The Steelers have placed defensive end Aaron Smith on injured reserve with a torn rotator cuff and signed lineman Sonny Harris off the Carolina Panthers' practice squad.
Harris, of course, was with the Steelers in training camp after being a sixth round pick in this year's draft.
I was a little surprised Carolina didn't add him to its active roster to block the Steelers from signing him away, but the Panthers must not have liked him that much.
33 comments:
Not good. He's #3 on my "guys you don't want to lose" list behind Ben and Troy. Harrison is in there too but Smith is the glue on that line. Ziggy goes into the fire... Let's see how he does.
Dale,
One man's trash is another man's Sunny Harris. This kid will end up being a good player for the Steelers and he never should have left in the first place. This team has needed to get more youth on the DL for years and now you have he and Ziggy on the active roster with S. McLendon on the practice squad.
With 8 of 9 draft picks on the regular squad now (A.Q. Shipley on practice squad, Tank on IR) and with G/T Ramon Foster on the active roster, this could definitely end up being K. Colbert's best draft during his tenure with the Steelers. Speaking of S. Harris and Z. Hood, I am more than confident that John Mitchell and Mike Tomlin will get these young players ready to play.
And I am a firm believer in getting young players time now so that when the important games come in November and December, the rookies won't have that deer in the headlights look that currently resides on the face of Limas "just catch the daggone ball" Sweed.
The news about Aaron Smith definitely stinks for the Steelers D, but I'm glad they were able to get Harris back in the fold. He actually looked better than Hood in the preseason IMO. Just seemed to be a more immediate fit for the system whereas Hood is going through a big transition from his college scheme & responsibilities to what he's faced with in the pros.
That being said, I don't think Harris dresses unless (and I don't even want to think this) there's another injury on the DL.
Come on Ziggy we need you now.
How does he all of a sudden develop into this role . . . that up until now he was deemed "not ready for"?
I wonder if Aaron Smith will be hanging around the facility and attending road games the rest of the year with the team? He would still be useful as a tutor for Ziggy before and during the game. Plus, I wouldn't want him to go all Mendenhall on us and not be around the team all the time while he is on IR, because I found out recently on here that that apparently severely effects your play the next season......
Let me get this straight, The Steelers get a player from the Panthers practice squad who is a UDFA and was once in the Steelers pre season camp?.. And our #1 draft pick is not ready to step in on a full time avaibilty?...I guess I'll just to ask coachs Tomlin and John Mitchell just what in the hell is going on out there?...Dave W. in Las Vegas.
Hood isn't ready to take over full time for an all world DE in a 3-4. I don't see a big problem with that. He's still learning and that's fine, he'll get in on the rotation and gain experience.
Harris was a 6th round pick.
Hood isn't ready to play full time because he played a different position in college
chill out
The question is not: why isn't Hood ready now but how does he go from zero to sixty all of a sudden just because there is an injury?
pay attention
Hood won't be starting Sunday
pay attention
"The question is not: why isn't Hood ready now but how does he go from zero to sixty all of a sudden just because there is an injury?"
LOL, what are u talking about? Obviously they will slowly work Hood into a rotation in which Eason and Kirsche will see way more snaps than Hood untill he proves worthy
Hood will be thrown in the fire despite the fact he's not ready. Whether he's rotating or not LOL
Even if he doesn't play against Cleveland nothing changes. If he hasn't learned the system since being drafted he still won't be any further along in two weeks. Sink or swim time.
Its not about Ziggy learning the reponsibilities of his position, I am willing to bet he knows those. Its more about Ziggy mastering the skills and sutble nuances that are necessary to excel at DE in a 3-4. Thats what takes time, neither Aaron Smith nor Keisel start immediately either. Its like Woodley at OLB, its a position in a complex defense that requires a certain set of skills that take time to develop.
We shouldn't "play down" to the Browns. But...
I wonder if Ziggy will get a lot of work this weekend. One to get him going and experienced, and two to save Kirschke's back. Unless the Browns bring back Jim Brown, I don't think they are running on the Steelers and that is the major concern. And they sure as hell aren't passing 2/17 for 23 yards and winning this week.
If there is a time for Ziggy to be thrown into the fire, this might just be the week to do it.
