As I said last week, we got a good look at what the Steelers defense would look like without both Troy Polamalu and James Harrison in 2011 against the Redskins and it wasn't pretty.
Without the Hair and the Glare, the Steelers are going nowhere.
But both will be in the lineup when the Steelers host Philadelphia Thursday and it will be interesting to see them play in game conditions.
Polamalu is, of course, coming off an Achilles' tendon injury that limited him so greatly in 2010 that all he did was win the Defensive Player of Year award. Harrison, meanwhile, had a pair of back surgeries that sapped him of some leg strength.
Neither has gone crazy in training camp, taking things easy. But if they're on the field, even for a preseason game, you can bet they'll be going all out.
© I found it interesting that the Steelers moved defensive lineman Miguel Chavis to tight end.
Chavis made some plays against the Redskins and is very athletic, even at 285 pounds.
It's probable that this is a move made for practice squad purposes - to steal a spot because they're going to have to try to sneak some draft picks onto the squad, ie. a young corner or two – and can save a spot by teaching Chavis to play tight end as well.
© Limas Sweed was a dead man walking and his teammates knew it.
A couple of years ago, you'd see Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes playing jokes on Sweed during practice, yukking it up with him on the sidelines.
This year, it was almost like he was a leper. He moped around the practice field and his teammates seemed to avoid him.
It just goes to show how things can change.
Kevin Colbert will take some heat for cutting loose a former second-round draft pick, but let's be honest, this wasn't Alonzo Jackson-like.
Had the Steelers not taken Sweed in the second round, somebody else would have. Had the Steelers not selected Jackson in the second round, it's likely he would have slipped to the middle rounds.
Sweed may also get an opportunity to play for somebody else in the league, ala. Ricardo Colclough, another former second-round bust.
Colclough was considered a bust with the Steelers, but spent six seasons in the NFL. That's not a bust. He was an NFL player.
Jackson was out of football a year after the Steelers cut him. That, my friends, is a bust.
Swede is a bust man, I don't care how anyone wants to spin it.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens if he signs somewhere else and goes on to catch 400 NFL passes?
ReplyDeleteIF that happens I will post that he isn't a bust...as of now he is a huge bust.
ReplyDeleteIs chavis good on special teams? Maybe he can make the team that way
ReplyDeleteDale, do you think Cromartie-Smith has any chance of making the roster? And if he does is it at the expense of Will Allen?
ReplyDeleteHe made some nice plays against the skins, and last year was playing nicely too. Thing is, I didn't see him on special teams, and that's Allen's main thing. How has he been on special teams?
i'd be nice to have two young sefeties in him and Mundy
Chavis would be the one on the practice squad, not a draft choice. Certainly not either of the two CBs, to whom you are presumably referring. The Steelers aren't going to risk losing 3rd/4th round picks so they can keep some UDFA. Be serious.
ReplyDeleteWell, sometimes, you are just better off with a fresh start. LOL Oh he's a bust... aint nobody in this blog ever made a high school/college roster, let alone a NFL roster... LOL Wish Sweed luck. Man, he was WIDE open for that TD, but whatever....
ReplyDeleteI do believe I said he'd be on the practice squad where he could fill two practice positions, DE and TE.
ReplyDeleteI was really rooting for Sweed and you can't say the Steelers didn't give him an opportunity. Whether they did it because of his draft status or they did it our of pure decency is irrelevant. When presented with an opportunity he failed to take advantage.
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing the Steelers are looking at a couple of free agent DBs. Specifically Kevin Dockery and Roderick Hood. I also hear they tried to get Thadeus Gibson off of waivers from the 49ers but they lost out to Washington. If true, that's too bad. I thought that guy had a lot of promise in a 3-4 defense.
They signed Dockery and Macho Harris.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, they put in a claim on Gibson, but didn't get him. Washington did.
Dale, I reread your paragraph and it's a tad confusing. I read "squad" as "practice squad", not 53 man roster as you evidently meant. We obviously agree that the young CBs won't be on the PS. But if injuries linger, I won't be surprised if one doesn't land on IR.
ReplyDeleteDale - after the signing of those 2 new db's, any chance Willie Gay's days are numbered?
ReplyDeleteI think Gay is a horrible player. He gets burnt constantly
Sweed is a bust. How many of those hypothetical 400 NFL passes benefit the team that drafted him, or Colbert/Tomlin? The bust is tied more to the pick than the player, imo. I don't care what he may or may not do from this point forward, for a 2nd round pick of the Steelers in 2008, that's a bust. Colclough is a good example. He was kept on the roster longer than he should have. They gave up on him after two years, but still kept him 4. Appearing in just 3 games in each of his last two years with the club. Floundered over to KC for 2 more years, appearing in 6 games his first year there and just 1 his last pro year. That is not an NFL player. That is not a non-bust. If Sweed floats around for another 2 years elsewhere and amasses a half dozen appearances and virtually no stats, that somehow would elevate him to non-bust? Yeah, no.
ReplyDelete