The final cuts

There were no real big surprises in the Steelers' list of final cuts for regular readers of this blog.

Chukky Okobi and Verron Haynes were two veterans sent packing among the 22 players released Saturday.

Also cut were three rookie draft choices - defensive end Ryan McBean, a fourth-round pick; guard Cameron Stephenson (fifth) and wide receiver Dallas Baker (seventh).

I thought McBean might make it on potential, but the Steelers felt otherwise and will try to sign him to their practice squad.

Defensive end Shaun Nua, linebacker Rian Wallace and former special teams co-captain Chidi Iwuoma were also cut.

The players released from the Steelers roster include WR Dallas Baker, TE Cody Boyd, OT Jason Capizzi, TE Jon Dekker, RB Verron Haynes, CB Chidi Iwuoma, CB Jovon Johnson, FB John Kuhn, S Mike Lorello, CB Anthony Madison, CB Grant Mason, DE Ryan McBean, DE Shaun Nua, C Chukky Okobi, DT Scott Paxson, C Marvin Philip, QB Bryan Randall, LB Ron Stanley, OG Cameron Stephenson, OT Brandon Torrey, WR Gerran Walker, LB Rian Wallace and WR Walter Young.

I guess Marquis Cooper is the surpise on the roster. But he's a solid special teams guy.

What I saw, Carolina

I would not want to be making the cuts at running back for the Steelers.

I wonder if the Steelers were featuring Verron Haynes a little Thursday night in an effort to drum up some trade interest.

At this point, Haynes – who certainly has talent and can play in this league – is the odd man out in the backfield.

© Love the quarter defense that caused David Carr to burn the Panthers' third timeout in the first quarter. Talk about confusion. The only two guys on the field who weren't moving were Aaron Smith a nose tackle and Troy Polamalu, who was standing over the left tackle.

© First round-pick Lawrence Timmons showed some flashes Thursday night after a dreadful game Sunday against Philadelphia. He still can't get off a blocker, though, something I saw as a problem with him in college.

Timmons is outstanding when he's out in space running. He sure looks like a 3-4 inside linebacker to me.

© Willie Reid, that's what we've been expecting out of you all preseason long. It's a shame the coach had to call you out to get that kind of effort.

© Am I the only one who hates it when the stadium sound effects guy makes the panther growl after a Carolina's defense gives up a positive gain?

On one play, Gary Russell got a 5-yard gain and the slappy sound effects guy hits the growl button. Hey stupid, watch a few football games.

© William Gay has made a lot of good plays this preseason. Failing to field a punt at the 1 with 3:43 left in the first half was not one of them.

© As a color man, Edmund Nelson is a pretty good insurance salesman. He must also be related to Bryan Randall as much as he talked about him.

© Jason Capizzi didn't do much to help himself make this roster. Then again, neither did Trai Essex.

© Nice hustle by Mike Lorello on forcing a fourth quarter fumble on a punt return. That's how a man fighting for a roster spot has to react.

© None of the young tight ends did anything too spectacular to make the Steelers notice them. Matt Spaeth makes this roster strictly because he was a third round-pick.

© Tough break for Marvin Philip, who was getting a look at guard again in an effort to win a roster spot before leaving the game with an injury. It was a good break for Chukky Okobi.

Tuesday's update

Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel is appealing the $12,500 fine he received from the NFL for his hit on Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell two weeks ago.

Heath Miller (shoulder), Jerame Tuman (back) and wide receiver Hines Ward (broken nose) did not practice Tuesday. Head coach Mike Tomlin said Ward, who underwent minor surgery on the nose Tuesday, will likely play Thursday.

Tomlin said he will likely stick with his starters – with some exceptions – for one quarter in the game.

Tomlin said he challenged Willie Reid in front of the team to do a better job on punt returns. Reid was expected to bolster the team’s return game this season, but has struggled and is in danger of losing that job.

What I saw, Philadelphia

If Mike Tomlin is only going to keep one fullback on this roster, his decision is going to be difficult.

Both Dan Kreider and Carey Davis played well Sunday night, blocking with reckless abandon.

Davis was whistled for a holding penalty early in the game, but it certainly didn't look like a hold to me.

© Ben Roethlisberger will make a couple of plays per game that will make you look on and wonder how he did that.

Unfortunately, he'll also make a couple each game where you asked yourself why he did that as well.

His first quarter interception was one of the why plays.

A lot of times, those kind of passes fall harmlessly to the ground. But when they don't, they can lead to disaster.

He's got to limit those type of plays if he wants to take the next step to greatness.

© Tomlin's decision about the right side of his offensive line isn't going to be an easy one.

The starting right side of Kendall Simmons and Willie Colon looked OK pass blocking, but blah run blocking.

The second unit of Chris Kemoeatu and Max Starks looked OK run blocking and blah pass blocking.

It's not a decision I'd want to make at this point, but my guess is that Colon and Simmons open the season as the starters.

© Lawrence Timmons looked good running down to cover a punt late in the fourth quarter and he was certainly flying around the field, but it's obvious the Steelers' No. 1 draft pick has missed too much time to contribute much defensively this season.

He was out of position on more than one occasion in the fourth quarter, leading to some big plays.

© How does Chukky Okobi feel about losing the center job to Sean Mahan? Okobi was moping so much before Sunday night's game that he did not shake hands with any of the team's defensive starters when they were announced before the game, instead standing there with a long face.

Mahan, meanwhile, looks pretty limited at center. That could be a problem position for this team.

© At what point did the Steelers switch Ricardo Colclough's number to 15 and what number is Willie Reid now wearing.

If Reid isn't the punt returner on this team, he could be on the bubble to make this roster. And he's done nothing to prove that he deserves that job.

© Marvin Philip played extensively at left guard instead of center. That tells me the team is interested in keeping him over Okobi and wanted to see if he can handle another position if he is going to be active on game days.

© LaMarr Woodley could very well lead this team in sacks this season.

Trimming to 53

With just a few more days remaining before NFL teams must trim their rosters – to 75 on Aug. 28 and 53 by Sept. 1 – the Pittsburgh Steelers have a pretty good idea of who is going to be with them when they open the season at Cleveland Sept. 9.

But there are still some decisions to be made.

Here’s the way I feel the 53-man roster will shake out:

Quarterbacks (3): Ben Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch are locks. Brian St. Pierre has played well enough this preseason to be close to one as well. Only a bad performance against Philadelphia could ruin that.

Running backs (5): Willie Parker, Najeh Davenport and yes, Carey Davis are locks. Gary Russell is close to one. He’s the second-best pure runner on this roster behind Parker. That will leave the coaching staff deciding between Verron Haynes and fullback Dan Kreider. Haynes will be the team’s third-down back, leaving Kreider on the outside looking in. Davis will handle the lead-blocking duties.

