The Steelers signed 47-year-old defensive lineman Orpheus Roye to a contract Sunday, hoping, praying, that somebody will knock Nick Eason off of this roster.
Roye, you'll remember, was a 1996 draft pick of the Steelers, who left the team to sign with Cleveland back in the stone ages. He was replaced in the starting lineup by a young Aaron Smith.
So much for getting younger on the defensive line.
Who's next? Ernie Stautner?
The signing of Roye shows a bit of the team's desperation for backup help on the defensive line. And desperation is not a good thing in the NFL.
15 comments:
35, not 47, Dale, haha. That was a joke, right?
To continue my previous post -- All in all, I'm not too upset by this signing. Linemen CAN play into their mid-thirties, and if he has anything left in the tank I'm alright with them picking him up, His contract couldn't have been too huge.
I'm sure the Steelers will have better options once cut down day arrives.
At this point, I'd be content with Jeremy Staat.
I agree that Eason obviously needs replaced, but frankly it seems like he has been playing better than Kirsche lately. I'm wondering if Kirsche might get bumped from the roster before Eason.
dale...
you stole the words outta my mouth when I herad the news. I was thinking more on the lines of Mean Joe Greene since he is still employed by the team. I was not sarcastic in my Buffalo game analysis when I said every 2009 draft pick needs to go towards defense. Somewhere in East Rutherford, when Thomas Jones ran buck wild, is where we lost our stifling run defense. Jacksonville killed us, Steven Jackson ran wild and we made Musa Smith look like OJ Simpson. Marshawn Lynch is good and he looked great. We made Fred Jackson look like Bo Jackson. This trend is alarming. They obviously sense something by signing Orpheus. The starting D-line may all be over the hill, unfortunaely. Larry Foote has to go, put Timmons in. And, hopefully, Troy can spark them 'cause that schedule could have us picking really early come 2009. Can you say Vontae Davis or James Laurinitis???
Looking at the glass half empty.
-Sasquatch
I like this signing. Roye may not have a lot of gas left in the tank, but I think he is more than adequate to give Keisel/Smith a break during the game for 10-15 snaps. He has almost no learning curve because of his history with the Steelers. As I remember he is a good locker room guy too. That being said, lets pray that Smith or Keisel doesn't get hurt this year or the run defense will be screwed.
The run defense has been in decline the moment the powers that be decided Brett Keisel was a full time starter. We've been scheming ever since to cover up his weakness vs. the run.
I'm worried the D-line in '08 will the scapegoat for an eventual change to a 4-3 alignment and a major overhaul of players.
Mister Anonymous,
Every 2009 pick for defense? I hope you're not serious. I'm pumped about Sweed, but Hines isn't getting any younger. I know we have bigger issues than receiver, but I'd like to spend a mid/late round on another one. I'm definitely up for grabbing some D-linemen, but I think it's obvious we need to start grooming/get starters to protect Ben. I like Ben, and I like seeing him able to walk.
I wanted to see them sign some quality depth on D-line but Roye is an ancient mariner. I hope they find someone younger with upside after the cut downs but quality linemen usually don't become available in the NFL.
If the preseason is in any way an accurate gauge of the quality of our run D...it may not matter much. Sometimes teams get old at a position from one year to another and suddenly they start acting their age. I have never seen the big deal about Keisel..Hampton is still a top 5 NT but he's slipping..Aaron is still stud-like but he is coming back from a major injury. This will be an area to watch and pray for health..
I am somewhat more relieved about the O-line situation. I think they'll be adequate this year. Its hard to get used to having a mediocre O-line but its just the truth at the moment.I hope the TE's turn into blocking monsters..the other members of the line are going to need the help as will Ben.
Is THIS the year our ST's don't suck? That would be a nice change.
Both lines need to be addressed in next year's draft. I could see two offensive linemen and one d-lineman in the first three rounds.
deljzc
just wanted to say hello. I see you on the steelers board all the time, since registering for that board is borderline ridiculous I don't post on there but read all the time.
I hope you post on here more often. I usually agree with 3/4 of what you say and respectfully disagree the other 1/4. Regardless, I appreciate your information and opinion.
I do agree with you about Keisel who should be relugated to a back up/special teamer full time. However, I do think hes a talented player but we have him as a square peg round hole.
In hindisght, while Mendenhall and Sweed were steals, I'm starting to question whether Balmer or Laws would have been better picks based on need.
Patrick,
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm getting a little frustrated with the steelers message board and my posts are probably getting too aggressive/bitter. I should tone things down.
Honestly, my frustration in the draft has entirely been after round 2. I thought they missed out on a steal in Rodrique Wright (DE) in 2006 (picking Orien Harris instead). We saw Max Jean-Gilles (G) in the Philly game who was available when we picked Willie Reid. I thought they should have picked Doug Free instead of Sepulveda in 2007. I liked Ahtyba Rubin (NT) and Kirk Barton (OT) as opposed to the special teams guys we picked this year in round 6.
Overall, it's not the early picks that have frustrated me, but the lack of attempts we've made in the draft for the lines. It's catching up to us (and will even more if Starks, Smith, Kemo and/or Essex aren't signed before September 1st).
del,
you can call me pat (my gmail address puts in patrick) and i agree with what you said about the draft strategy. I've seen you talk about how Colbert almost completely disregards the 2nd day of the draft and I'll meet you halfway on that idea. The problem I have with that is unless you pull off a Jerry Reese miracle like he had last year, what team consistently has good 2nd day drafts? And that's an honest question, not trying to insult you. Do you know of any?
And I don't blame you about the Steelers board, some of the posters there still wish we had TJ Duckett.
If you ever want some intelligent banter, you can e-mail me directy at patrick.mccool@gmail.com instead of taking up space on Dale's post. As someone who has worked in finance and a current law school student, I appreciate your knowledge and understanding of the Steelers Cap situations. I am not nearly as knowledgable on those issues.
Patrick
That was the one thing Tom Donahoe did very well when he was here. In fact, he had quite a few hits on the second day, at least one or two per year who turned into good players.
The Steelers don't miss very often on Day 1 now, but they get nothing on Day 2. Maybe scouting across the league is better.
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