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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Steelers sign Cotchery and other news, notes

The Steelers signed veteran wideout Jerricho Cotchery on Thursday, adding some key depth to a position that has been banged up considerably at training camp.

It remains to be seen how Cotchery fits into the wide receiver depth chart, but the Steelers were concerned that they had precious little veteran depth behind Hines Ward.

Yes, Mike Wallace is an emerging star, but his inexperience showed up in the Super Bowl. And with Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown entering just their second year – and Sanders missing the past two weeks of practice – the Steelers were concerned about what would happen if Ward were injured.

The move doesn't bode well for Limas Sweed and possibly Arnaz Battle.

Sweed is all but done in Pittsburgh now, while the signing of Cotchery shows the team has no use for Battle as anything but a special teams cover man.

© It's a shame rookie Baron Batch suffered an apparent season-ending ACL tear Wednesday. But it opens the door for Jonathan Dwyer to make this team again.

It also assures Mewelde Moore of a roster spot.

© Second-year pro Chris Scott missed all of training camp in 2010 with a broken foot, but the Steelers have been impressed enough with his play in camp this year to give him a legitimate shot at starting at right guard.

At 6-4, 319 pounds, Scott is nearly as big as 2010 starter Ramon Foster, but much more agile.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

How does C. Scott compare to K. Williams?

Henry said...

Considering at Tennessee, Scott started at LT while Foster played all over, it is a safe assessment that Scott is more athletic like Dale states.

Anonymous said...

Release/trade Kemoeatu, C. Scott to LG, Foster stays at RG. Championship! That OL might actually be decent everywhere but at LT.

Honestly, I can't figure out why the Steelers seem more concerned about their #5 WR and #3 TE than they do their #1 LT and #1 LG.

Steve-O said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve-O said...

Mewelde Moore is probably breathing a sigh of relief right about now. I like the guy and he's played a key role for the Steelers so its hard to complain

The Cotchery signing seems a little more like insurance rather than raising the talent level. If that's the case, hopefully they got him on the cheap.

Now more than ever Sweed needs to dominate in the preseason, no more second chances!

Anonymous said...

Kemo sucks they should cut him

SC Steel said...

Dale,

Chris Scott started for several years at LT at UTennessee. Considering the Steelers have decent depth at RG with Foster, Legursky, and potentially K. Williams, why is he not getting a chance at LT? If he's as agile and strong as reported, he couldn't be worse than Hills and would hopefully challenge a mediocre Jonathan Scott at some point.

Anonymous said...

I'll never forget Kemo's play in the SB...just get rid of the guy.

He can't pass block or recognize blitzes and commits dumb penatlies.

Patrick said...

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Cotchery the guy who made that ridiculous catch on one leg last year during the playoffs?

I think he is the type of solid FA signing the Steelers usually make and given that Ward is older and likely to miss at lest one or two games a season and there is little proven or healthy depth behind Wallace, its a good signing.

Too bad Sweed could never convince the Steelers he has it. I feel like he'll catch on with another team and maybe a change of scenery will do him good.

Or he just can't catch and will be out of the league.

Anonymous said...

give it a rest, no one is going to release Kemo this year

in fact, other than pouncey no one has a stronger hold on his job. On the oline

Anonymous said...

Stfu patrick

Patrick said...

I'm still amazed someone takes time out of their day to write comments that say "Stfu patrick"

You really have nothing else better to do?

Dale, just wait will the season starts. You need to keep the kiddies in check again.

Anonymous said...

I'm more surprised at people writing over and over how they should cut a player no one in the steelers would consider cutting at this point. But yeah, both are stupid

datruth4life said...

Dale,

With a good camp and preseason, any chance that K. Lewis or C. Butler can unseat B. McFadden? With the Ravens trading for Lee Evans, I think that really hopes them close the gap a little, though the Ravens OL last night looked a lot like ours the past couple of years. Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Lee evans runs the deep route and almost never runs short slants over the middle. You know, the way to beat the steelers defense

when was the last time the steelers got beat deep consistently?

he'll help them, but not against the steelers

kelly said...

Evans doesn't have a great history against the Steelers... Something like 5 catches over 3 games for 89 yards and 0 td's.

Tim said...

At this point, who cares about Sweed's hands? His hands are good enough, considering how good the rest of his game is.

It's his health that will do him in.

Dale Lolley said...

Obviously, if they're giving C. Scott a chance to unseat Foster, they feel like Foster is the weak link on the line.

I think Stuckey gives them options at WR, which is something they didn't have before. You can move Ward around from the outside or slot, but the younger guys have pretty much worked where they've worked. If something happened to Ward, they were awfully young.

As for the corners, let's wait and see how they play in a game before they're unseating anyone.

Patrick said...

Stuckey, Cotchery...whatever

Dale Lolley said...

What Patrick said