Wide receivers (5): Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Cedrick Wilson are locks. Willie Reid likely is as well, even though he hasn’t shown much as a return man this preseason. That leaves Nate Washington fighting with Walter Young for the final spot. Washington’s speed gives him the edge over Young’s size.

Tight end (3): One of the few no-brainers as Heath Miller, Jerame Tuman and Matt Spaeth get the nod here.

Offensive line (10): Starters Marvel Smith, Alan Faneca, Sean Mahan, Kendall Simmons and Willie Colon – yes, I believe Colon will be the opening day starter – are joined by Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu, Marvin Philip, Trai Essex and Jason Capizzi. Chukky Okobi gets the call from the Turk. Essex has been OK at guard, but mistake-prone at tackle. But he’s worth keeping around another year. Capizzi is on the bubble, but I don’t think the Steelers will be able to get him onto the practice squad.

Defensive line (7): Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, Brett Keisel and Chris Hoke are locks. Travis Kirschke and his troublesome back likely are as well. Nick Eason and Ryan McBean will get the final two spots. McBean has promise and will get a year to learn the system and beef up a little. Shaun Nua, we hardly knew ya.

Linebackers (8): Clark Haggans, James Harrison, Larry Foote, James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, LaMarr Woodley and Clint Kreiwaldt are locks. That leaves one spot open and Arnold Harrison wins it. It leaves the team thin at inside linebacker, but Timmons could be groomed to play inside in a pinch and Arnold Harrison has played inside a bit. Woodley will continue to be groomed as a pass rusher.

Defensive backs (9): Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Deshea Townsend and Ike Taylor will be the starters. They will be backed up by Bryant McFadden, Anthony Smith, William Gay, Ricardo Colclough and Tyrone Carter. Chidi Iwuoma doesn’t make the cut despite being a captain during the preseason. Mike Tomlin could surprise here, however, and release Tyrone Carter instead. You don’t think Towsend has been working at free safety for his health, do you?

Specialists (3): Jeff Reed, Daniel Sepulveda and Greg Warren. Enough said.

What I saw in Washington

Mike Tomlin talked this week about saving spots for two or three guys who make this team better.

Verron Haynes has to have one of those spots. I know he's brittle and the Steelers have some talented young backs, but Haynes runs harder than anyone else on this team.

© The Steelers can't cut Gary Russell, one of those young backs. He's the second-best pure runner on this team behind Willie Parker.

Russell did whiff on a block on kickoff coverage, though. He has to do a better job there.

© The next guy that Matt Spaeth blocks will be the first one.

© Same goes for Trai Essex.

© William Gay opened in the first-team quarter defense in place of Deshea Townsend. But after Washington converted its first two third downs, Townsend was back in.

© Townsend started and played the first two plays, but was replaced at right corner by Bryant McFadden.

© The Steelers' run defense may be better than it was last season, which is saying something considering they were the only team in the league not to allow a 100-yard rusher.

© That pass defense, however, was pretty bad in this game. It wasn't so much the downfield stuff that was killing them, though. It was more poor tackling on dumpoffs to the tight ends and running backs.

But when the season starts, we won't see Tyrone Carter trying to tackle a tight end in the flats. Anthony Smith will be handling that third safety spot.

© Lawrence Timmons got one snap in the first half quarter in place of LaMarr Woodley and then played more in the fourth quarter. He looked OK. Nothing great, but the kid's still getting his feet wet.

© Sean Mahan didn't help his cause at center with a bad shotgun snap late in the first half. There was also another snap in the first half that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger nearly mishandled. It's a good thing for Mahan that Chukky Okobi is still hurt. Mahan may win the center job by default.

© At this point, I'd take Willie Colon as my starting right tackle and Kendall Simmons as my starting right guard.

Colon is just plain nasty and Simmons makes fewer mistakes than Chris Kemoeatu.

© Punter Dan Sepulveda's net average was 48.5 yards on four kicks. Still think he wasn't worth a fourth-round pick?

Heck, even giving up the sixth-rounder they did was worth it.

That's a wrap

The Pittsburgh Steelers held their last practice of this training camp here at Saint Vincent College, finishing off with some preparation for this weekend’s preseason game at Washington.

I know, teams say they don’t really prepare for preseason contests, but they do at least give their offense and defense a look at what they are going to face.

Marvel Smith practiced sparingly today seeing only a few snaps at left tackle, but I was told he’ll be ready to play Saturday.

With Smith back, Max Starks moved back to the right side of the line – albeit with the second team – with Trai Essex working at left tackle with the second unit.

It doesn’t appear that first-round pick Lawrence Timmons is going to see a ton of action against the Redskins. He saw some action with the second-team Okie at right outside linebacker, but Arnold Harrison took the majority of the snaps there.

Timmons is running better and his groin injury seems to be behind him.

Ben Roethlisberger was back for a full practice. Head coach Mike Tomlin was true to his word and Charlie Batch didn’t see a lot of action throwing the ball today.

After practicing without a sleeve on his left knee Wednesday, Willie Parker had the sleeve back on today. It was just a precautionary thing, however, and Parker is ready to go Saturday.

Zierlein says o-line needs to be set

We’re getting near the end of the competition on the offensive line according to Pittsburgh Steelers coach line coach Larry Zeirlein.

Zeirlein told me Wednesday that, ideally, he’d like to have his starting offensive line decided upon following Saturday’s preseason game at Washington.

You can read more about the decision process and what it likely means in my story in Thursday's Observer-Reporter.

For the second day in a row, Bryant McFadden ran with the first-team defense at right cornerback in place of Deshea Townsend. Santonio Holmes also practiced with the first team at wide receiver in place of Cedrick Wilson.

Townsend, in fact, didn’t play corner for the second day in a row, lining up at free safety with the No. 3 units.

Willie Parker worked without a sleeve on his left knee today for the first time and appears to be running at 100 percent after missing nearly two weeks with some soreness in that knee.

Ben Roethlisberger was held out of the passing drills and didn’t throw any in team drills, but head coach Mike Tomlin said that was a planned rest and had nothing to do with the quarterback banging his hand on a teammates helmet Tuesday. Charlie Batch will get a similar rest Thursday according to Tomlin.

Derrick Jones, Darnell Stapleton, Chris Hoke, Marvel Smith, Anthony Smith and Okobi did not practice today. Najeh Davenport was added to the injury list today with a sore foot. The extend of that injury isn’t known yet and we’ll get an update on that Thursday.

Lawrence Timmons did more work today than he had in previous practices this week after returning from his groin injury. Timmons replaced Arnold Harrison in the second-team base 3-4 defense at right outside linebacker, with Harrison moving to left outside linebacker on the third unit.

A look at the d-line

Since I have no clever lead-in today, we’re just going to jump right into what I saw Tuesday afternoon at the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp.

