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Sunday, September 01, 2013

Steelers make practice squad moves

The Steelers have signed eight players to their practice squad, all players who were with the team in training camp.


The eight players include offensive linemen Chris Hubbard and Joe Long, running back Alvester Alexander, defensive end Brian Arnfelt, linebackers Alan Baxter and Terence Garvin, defensive back Devin Smith and wide receiver Justin Brown.

Missing from that list is cornerback Terry Hawthorne, a draft pick this season who missed all of the offseason workouts and half of training camp with a knee injury.

Also not on the list is linebacker Marshall McFadden, who spent the entire preseason on the second team as an inside linebacker.

I would expect McFadden to be added to the roster when Matt Spaeth is placed on injured reserve later this week.

11 comments:

Steve-O said...

I'm a little surprised that they didn't sign Hawthorne. I know he was injured all pre-season but I heard a lot of buzz about the kid having potential similar to Cortez Allen when he came out of the Citadel. I wonder if there's a back story to him.

carync said...

i was hoping theyd sign jd woods kid looks like an nfl receiver. that RB they signed didnt' impress me whatsoever.

Anonymous said...

Keep in mind, they need players for the "scout" team. Alexander is the only RB they had that fits the bill for that.

Anonymous said...

Steelers signed Cody Wallace and released Malacki.

Anonymous said...

Weird that they signed Cody Wallace. He has position flexibility but did not run block well apparently. Maybe a coach knows him from another team.

carync I agree with the sentiment. Luckily JD Woods will be around waiting to go on the practice squad if we have an injury to a receiver.

Mrs Isaac Redman

adamg said...

Malacki was probably doomed once Beachum showed he could fill in at center, which is Malacki's best position.

PS'ers Long and Hubbard are primarily OTs, so Wallace gives the team a true back up G.

Figure on game days the 7 OL will be the starters plus Beachum and Wallace. That gives max flexibility with Foster also able to move to play all OL positions if need be.

Dale Lolley said...

Hubbard's a guard.

Alexander was kept because they needed a running back on the practice squad.

Anonymous said...

Marshall McFadden was signed to the Raiders Practice Squad. Don't understand how they could be so displeased with Malecki that they signed a guy with a very similar pedigree to take his place. How is Malecki worse than Whimper?

Dale Lolley said...

Malecki and Whimper are apples and oranges. One is a guard/tackle. The other is a center.

Anonymous said...

Dale, the day Whimper takes a snap at Tackle is one I don't want to think about. That would only happen if Whimper were dressed (unlikely) and Gilbert, Adams, and/or Beachum were hurt during a game. A more likely scenario would be Foster slides over to tackle and Malecki would have played guard. Whimper was moved inside to guard when it was obvious he couldn't play tackle. The common denominator between Whimper and Malecki is the Guard position, at which Malecki is as good or better. Somehow Bicknell thinks Whimper can zone block, and if that means stumbling around getting in someone's way, he's right. If they really like this Wallace guy and wanted to add him to the roster, they would have been better off cutting Whimper anyway, since Whimper was unlikely to be part of the game day 46-man roster. Now, who knows? If Whimper dresses, this move makes the team depth worse, not better.

Dale Lolley said...

The coaching staff obviously disagrees with you on Malecki being a better guard than Whimper.