "until he absolutely has to." If you are shocked by any of this then you likely missed my post last week in which I stated that you likely will not see Wallace taking part in any of the OTA or mini-camp sessions this summer as he continues Read more [...]

The Terrible Podcast – Talking Tight End Depth Concerns & DeCastro Contract Episode

Dave Bryan — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:32:07 PDT

Season 2, Episode 108 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I start by discussing what the hold up is in getting first round draft pick David DeCastro signed and wonder how long it will be until all first round draft picks get fully guaranteed contracts. Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jason Peters re-injured his surgically repaired Achilles tendon when the device he was using to help him move around post-surgery fell apart. It is not funny, but I can't help but conjure up in my head how that happened and it ends up making me laugh. Imagine if something like this ever happened to Ben Read more [...]

Post Draft State Of The Steelers Quarterbacks

Dave Bryan — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:04:33 PDT

It is time to wrap up the offense today by taking a look at the quarterback position post draft. There are not any surprises to be found here on the Steelers depth chart, so let this serve as more of a recap of where the main three are as they head toward training camp. If you have missed any of the previous positional post draft looks at the roster you can read them at the links provided here: offensive line, defensive line, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends & fullbacks. Ben Roethlisberger - Roethlisberger says that he is still having minor problems with the ankle he injured against Read more [...]

Steelers Six From Around The Web – May 15th – Boomer Speculates Cowher Return Edition

Dave Bryan — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:53:18 PDT

Steelers seventh round pick Kelvin Beachum received his Master’s degree from SMU on Saturday and he also delivered the commencement address for his class as well. Bill Cowher is now the spokesman for a campaign launched Tuesday called “Melanoma Exposed”, The effort is to educate all Americans — but particularly men, about the form of skin cancer that claimed the life of his wife back in 2010. Speaking of Cowher, NFL analyst Boomer Esiason thinks there are only two teams that the former Steelers head coach would come out of retirement for to coach and they are the New York Giants and Read more [...]

Steelers Could Have To Wait A Little Longer To Get David DeCastro Signed

Dave Bryan — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:05:30 PDT

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed seven of their nine draft picks thus far and while their third round pick, linebacker Sean Spence, is expected to sign sometime this week or next, it could end up being a little longer before first round pick David DeCastro is under contract. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the hold up is likely because of a wait to see which team draws the line in the sand first in regard to fully four-year fully guaranteed contracts for the players drafted near the end of round one. As Florio points out, last year the first 20 picks received four-year, Read more [...]

Post Draft State Of The Steelers Tight Ends & Fullbacks

Dave Bryan — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:18:19 PDT

We continue on with our post draft look at the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers by looking at the depth chart of the tight end and fullback positions. This is the fifth positional breakdown of the roster we have done after already looking at the offensive line, defensive line, running backs and wide receivers thus far. Heath Miller - Miller quietly put up his second best season as a pro in 2011 by catching 51 passes for 631 yards to go along with 2 touchdowns. He also continued to be one of the best blocking tight ends in the league as he played nearly 1050 offensive snaps last season. New offensive Read more [...]

Post Draft State Of The Steelers Wide Receivers

Dave Bryan — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:43:03 PDT

We have completed our post draft state of the roster looks at the offensive line, defensive line and running backs for the Pittsburgh Steelers and today will have a look at the wide receiver position following the draft as the Steelers head towards training camp now. Mike Wallace - Wallace was restricted tendered at a first round level prior to the start of free agency, but he has yet to sign it. It is not hard to imagine that the fourth year receiver will miss most of, if not all of, the offeseason workouts as he stands his ground for a long -deal. The Steelers have voiced since the end of Read more [...]

Steelers Cornerbacks Bringing A New Dynamic To The Table

Cian Fahey — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:59:04 PDT

By Cian Fahey Prior to last season, I wrote that Keenan Lewis would add a new dynamic to the Steelers defense, even though he wasn't a full-time starter, Lewis did do that playing the outside position in the team's nickel defense. What I didn't realize at the time was that Lewis was only the first step in a certain revamping of the Steelers' style. Over the past few years, the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense has been led by shorter more agile cornerbacks to fit their zone scheme. With players like Deshea Townsend, Bryant McFadden and William Gay on the roster, the rangy Ike Taylor was the exception Read more [...]