As I got down to the field, the defensive line was working one-on-one against the tight ends run blocking. I wanted to keep an eye on young Ryan McBean to see if the morning session with John Mitchell had made any difference. Plus, I just love it when Mitch starts yelling at those guys.

Interestingly, the only defensive linemen working against the tight ends were McBean, Shaun Nua, Nick Eason and Scott Paxson. Those will probably be the four guys fighting for the sixth defensive line spot, so it really got my interest.

McBean showed some flashes and you can see why Mitchell loves his athleticism enough to spend extra time working with him. He still makes some rookie mistakes though.

Eason looked the best in the drill, which is to be expected, I guess. He’s a veteran and the biggest of the group. He easily shoved the tight ends into the backfield.

Paxson was OK, but I would expect a nose tackle to dominate the line of scrimmage more against a tight end. Working against Heath Miller, he basically just stood him up at the line of scrimmage.

Nua really struggled. He was fought to a stalemate by rookie Matt Spaeth, causing Mitchell to excalim, “You can’t get off of him. They want a stalemate. A stalemate is still a touchdown.”

Later, Nua worked against John Dekker and slipped on his first attempt, with Dekker driving him to the ground. Dekker then rode Nua completely out of the play on the second attempt, with Nua giving Dekker an extra shot at the end.

Mitchell made Nua go for yet a third time and he finally beat his man, Cody Boyd, who had replaced Dekker.

Brian St. Pierre ran the team through a couple of two-minute drills, throwing a beautiful touchdown pass to a leaping Nate Washington on third down from the 24 with 13 seconds remaining on the first attempt. St. Pierre looked sharp on the first drill.

The second attempt wasn’t quite as sharp and he completed only a -12-yard pass to Walter Young and a seven-yard pass to Eric Fowler. Troy Polamalu got a look at cornerback – with Deshea Townsend at safety – on this one and broke up a fourth-down pass to Fowler to end the drill. But Tomlin also called a defensive hold on the play on Polamalu.

Anthony Smith was injured at some point during the two-minute drill. He had an ice pack on his side and Tomlin said he has an abdominal injury. We’ll find out more about it Wednesday, but Tomlin said it didn’t appear serious.

Lawrence Timmons did a little more work today – though the team still isn’t using him in any one-on-one pass rush drills. He does look fluid dropping into coverage and he could help the team in that respect. The questions about his pass rush skills remain, however.

Bryant McFadden lined up with the first team at cornerback, replacing Townsend, for the final 11-on-11 drill. Tomlin said Townsend will start there on Saturday, however.

Ben Roethlisberger got rolled up on a pass play toward the end of practice, as Carey Davis picked up a blitzing Ryan Clark and knocked him to the ground. James Harrison then tripped over them and Roethlisberger stepped onto the pile as he threw a pass. The ball was intercepted by Jovon Johnson and Roethlisberger got up holding his right pinky. He completed practice, however.

Chukky Okobi, Marvel Smith, Darnell Stapleton, Derrick Jones and Chris Hoke were held out of practice, while Jerame Tuman returned after sitting out the morning session.

A morning to remember

All eyes – or at least mine – were on Pittsburgh Steelers rookie linebacker Lawrence Timmons this morning as he worked for the second day in his second comeback from a groin injury.

Timmons, the team’s first-round draft pick, got a crash course in special teams play this morning in a practice that dealt specifically with that portion of the game.

Special teams coach Bob Ligashesky was in Timmons’ ear throughout the morning session, helping the rookie line up in the right spots and telling him exactly what’s expected of him.

Timmons did get to test his groin – which was initially injured on the opening day of mini-camp in May – while working on some kickoff drills, sprinting downfield before turning to set up to block. He looked like he got through that OK and also did some extra running after the practice.

Timmons’ return was good news for at least one Steelers’ veteran. Linebacker James Farrior, who had been forced to sit through the morning special teams practices even though it was unlikely he would play any this season, got to leave early this morning for the first time of this camp. It does not appear now that Farrior will be used on special teams unless there is an emergency, though he did see some time on that unit in 2006.

Those not in pads this morning included defensive lineman Derrick Jones, offensive tackle Marvel Smith, defensive tackle Chris Hoke, tight end Jerame Tuman and guard Darnell Stapleton.

Of note this morning was that I spent the night in Washington and was driving out to camp this morning listening to John Steigerwald’s daily radio show. He had Steelers’ scout Bill Nunn on the radio and Nunn was speaking about his days as sports editor for the Pittsburgh Courier, which used to put together an All-America squad every year for the traditionally black colleges.

In 1967, the fullback on Nunn’s squad was one Edward Tomlin, father of Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin.

Just as Nunn and Steigerwald were discussing this, Mike Tomlin happened to be walking by the radio tent at Saint Vincent College. Steigerwald called Tomlin over and Tomlin actually went on the air live - and unplanned – to talk about it.

It was just another unplanned moment in Tomlin’s camp and gives you a little insight into what Tomlin is really like.

I asked Steigerwald afterward if he would have done that with Bill Cowher, even in 1992, Cowher’s first year.

He said categorically that he would not have. But Tomlin just has a way that makes people feel so much more at ease than Cowher did. Let’s hope he doesn’t lose that.

Day off

I just wanted to let all of my faithful readers – both of you – that I'm not at practice today and therefore won't be giving a practice update from this afternoon's session. But don't worry, I'll be back in Latrobe Tuesday for the morning and afternoon sessions.

Also, for those of you who are not aware, once the Steelers break camp, the rules on what we can and can't report change a little bit. I can't give you the detailed rundowns on what's going on with practice that I'm able to now.

But I'll still be blogging with some observations and such, so keep on coming back.

What I saw

The Max Starks at left tackle experiment took a hit in Saturday night's preseason 13-9 loss to Green Bay.

Starks struggled in pass protection at left tackle, looking lost at the position this week.

At right tackle Willie Colon looked good, especially run blocking. But that was never a question for him. He did a good job in pass protection as well, but did have a holding penalty.

© Many may have been wondering what happened to Carey Davis, the team's leading rusher in the preseason opener?

The Steelers are apparently happy with what they saw from Davis last week running the ball and wanted to get a look at him as a lead blocker.

They had to like what they saw. Davis, who also had the tackle on the opening kickoff, had an outstanding block to spring Kevan Barlow on a 17-yard run. Later, he was killing guys as a lead blocker for Gary Russell.

Davis has this team made.

That's bad news for John Kuhn, who likely gets cut now that Davis has shown he can play both fullback and halfback.

© Russell is also pushing for a roster spot, but at whose expense?

He likely has to prove that he can play as a third-down back and pick up the blocking duties that entails to have a shot to unseat Verron Haynes, who's an outstanding pass blocker.

He'll probably get his shot at that next week.

