About a month out

We're about a month out from the start of training camp and I'm taking a much-needed vacation. Bear with me this week whilst I recharge the batteries.

Position battles

I did a radio spot with Greg Linelli today and he asked me about which position battle for the Steelers I am most looking forward to seeing - or at least something along those lines.

To me, I feel the cornerback position will be the most interesting.

Currently, Keenan Lewis is holding down the starting spot opposite Ike Taylor, with second-year players Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen pushing.

One of those three will also serve as the slot corner as well. Brown seems best suited for that position, but Allen's athleticism is hard to deny.

Lewis, however, played very well last season as the third corner and has much more experience than the other two.

Unless Dick LeBeau can come up with a way to get all three corners young corners on the field at the same time, somebody is going to be disappointed.

What position battle are you looking forward to?

@ Speaking of Linelli, he has long been one of the underrated and underutilized radio hosts in the Pittsburgh market.

Soon, he won't be.

Greg is moving on to greener pastures. Good luck to him.

Mini-camp notes

As I expected, the Steelers did not open mini-camp with rookies David DeCastro and Mike Adams working  with the No. 1 offensive line.

DeCastro and Adams did work in with the ones in the final team session, but just for a few plays. Other than that, they both worked with the twos, DeCastro at right guard, Adams at left tackle.

Marcus Gilbert got the nod at left tackle, while Ramon Foster was at right guard. The surprise among the first-team line was Trai Essex at right tackle over Jonathan Scott.

@ Ben Roethlisberger looked pretty sharp during a two-minute drill, tossing a TD pass to Jerricho Cotchery on fourth down from the 4 after quickly moving the team down the field.

Byron Leftwich didn't look nearly as sharp, missing on all four of his passes.

In fact, at one point during team drills, Leftwich missed on eight straight passes. But, in his defense, with Mike Wallace MIA and Hines Ward retired, Leftwich is working with a group of highly untested players on that second unit.

@ Chris Rainey looks pretty good as a running back. Very quick and easy to lose in the hole.

Baron Batch also looks like he's completely healed up as well.

It's going to be a very interesting battle at running back on this team.

Rashard Mendenhall is also running in a straight line again. He hasn't started cutting yet, but Mendenhall looks like he's in great shape. It looks like he'll be back sooner rather than later.

Who is the worst Steelers player you've seen?

It's easy to pick out the best players you've seen over the years.

In the 19 seasons I've been covering the team, Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake, Jerome Bettis, Greg Lloyd, Levon Kirkland, Dermontti Dawson and Ben Roethlisberger stand out as some of the best I've seen.

That list could go on and on.

But who are the worst players to suit up for the Steelers. And I'm talking about guys who actually played and (tried to) contribute.