Limas Sweed Still Having Trouble Catching On With Another Team

Dave Bryan — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:59:20 PDT

It is extremely tough not to root for wide receiver Limas Sweed, who was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. The Steelers gave the 6 foot, 4 inch receiver out of Texas every opportunity to shake his demons since they drafted him, but they finally were forced to part ways with him last season as he had problems staying on the field and more importantly holding onto the football. Sweed has had his tires kicked by a few teams following his release by the Steelers, and the latest team to kick those tires was the New York Giants, who invited Sweed Read more [...]

Prime Nine: Best Year For Ben Roethlisberger In 2012?

Jeremy Hritz — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:15:40 PDT

By Jeremy Hritz With the egress of Bruce Arians and the addition of Todd Haley, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be lining up opening night against the Denver Broncos with a new offense that apparently is so complex that Ben Roethlisberger labeled it the Rosetta Stone. While nobody has ever accused Ben of being a rocket scientist, the seasoned veteran should not have any issues in assimilating the new playbook and its offensive philosophies. If anything, Roethlisberger is entering his prime as an NFL quarterback, and if history is a predictor of the future, it is that elite quarterbacks in their ninth Read more [...]

After The Draft Emmanuel Sanders Should No Longer Be A Returner

Cian Fahey — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:53:19 PDT

By Cian Fahey Back in February, Emmanuel Sanders revealed that he had been told he would be returning kicks and punts for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. Quite a lot has happened with the Steelers' roster since then which has given the Steelers a lot more flexibility with Sanders. Despite how good he may be in the role, ideally Sanders would not be needed as a returner to avoid exposing him to any more injuries. After injuring himself in the Super Bowl at the end of his rookie season, Sanders has had multiple issues with his feet that limited him as a second year player. He showed Read more [...]

Post Draft State Of The Steelers Running Backs

Dave Bryan — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:58:41 PDT

The 2012 draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers is a few weeks behind us now. I have already posted about the state of the offensive and defensive line positions following the draft and today we will look at the state of the running back depth chart following the draft. Rashard Mendenhall - Mendenhall is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is likely to start the 2012 season on the PUP list as he continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered in the 2011 season finale against the Cleveland Browns. Should Mendenhall indeed start the season on the PUP list he will miss the first six games Read more [...]

The Chris Rainey Dynamic Part 2: The Big League

Christopher DiMarino — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:45:32 PDT

By Christopher DiMarino Chris Rainey. What an addition. How many teams added a guy in the 5th round that had everyone talking? There is no doubt that Rainey is a high level talent, but is he a high risk high reward type of player? This is the big question on his shoulders. Eternally positive Pittsburgh Steelers fans automatically have him as a lock for punt and kick return duties and a dynamic big play threat on offense. Before we get rash, let's look into what must he do become the player we associate with these lofty expectations. There have been discussions from the day he was drafted about Read more [...]

The Terrible Podcast – Talking Free Agent Visits & Interview With Jonathan Dwyer Episode

Dave Bryan — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:22:40 PDT

Season 2, Episode 107 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I start off with a little house keeping as we recap the draft picks that have been signed thus far by the Pittsburgh Steelers and talk a little about the free agent visitors that were in town this week in the form of Matt Roth, Brandon Johnson and Dave Rayner. We also note the release of undrafted free agent kicker Grant Ressel in addition, who apparently was released right after the rookie camp wrapped up. we move on to talk about the pectoral injury suffered by Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Phil Taylor on Thursday and Read more [...]

Steelers Six From Around The Web – May 11th – Keisel Wants You To Buy A Kubota Tractor Edition

Dave Bryan — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:04:34 PDT

Retired Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward threw out the first pitch before the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals on Thursday evening at PNC Park. Ward was a star baseball player in high school back in Georgia and was even drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 73rd round of the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Thankfully Ward decided to not sign a contract and opted instead to go to the University of Georgia on a football scholarship. You can see video of the first pitch at the link above. In news related to Ward, Mark Kaboly reported on Twitter Thursday Read more [...]

Steelers Released K Grant Ressel After Rookie Camp

Dave Bryan — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:30:19 PDT

The Pittsburgh Steelers released kicker Grant Ressel on Monday following the weekend rookie camp. Ressel had been signed as an undrafted free agent out of Missouri following the draft. The Steelers will certainly fill the roster spot with a kicker by next week as the first team OTA session gets under way. Veteran kicker Dave Rayner was brought in for a visit this past week and the Steelers also had put in a claim for kicker Jake Rogers following him being waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Dallas Cowboys were awarded the waiver claim on Rogers instead. Incumbent Shaun Suisham is entering Read more [...]