© Sean Mahan looked much better at center than Chukky Okobi. I wouldn't be surprised if Mahan gets the start at center again next week in Washington.

He's just a stronger player.

We didn't get to see Mahan getting out in front on any screen plays like Okobi did last week, but I have to believe he can do that as well.

© The Steelers dodged a big bullet when Chris Hoke got leg-whipped by William Gay on a missed tackle in the third quarter.

The initial diagnosis is a hyperextended knee, but it could have been much worse.

Though he's a backup, Hoke could start for a lot of teams. And he's more than capable of giving Casey Hampton a rest at any time or place on the field.

Had Hoke been lost, the team would have been forced to move Travis Kirschke to nose tackle to back up Hampton.

© All that work on special teams and they still don't know how to block on a PAT.

It looked like long-snapper Greg Warren just kept his head down and didn't block anybody on that blocked kick. He also got no help whatsoever from Kendall Simmons, who was lined up to his left, or Chris Kemoeatu, who was on his right.

They all appeared to try to block down on their men.

© Walter Young has been around forever and now has the inside track on being this team's No. 6 receiver this season. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

Young has been catching everything at practice and now it's translating over to the games.

At 6-5, he's the biggest of the Steelers receivers and gives the team something none of the other receivers can.

Rain delay; Parker returns

Rain washed out the Pittsburgh Steelers morning practice and threatened to do the same with the afternoon session – even though the team traveled back to Pittsburgh from Latrobe to work out at its indoor practice facility.

Midway through the afternoon session, another thunderstorm ripped through the area and knocked out the lights here, stopping practice for 15 minutes.

The players erupted in a loud cheer when the blackout occurred, but head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t let them off the hook that easily, waiting out the loss of power to finish up practice.

Though Tomlin didn’t announce anything about him at his morning press conference, left tackle Marvel Smith did not practice – bringing his status in Saturday’s preseason game into question. Smith wouldn’t talk to reporters and Tomlin was not available following practice to clarify why the left tackle sat out.

One player who made a surprising return was running back Willie Parker. Parker was dressed for the first time in nearly two weeks – this coming just a couple of hours after Tomlin declared him out of action for Saturday.

While Parker didn’t take part in a full practice, he did do a little running in position drills, testing out his sore left knee. He'll be back Monday at full speed.

Guard Alan Faneca, defensive end Derrick Jones, center Chukky Okobi and linebacker Lawrence Timmons also did not practice.

Roethlisberger injured

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was taken from the field on a cart at the conclusion of practice here Wednesday afternoon after having his foot stepped on near the end of practice.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback finished practice after having his foot stepped on during 11-on-11 drills, but Roethlisberger, who was walking with a slight limp, headed straight for a medical cart at the conclusion of the session.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said the injury was no big deal.

Center Chukky Okobi, however, was no so lucky.

Okobi, working with the second team after the return of Sean Mahan, went down in a heap two plays after Roethlisberger was stepped on and was on the field for several minutes as trainers looked at his lower back.

The injury news clouded an otherwise good day for the Steelers, who had gotten linebackers Larry Foote and James Harrison, and quarterback Brian St. Pierre back in action today.

Tomlin said rookie linebacker Lawrence Timmons was in Philadelphia today having his sore groin looked at and that there had been a breakthrough in that area. But, he said he would not speak about it until Thursday, when Timmons is scheduled to return.

Defensive end Derrick Jones was also still out of practice, nursing a sore right calf.

The highlight of practice was the two-minute drill in which Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch both did excellent impersonations of Joe Montana.

The two were a combined 11-for-13 in the drill, with Roethlisberger’s lone incompletion coming when he spiked the ball to stop the clock. He was seven-of-eight, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Nate Washington to finish things off. Batch of four-for-five, including an 18-yard touchdown to Walter Young, who did an outstanding job of getting both feet in bounds and slipping the ball past the pylon for a score.

Mahan, who is back from an excused absence, will start at center on Saturday against Green Bay, as will Willie Colon at right tackle.

Tomlin said today that running back Willie Parker’s timetable is 14 days and that he’s in day 11 now. That would bring Parker back to action when the team resumes practice next week.

Harrison returns

James Harrison returned to practice Wednesday morning for the Pittsburgh Steelers and jumped right into his customary role as the team’s ace in the hole on special teams.

Harrison, who had been out of action for more than a week with a rib injury, was being used with the first team on all the special teams units during a special teams only practice.

That was about the only exciting news to come out of this one.

I had a long talk with Wilie Parker and he won’t be playing again this weekend. But there doesn’t seem to be any long-term problem with his knee.

It doesn’t appear that Sean Mahan is back with the team as of yet, while Lawrence Timmons is now heading into his third week of inactivity.

Minor injuries mount

The Pittsburgh Steelers got lucky with the rain for their preseason opener Sunday, but weren’t as fortunate Tuesday afternoon as they returned to practice here at Saint Vincent College.

A storm rolled through the area, forcing head coach Mike Tomlin to cut his practice a half-hour short Tuesday afternoon.

The big news of the day was that a number of players weren’t practicing due to minor injuries suffered in Sunday night’s win over New Orleans – inlcuding guard Alan Faneca and linebacker Larry Foote. Tomlin also made a switch in the starting lineup at right tackle, inserting Willie Colon in place of Max Starks.

Foote sat out with a sore ankle. He was replaced inside by Rian Wallace.

Faneca has a sore shoulder and was replaced at left guard by Chris Kemoeatu.

Could that have been an early look at next year’s offensive line as both Starks and Faneca are free agents? Perhaps.

Other new injuries included third-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre (thumb) and rookie defensive end Derrick Jones, who has some kind of minor leg injury.

Willie Parker, James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons were also still out of action – the same as last week.

Center Sean Mahan, meanwhile, still hasn’t returned from his excused absence, though Tomlin said he expects Mahan to return tonight or Wednesday.

As he did in Sunday’s game, Starks worked with the second team at left tackle. Trai Essex was at left guard, Marvin Philip at center and Cameron Stephenson at right guard.

What I saw

The new Steelers' offense looks somewhat like the old one – throw the ball and get a lead and then pound the football.

The formations and way that they do it may be a little different, but the end results were the same.

© You couldn't help but watch Sunday night's game and be impressed by how the Steelers pushed the Saints around on offense and defense. New Orleans is a team that could again challenge for the NFC title.

But it does show you the difference between the AFC and the NFC.

I think this is a very good Steelers team. But it's also a team that could finish anywhere from first to third in the AFC North.

And it's also a team that will be battling all season just to make the playoffs in the AFC. Put the Steelers in the NFC and they'd be one of the favorites to go to the Super Bowl.

© The Steelers may not lose a preseason game. The starters are solid and the JVs are pretty darn good too, which is a tribute to their scouting department.