Or it might be a good time to experiment with Hoke at DE and see what happens. If he can stuff the run, then he will be needed for MN at DE.
we should be wary of the browns. yes, they are bad and we should beat them 100 out of 100 times.
but, they know they're season is over. they know they're not that good. the only thing they have to play for right now is their spot on the team and to beat their rivals. it would make their whole season to knock off the super bowl champion steelers.
i hate games like this. when teams have nothing to lose is when they are most dangerous.
agree, particularly anderson, yeah he might have been 2 for life but that was last week...
he could turn around and be elway the next week.
just glad its a home game.
Farmer Fran.
The Browns just took the Bengals (a team we lost to) to overtime two weeks ago. I don't think the fat lady has been called in yet. We need to come out and play football.
Dave W.-you said pay atention. Maybe you can explain what exactly you were asking. What is avaibilty?
lol
I agree with Patrick that we shouldn't or can't play down to the Browns. It's not like we've been killing bad teams all season.
I assume Tomlin isn't throwing Hood in fulltime because he wants him to learn. He will at some point (supposably) be a starting DE. Why do what the Browns & Raiders do and throw #1's to wolves without letting them learn.I am sure he will get plenty of reps.
Just an opinion.
There was talk in the preseason that Sunny Harris was farther along than Hood although Hood may have greater upside.
Apparently, Hood has a ways to go in developing technique and knowing the system . . . but unfortunately we need him now. Kirschke / Eason / Hood will be attacked repeatedly by teams wanting to run. (Minnesota will be fun). While rotating may benefit more experienced players, rotating Hood may or may not help him. Sometimes it takes being on the field to get a feel for what techniques are going on in the trenches. Time will tell if he can get himself from the development stage to the playing well consistently stage.
i suspect the rotation at DE will see hood primarily in passing situations. it will be too much to ask of him, and most rookies at a 3-4 DE, to hold the point of attack and read run or pass.
the minn. game will come down to our DB's, imo. we will do everything we can to keep AP from beating us, therefore leaving it up to our DB's to play tight and hope favre makes some mistakes.
Dale,
I know you've said a number of times that they'll try to start Ziggy after the bye. My question is, do you think that by then he will be an upgrade over Kirschke or Eason?
Also, I've been yelling for years that they should rotate Hoke in at DE. He's got all the tools, and it's a waste of talent to have him on the bench. I hope he gets some time there now,
Just to toss it out there, does anyone see Smith not returning at all? A second trip to the IR at his age...
I sure hope I'm wrong!
Hoke will get time at DE, they put him there occasionally after Smith went down in 07.
Aaron Smith will come back next year and play, the question is, can you rely on him to be healthy the whole season?
I think all of the questions regarding Smith's health and age were addressed during this years draft when we chose Ziggy. Let's just hope he learns the position quickly.
i read that smith's shoulder has been bothering him for weeks, but he played through it. is that something that should be on the injury report and could the steelers get fined for something like that?
Skinley,
The dline needs more help than Ziggy can give alone. We need a replacement for Casey Hampton too. Of course, I expect we will franchise him.
marc, good catch. i think i read that kirshkie said he has been taking practice snaps because of smith's shoulder. Lets hope that doesnt open up a can of worms.
they said on the radio yesterday that Eason was practicing with the 1st team D not Kirschke. I found that interesting, looks like Eason might start?
kirschke's back might still be acting up.
marc you beat me to it.
The other thing with this week, and I tried to mention this before but not in the best words, we pretty know what we have in Kirschke. It's time to find out if anyone else can conribute and well. We pretty much know what Eason offers too, but if there is a time to experiment, against the dismal Browns is the time to do it.
I hope Hood and Harris get a lot of looks this week too, but I'm not sure Harris will dress.
yeah if Kirshcke's back is sore, this game would be a great opportuniy to sit him and let Harris dress instead. Throw the 2 rookies into the fire (Eason starts though) against a weak opponent to see what they can do and to see how much they can be relied upon in future games
Kirschke was back at practice today and will likely get the start.
I talked to Hoke about playing defensive end and he says he's the emergency guy but there are other guys better prepared than him to step into that role.
John Mitchell has typically spoon fed young defensive linemen because he hasn't had a lot of high draft picks to work with. His one high draft pick? Casey Hampton. Hamp opened his rookie season splitting time and became a full-time starter after the team's bye week.
That bye week gives them time to work extensively with the young guys, which they've typically done since Tomlin has been here. In fact, they've had young guys only practices during the bye week.
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