Hoke Says It Could Take A Year Or Two For Ta’amu To Play Comfortably In Steelers Scheme

Dave Bryan — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:48:57 PDT

Chris Hoke may have retired this offseason, but he stays active in the media and he joined 93.7 The Fan Thursday morning for an interview. Hoke, who backed up Casey Hampton at nose tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers for over a decade, was asked about fourth round draft pick Alameda Ta'amu. Hoke said, "I tell you what, he's going to be a good football player, I don't know if hell be ready to go right away playing the nose tackle, maybe doing some situational things next season, but this guy is going to be a good football player for a lot of years here." Hoke was asked next how long it takes Read more [...]

Steelers Rewind – Looking Back In Steelers History (Draft Edition Pt. 2)

Christina L. Rivers — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:25:35 PDT

By Christina Rivers In part one of the 'draft edition' of our weekly series 'Steelers Rewind', we talked about some past players and their draft stories. This week we'll cover some draft history of players still with the Steelers and some other relevant stories. As always, we hope that these rewind articles help shed light on facts that even the most avid of fans may not have remembered. (May 2003 - Polamalu concussion history is brought up in regards to his being drafted by the Steelers) Everyone who hasn't been under a rock since the 2003 NFL Draft knows who Troy Polamalu is, and Read more [...]

Steelers Sign 7th Round Draft Pick Kelvin Beachum

Dave Bryan — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:55:20 PDT

The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed yet another one of their draft picks today as it is being announced by the team that guard Kelvin Beachum, the last of their four seventh-round draft picks in the 2012 NFL Draft, has come to terms on a four-year contract worth an estimated $2.143 million. The base salaries for Beachum will be $390,000, $480,000, $570,000 and $660,000. The signing bonus should come in at around $43,000. Beachum, who was the 248th overall pick in the draft, played collegiately at Southern Methodist University, where he started all 52 games that he played in at left tackle. Beachum Read more [...]

Roethlisberger & Rest Of Offense Must Now Graduate From Todd Haley University

Dave Bryan — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:36:28 PDT

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger graduated from Miami (Ohio) University this past week and now he and the rest of the Steelers offense will go to summer school in attempt to graduate from Todd Haley University. Roethlisberger has not been shy about telling the media types in recent interviews that the offense that new offensive coordinator Todd Haley is installing is pretty foreign to him thus far. He has even made a few references to it as needing a Rosetta Stone book to understand it. Roethlisberger was recently quoted by Ed Bouchette in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in regard Read more [...]

The Story On David Paulson Part 2: The Big League

Christopher DiMarino — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:18:12 PDT

By Christopher DiMarino The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Oregon tight end David Paulson in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL draft and he will certainly have the odds against him making the 53 man roster. Paulson will not be able to roll up to training camp and be given anything but a chance to earn a roster spot. Many don't know his name and many will write him off, but if he comes to Latrobe with a willingness to work hard and the drive to succeed, I think he can become a functioning member of the Steelers 53 man roster. If we quickly take a look at the list of possible tight ends, it's a Read more [...]

Steelers Should Pull A Jeff Reed With Kicker Grant Ressel

Jeremy Hritz — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:09:28 PDT

By Jeremy Hritz The Pittsburgh Steelers seemingly made it a point of emphasis to draft players this year to address areas of need at certain positions: David DeCastro and Mike Adams at guard and tackle, respectively, Sean Spence at inside linebacker, Alameda Ta’amu at nose tackle, and Chris Rainey at running back. One position that was not addressed in the draft, and was not expected to be, was kicker. While Shaun Suisham is not dreadful, his performance during his tenure with the Steelers is not exactly awe-inspiring and reliable. In his two seasons with Pittsburgh, Suisham has made 37 of Read more [...]

Ben Roethlisberger Career No-huddle Passing Stats

Dave Bryan — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:52:15 PDT

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hinted on Wednesday in his interview with Rich Eisen that he expects to use more no-huddle now that Todd Haley has taken over as offensive coordinator. I have had quite a few request to pull the stats of Roethlisberger over the course of his career when running the no-huddle offense and I have finally compiled the raw stats from the all of the gamebooks dating back to 2004 with Roethlisberger under center. Late me emphasize that these stats are by no means considered official, as they are pulled from the NFL gamebooks. I have noticed in my own Read more [...]