© Which if the so-called JVs impressed the most?

Regular readers of this blog know that I've been touting Carey Davis for a while now. He did nothing to embarrass me in that regards. Gary Russell also looked strong running the ball.

Walter Young didn't do anything to hurt his chances as a wide receiver - though I didn't see much of him on special teams, where he'll have to earn his roster spot.

Jason Capizzi and Trai Essex did a good job on the offensive line – though Essex did have a false-start penalty.

And Ron Stanley did some good things at inside linebacker as well.

© Who didn't impress?

Start with Kevan Barlow. He just doesn't seem to have any desire to hit the holes hard. That coupled with his poor character and the fact he doesn't want to play special teams add up to his release.

Willie Reid didn't exactly knock my socks off returning the ball, struggling to catch a punt and a kickoff. But I'll chalk some of that up to the fact the lightstands at Fawcett Stadium aren't as high as those at an NFL stadium. The ball could get lost pretty easily up there.

Chukky Okobi didn't exactly solidfy himself at center as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sean Mahan take that starting center spot soon – once he gets back from his excused absence.

I've heard what Mahan's absence is due to and though I can't say what it is, he should take his time getting back.

© Max Starks played a good left tackle replacing Marvel Smith there after the first series. Remember, he was working against Will Smith.

Starks is going to make a lot of money in the offseason.

Mozes done for year

I got some bad news this morning from Dan Mozes' father. Mozes, the former WVU/Washington Prexies center who is attempting to latch on with the Vikings, tore his ACL in a scrimmage with Kansas City and is done for the year.

The upside? Mozes will be placed on IR and will basically get a scholarship year this season with the Vikings. According to Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert, the base salary for a guy like that would be $190,000.

More roster shuffling

The Pittsburgh Steelers released linebacker Marcello Church Friday to make room for outside linebacker Matt King, a 6-3, 245-pound rookie from Maine who had been in camp with the Jets this Spring before being released.

What does that say about Church that the team didn’t think he was better than a guy the Jets gave up on two months ago? Not much.

Sean Mahan missed practice this afternoon to attend to personal issues. No word on what those issues were, but it did cause an interesting shift on the offensive line.

With Mahan MIA, Kendall Simmons and Marvin Phillip shared time with the second-team offensive line. I don’t know what that means for Phillip that they didn’t trust him to run with the second team by himself, but it can’t be all that good either.

It was another practice lacking in overall intensity as the team spent most of the session going over the little things with little to no hitting.

Mike Lorello had a nice leaping pick of Ben Roethlisberger in the end zone as the team worked on its two-minute offense, appearing out of nowhere to snatch a pass in front of Nate Washington. It was a nice athletic play.

Looking at the d-line

The Pittsburgh Steelers held their first night practice at the newly dedicated Chuck Noll Field here at Saint Vincent College Thursday, but it was a less-than-spirited effort.

Even the goal-line drill, which is usually a raucous event, couldn’t pep up this practice.

The offense won this one, 4-3, scoring touchdowns on runs by Najeh Davenport and Brian Russell, and Brian St. Pierre passes to John Dekker and Matt Spaeth.

Willie Parker, James Harrison, Lawrence Timmons and Darnell Stapleton were out again today. In fact, head coach Mike Tomlin said Stapleton had an MRI that revealed a torn meniscus. He’ll undergo surgery and be out three weeks. That’s a tough break.

Marcello Church was a new addition to the injury list with a hamstring injury, while Chris Hoke was limited and did not partake in any contact drills today.

Watching the young defensive linemen today, I was impressed by Derrick Jones, who showed off some nice power moves. On one play, he got up under Brandon Torrey and one-arm tossed the big man to the ground to get to the quarterback.

He looks farther along at this point than fourth-round draft pick Ryan McBean, who doesn’t look as if he has that kind of power. McBean did show a nice outside move against Trai Essex, but he's not going to get things done on speed.

Veteran Nick Eason looks like a an undrafted rookie free agent at times. He needs to step up his game if he hopes to make this team.

Another veteran who didn’t impress is Shaun Nua. He just doesn’t have any strength at the point of attack. I just don’t think he can cut it as a 3-4 end.

Reid shows off

Another day, another special teams practice.

Today’s emphasis was on what to do after a safety, so many of those guys weren’t needed.

James Harrison, Derek Rehage and Lawrence Timmons were the only guys not practicing today. I didn’t see Willie Parker, however.
The most interesting thing I saw today was while waiting on Willie Reid after practice. Reid was the last guy off the field as he took some extra time receiving punts from a Juggs machine.

Before he finished, he did a little showing off. He held one ball in his arm while another was shot at him out of the machine. Just before the second ball would reach him, he’d toss the first ball into the air, catch the second one, and then grab the first one out of the air. It was a nifty little trick he did four or five times before calling it quits.

Parkergate solved

We’ve gotten to the bottom of Parkergate here at the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp.

Head coach Mike Tomlin was told by trainers Tuesday that Willie Parker’s sore left knee was no big deal. But the soreness lingered into today, hence Tomlin’s proclaimation Tuesday that Parker was only going to sit out a day.

It doesn’t appear to be a long-term problem and there’s no damage or anything like that.

Also not practicing this afternoon were Lawrence Timmons – of course – James Harrison and Darnell Stapleton.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was also given some rest during the passing drills in an effort by Tomlin to rest his arm. Charlie Batch will be given similar treatment Thursday.

The team got a bit of a scare during 11-on-11 when Jovon Johnson and Larry Foote collided in coverage of John Dekker. Both Johnson and Foote took several moments to get up off the field. Dekker, meanwhile, was unable to leap high enough to haul in the pass from Bryan Randall despite being wide open.

In an interesting twist to the offensive line versus defensive line blocking drills, instead of just having one guy rush and one guy block, the team today practiced with two of each rushing. The defenders would stunt and the offensive linemen would pass them off to each other. It was pretty neat to watch and seems like a pretty good drill to work on, though I’d never seen it before.

Parker's still out

The Pittsburgh Steelers held their first practice of August Wednesday morning and it’s beginning to look as if head coach Mike Tomlin is going to be somebody who is not to be trusted when it comes to talking about injuries.

After Tomlin said running back Willie Parker was being held out of practice Tuesday for rest, Parker missed practice again this morning and had a large ice pack on his left knee while he spoke with trainer John Norwig.

Could be a bone contusion or just a little swelling – and that’s likely what it is – but when the head coach won’t talk about it, it sets off the reporter radar. Guess that's something the coach is going to have to learn.

The same goes for linebacker James Harrison, who sat out again today with what Tomlin said Friday was just sore ribs. Those sore ribs have now kept Harrison out for nearly a week.

Travis Kirschke and Chris Hoke returned today after getting a day of rest Tuesday – though Hoke didn’t do any team work.

Also out of action were Darnell Stapleton and, of course, Lawrence Timmons.

This Timmons injury is beginning to really drag on and if it continues, he may struggle just to stay active on game days this fall. He's missed that much time.

Hines Ward and Cedrick Wilson are definitely running as the first-team receivers right now. Santonio Holmes, Nate Washington and Willie Reid – who continues to look good – are next in line.

Reid made a tremendous catch just in front of the goal line on a Charlie Batch pass during team drills, leaping above safety Grant Mason to pull the ball away. He just needs to stay healthy.

An FYI

In case you haven't noticed, the blog has been moved off of the Observer-Reporter's server. I'm told by our tech people that this is a safer route to take since apparently the blogs shut down more often when they are on somebody else's server. Because of that, you should re-bookmark this page – assuming you did to begin with – to make the blog easier to find.
Thanks
Dale

Early ending, Parker sits out

All the pressure was on Jeff Reed this afternoon as head coach Mike Tomlin told him Monday night that he would end practice about 45 minutes early Tuesday afternoon if Reed could make a 42-yard field goal.

The Pittsburgh Steelers placekicker did not let his teammates down, nailing the 42-yarder despite plenty of heckling from defensive players Troy Polamalu and Deshea Townsend.

Reed was mobbed by all 70 or so teammates after making the kick with chants of, “Reed, Reed, Reed,” breaking out.

The coach is getting soft in this second week of practice. That's a skipped morning session and three others cut early since the first week of boot camp.

The big news of the day was that running back Willie Parker joined those who were out of practice. Though Tomlin said the day off was just for rest, Parker did have a wrap on his left knee. Parker said it was no big deal, however.

Also sitting out practice were defensive ends Travis Kirshke and Chris Hoke, linebackers Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison and Derek Rehage, and offensive lineman Darnell Stapleton, who hyperextended his knee Monday.

With Parker out, the pecking order at running back went Najeh Davenport, Carey Davis, Kevan Barlow, Verron Haynes, Gary Russell, Larry Croom and John Kuhn. Kuhn did, however, work as the second-team fullback behind Dan Kreider.

Two new injuries

There wasn't much going on here this morning as it was another special teams practice.

If this team gives up a touchdown or its special teams play hurts it early in the season, you can expect a real uproar in the media, which has been forced to watch hour upon hour of this stuff.

The only real news of the morning was Travis Kirschke and Darnell Stapleton joining those who are among the walking wounded. We can assume that Kirshke – a veteran defensive end – sat out with his cranky back, while Stapleton – a rookie guard – was getting work done on his left knee.

Verron Haynes was back at practice this morning, while James Harrison, Lawrence Timmons and Derek Rehage remain out.

The Saint

Apparently Brian St. Pierre’s parents were in town today as St. Pierre was given two opportunities to run a two-minute offense Monday afternoon at Saint Vincent College.

Both times, St. Pierre led the offense to touchdowns and looked relatively sharp in doing so.

In his first attempt – working against the second-team defense – St. Pierre completed his first two passes – to Nate Washington and Santonio Holmes – before throwing wide of Willie Reid, who couldn’t get his feet inbounds to make the catch.

A draw to Carey Davis was blown up for a 4-yard loss, but St. Pierre completed a pass to Reid to put the ball at the 8. He then completed a 6-yard pass to Holmes at the 2 before throwing incomplete on a fade pass to Holmes. The pass was broken up by Anthony Madison.

Kevan Barlow then took the ball in from two yards out for the score.

Working against the No. 3 quarter defense, St. Pierre had an even easier time. After a pair of incompletions, he completed a 30-yard pass to Walter Young at the 10. He then went back to Young on the next play, finding the 6-4 receiver in the back of the end zone. Young did an outstanding job of getting both feet in bounds and looked better than he ever has in his previous camps here.

James Harrison, Verron Haynes, Lawrence Timmons and Derek Rehage did not practice this afternoon. Haynes was held out as a precaution to make sure his surgically repaired knee doesn’t act up, while the team is trying to figure out a way for Rehage to get back to work with a cast on his surgically repaired thumb.

Monday, Monday

Mike Tomlin apparently liked what he saw from the Steelers over the weekend. He let the boys out of practice early Monday morning.

The Steelers released wide receiver Chris Jackson – a Milsaps product – and re-signed Gerran Walker, who had been working with them in the offseason before getting released July 19. Apparently, with Santonio Holmes back , the Steelers felt they didn’t need another return man such as Jackson.

Speaking of return men, the punt return guys were Holmes, Reid, Cedrick Wilson, Jovon Johnson and Eric Shelton. No Ricardo Colclough for the second straight day. Who said this coaching staff didn't know what it was doing?

Kendall Simmons and Tomlin talked for about 10 minutes during practice. Simmons' blood sugar was low and Tomlin was asking him about it.

Walter Young caught my eye today when the team was working on its red zone offense. The 6-4 Young snatched a couple of Charlie Batch passes out of the air for touchdowns and looked good doing so. Maybe he could be like Cris Carter – you know, all he does is catch touchdown passes.

James Harrison was out of action again this morning and LaMarr Woodley was at left outside linebacker, with Clark Haggans sliding over to Harrison’s spot.

Goal line ending

Mike Tomlin called the troops together before the final session of Sunday afternoon's practice. As has been the case throughout this camp, we’re not quite sure what to expect in these situations. In this instance, he was calling the boys together to let them know to keep things clean in their final drill - goal line.

Setting up at the 2, the first-team offense tried a dive by Willie Parker. He was stuffed cold by nose tackle Casey Hampton for no gain.

On the second attempt, the pitch went to Parker, running left, who made it into the end zone untouched.

Next, it was Najeh Davenport’s turn. He took the handoff off right tackle and was stopped intially by the duo of Ryan Clark and Ike Taylor – high and low – before the rest of the defense came in to clean things up.

Hampton made the big move after that, switching over to offense, where he lined up at fullback in front of Davenport. The play went behind right guard and Hampton hit the hole full speed, running into linebacker Clint Kriewaldt. It was a wasted effort as Davenport was stopped at the 1.

After that, it was defensive end Brett Keisel’s turn to line up with the other side. Keisel set up on next to left tackle and ran a drag across the end zone and Batch lofted a pass that Keisel hauled in along the back line with two defenders in tow.

With the defense ahead three stops to two scores, the next play went to Carey Davis. Davis took the pitch to the right, but was stopped by Rian Wallace and William Gay at the 1.

James Harrison missed practice today with what Tomlin deemed a rib injury. Interestingly enough, instead of moving Arnold Harrison into the starting lineup, the team decided instead to move Clark Haggans to right outside linebacker and insert LaMarr Woodley in at left outside linebacker.

What I've learned

I'm back in Washington today, so I won't be attending Saturday afternoon's practice. It's the first one I've missed in this camp, so cut me a little slack. Everybody else out here - save my good friend Jim Wexell - takes regular days off. I don't, but I was called back to work in the office tonight. Guess you'll have to complain to the powers that be here at the paper about that one.

Anyway, since I'm not witnessing practice today, I thought it would be a good time to update you on the youngesters I've seen that I like.

Big tackle Jason Capizzi has shown me something as a blocker. He's got good feet and has held his own blocking both James Harrison and Brett Keisel.

Carey Davis, the first-year running back out of Illinois, is getting a strong look from the team. He's lining up as a wing on the line for the first team punt coverage unit and Friday night they started looking at him as a fullback as well. That has to mean the kid has a shot.

On the other hand, Kevan Barlow looks like he's got nothing in the tank. That, coupled with what I learned about his lack of character, leads me to believe he has not shot of making this team.

New punter Daniel Sepulveda kicks the ball a very, very long way. In fact, I'd be tempted if I were the Steelers, to have him drop kick the ball on kickoffs rather than have Jeff Reed tee it up. His leg is that strong. He's also had no trouble as the holder, something that cost Mike Barr the job last year in favor of Chris Gardocki.

Friday night lights

Both players who were on the Physically Unable to Perform List made it back to practice before Santonio Holmes. That can’t be a good sign for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Verron Haynes and Derek Rehage were activated from the PUP list for Friday night’s practice, while Holmes and Lawrence Timmons, the team’s past two first-round picks, were out of action again.

Ron Stanley looked good in backs on backers drills, the best he’s ever looked in that drill.

Kevan Barlow looked lost at times as a blocker.

Young Carey Davis, who is now also seeing time at fullback, also looked good.

Nate Washington has to get more aggressive over the middle. During passing drills, Tyrone Carter stepped in from of Washington to pick off a pass from Charlie Batch. Washington was looking around for a pass interference call that wasn’t going to come. He didn’t fight for the ball.

Gary Russell also continues to look good running the ball. He made a special cutback on one play, breaking the play to the backside.

The first-team offense looked sharp in red zone, scoring touchdowns on three of five plays versus the first-team defense.

Hines Ward caught a 16-yard TD pass from Ben Roethlisberger, who then threw TD passes to Cedrick Wilson and Heath Miller. Roethlisberger looked pretty sharp.

Rookie defensive end Derrick Jones showed some stuff working against Chris Kemoeatu in one-on-one rushing drills, beating Kemoeatu on back-to-back plays – one of which was a straight slap down.

Isn't that special

It seems even the players and some coaches are getting a little tired of the specials teams work that has been going on here at the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp.

Most of the offensive line, all of the quarterbacks, wide receiver Hines Ward and rookie linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who’s out with a groin injury, left practice after just 10 minutes Friday morning to go watch film. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and line coach Larry Zierlein were leading the troops off. I’m not sure where Timmons fits into that group, however.

The defensive line - save rookies Ryan McBean and Derrick Jones – also got a get out of jail early card and left halfway through the practice to go watch film.

Santonio Holmes and Verron Haynes were both sliding well working out together on the side and it can’t be much longer for them to get out on the playing field.

That's about all I've got this morning. It was just an hour long practice and the rain is coming.

More hits than errors

It’s now official, first-round pick Lawrence Timmons is out of action for at least a while after aggravating the groin injury that kept him out of mini-camp and OTAs.

Timmons said the injury was the result of two-a-days, while head coach Mike Tomlin said it was a twinge Timmons felt in his groin. Neither would give a timetable on the rookie’s return, though.

Arnold Harrison took Timmons’ spot with the No. 2 defense at ROLB.

There were some big hits delivered today.

For the second day in a row, Anthony Smith leveled Willie Reid after a reception, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

Just as impressive was running back John Kuhn’s hit on defensive tackle Scott Paxson. Kuhn lowered his shoulder and blasted Paxson to the ground.

Over in the offensive line-defensive line drills, Trai Essex showed off a solid punch, nailing Brett Keisel on the snap and knocking Keisel to the ground. Essex actually looked good today. Maybe the light is going on.

In fact, the entire second team line looked strong. Willie Colon took LaMarr Woodley off the snap and pancaked him to his back. When the two lined up again, Colon again slapped Woodley backwards.

Chris Kemoeatu also looked good.

There will be fireworks following Friday night's practice at Latrobe Area High School. But the Steelers haven't needed any fireworks yet. With all the hitting they've done, they've provided their own fireworks.

Maybe the city of Latrobe, which benefits from the nominal admission fee to the practice, is hoping to draw away some of that Pirates/Wild Things crowd.

First injury

The first injury of this Pittsburgh Steelers training camp reared its ugly head Thursday and it’s somebody the team can’t afford to miss much time.

First-round pick Lawrence Timmons aggravated his groin injury that kept him out of the team’s offseason workouts midway through Thursday morning’s practice and spent the remainder of the session with trainers John Norwig and Ryan Grove testing the injury.

There’s no initial prognosis, but the injury didn’t seem serious and Timmons looked to be staying off the field more as a precaution than anything. But given the fact that he missed all of the OTAs and most of mini-camp, it’s certainly something that is going to hold him back in terms of his growth as a player.

The injury came just a few plays after Timmons, a linebacker, made his first big play of this camp. Dropping into coverage, Timmons jumped a pass in the flats in zone coverage and picked off the Charlie Batch ball, making a juggling catch along the sidelines.

The highlight of the morning was a new twist on the backs on backers pass-rush, pass-protection drill. This time, it was safeties and nickel backs rushing the running backs.

The offense looked to have gotten the better of it, but Troy Polamalu and Anthony Smith were everything but unblockable, beating practically everybody they went up against.

Polamalu even beat unofficial blocking champion Dan Kreider in a heavyweight matchup. He uses a variety of spin moves and looks more like a defensive end rushing rather than a safety.

Smith, meanwhile, was just explosive, running through people to get to the QB. He hits like a truck.

The offensive star of the drill was Carey Davis. The first-year running back went 5-0 in the drill, even stopping Smith on the final attempt of the drill. Smith slipped coming in and never really made it to Davis with any force, but the young back already had stoned Ricardo Colclough, Bryant McFadden, Harrison Smith and Deshea Townsend.

Perhaps that’s why Davis is the only surprise player on the No. 1 punt coverage team – where he plays one of the wings.

QB Ben Roethlisberger looked sharper today. He made a great pass deep over the middle while rolling to his right to Hines Ward. Ward had gotten behind the safeties and the duo made it look easy.

Ryan Clark was back working with the No. 1 Okie base defense this morning.

Also of note is that sources tell me that running back Kevan Barlow, signed as a possible backup to Willie Parker, is the worst character guy the Steelers have had since this source has been here. That dates back nearly 10 years.

The players are also upset that they do not have a scheduled day off in the first two weeks of camp. They're not complaining publicly about it - yet.

Trouble for tight ends

It was tight ends attempting to block linebackers one-on-one in a running drill that caught my eye early on in Wednesday afternoon’s practice.

And boy, do the Steelers’ young tight ends have a ways to go as run blockers.

James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley pretty much dominated whoever they lined up against, with only Heath Miller and Jerame Tuman holding their own at the point of attack.

Jon Dekker pretty much got tossed around by whomever he faced and Cody Boyd got a couple of pretty good chewing outs from coach James Daniels after allowing his man to slip off blocks.

Matt Spaeth was also uneven in his blocking, though he did win his individual matchup a couple of times.

Spaeth also got an earful from Daniels and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians when the team broke for 9-on-9 inside running when he lined up at the wrong position, causing the team to re-huddle.

The only change in the lineup this afternoon was Anthony Smith replacing Ryan Clark at free safety. But as I reported this morning, those two will rotate on a practice-by-practice basis.

The team spent a good portion of today’s practice working on its two-minute offense and defense. In both cases, the defense kept the offense out of the end zone, though both were in field goal range.

The first-team offense, however, blew any chance for a score. On fourth down and six from the 13 with eight seconds to go, both Alan Faneca and Marvel Smith false started, causing the clock to be run down for zero. Those are the kind of kinks that need to be worked out now.

Santonio Holmes and Verron Haynes are still out.

Garbage time

In a practice dominated by special teams, the story of the morning for the Pittsburgh Steelers involved … garbage cans?

The old throwing the ball from different distances into a garbage can made a comeback here Wednesday morning as the quarterbacks – with nothing better to do while the rest of the squad worked on special teams – had a little competition trying to throw the ball into a can.

It was a drill made famous here during the Kevin Gilbride days as offensive coordinator. But new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians wasn’t working on the drill so much for skill – though obviously some is involved – as much as for fun.

In fact, it wasn’t only the quarterbacks who got into the action as Arians and a number of other coaches got into the action as well, scoring three points for hitting the can on the fly and five for a slam dunk. Hines Ward, who had worked as the QBs receivers while the rest of the group practiced special teams, also got into the action, as did Santonio Holmes, who is still out after having his undisclosed surgery.

The one good thing that came out of the game was Holmes showing off his throwing accuracy. He hit the can a number of times and put one in, showing better touch than many of the others who attempted it. Since head coach Mike Tomlin was on hand watching that rather than yet another special teams practice, maybe he saw some possibilities for Holmes to run some gadget plays.

Down on the other field, special teams coach Bob Ligasheshky was having his run of the morning as the team focused on kickoff returns and coverage.

The primary kick returners were Chris Jackson, Najeh Davenport, Dan Shelton, Cedrick Wilson and Willie Reid. No Ricardo Colclough here.

The first-team coverage and kickoff units included a number of starters or possible starters: James Harrison, Heath Miller, Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden and Anthony Smith among them.

But really, the morning hour practice was so meaningless for many of the players that the entire offensive line cleared out after 45 minutes of standing around, while Ward also called it quits early, giving up on the garbage can football game with 10 minutes to go – mainly because he was well behind the other competitors.

One nugget of news I gleaned this morning was that despite Tomlin saying that Ryan Clark will be the No. 1 free safety coming in, he and Smith will rotate with the first team defense throughout camp until one wins the starting job.

Rainy day afternoon

After getting beat up in their morning practice, the Pittsburgh Steelers caught a break from Mother Nature Tuesday as an afternoon rainstorm moved their second session to Saint Vincent College’s gymnasium.

The indoor practice meant no pads and no hitting as Mike Tomlin led the team through a glorified walkthrough.

The only news of the session was that running back Verron Haynes, who’s on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list while recovering from knee surgery, took part in it.

Or did he?

“I was just getting out there and doing a little something,” said Haynes. “I got in there a little just playing around. I didn’t really practice.”

In fact, according to Tomlin, Haynes didn’t do anything at all, despite running some patterns out of the backfield and catching some passes.

“He’s on the PUP list,” said Tomlin. “He didn’t do anything today.”

After a couple of fumbled snaps in the morning session, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spent some extra time working with centers Chukky Okobi and Sean Mahan on the side while the rest of the team practice a fake field goal play.

Roethlisberger also worked extra with running back Willie Parker on pass catching, throwing Parker about 30 passes at different heights and angles.

First-round pick Lawrence Timmons, meanwhile, lined up with the second team base defense at right outside linebacker, moving ahead of Arnold Harrison at that spot behind James Harrison.

Morning has broken

So much for the easy stuff.

While Monday’s run test may have been easier than what many of the players expected, Tuesday’s opening practice of training camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers involved hitting - and plenty of it.

After some position drills, head coach Mike Tomlin brought the linebackers and running backs together for a little backs on backers – something that had never been done in the morning drills under Bill Cowher.

By my scoring, the offense won the drill by a slight margin, with undrafted rookie running back Gary Russell showing very good skills as a blocker on blitz pickup. Russell stoned Clint Kriewaldt, Lawrence Timmons, Larry Foote and Richard Koonce in his one-on-one blocking, showing good leverage.

On the defensive side, James Harrison, as usual, looked good in this drill, dominating Willie Parker, Kevan Barlow, Larry Croom and getting good pressure on Najeh Davenport despite being fought to a draw. That’s four experienced NFL running backs Harrison went up against.

Davenport had the drill’s most embarrassing moment, getting run over by rookie linebacker LaMarr Woodley on the final repetition of the drill for a pancake into the quarterback.

After that, it was on to 10 minutes of 9-on-9 inside running drills with only the corners and wide receivers not taking part. There was plenty of hitting here and it almost looked like a goal-line drill with its intensity and hitting.

Team portion of the morning practice came next, with the only notable moments being fumbled center exchanges by Ben Roethlisberger and Chukky Okobi, and later by Sean Mahan and Charlie Batch.

Nate Washington opened at wide receiver in place of Santonio Holmes, who’s out after having some kind of minor surgical proceedure. Holmes was at practice and is moving around fine, so he shouldn’t be out long.

During punt drills, the return men were Washington, Willie Reid, Dan Sheldon, Cedrick Wilson, Jovon johnson, Chris Jackson and, yes, Ricardo Colclough. Only Wilson mishandled a punt, though.

Opening salvo

So much for the tougher training camp.

Mike Tomlin had promised a more difficult training camp. And maybe that will be the case.

But Monday's run test certainly wasn't more difficult than Bill Cowher's.

Cowher's test consisted of 14 timed 40-yard sprints, something that always tested players.

Tomlin's test of 16 110-yard runs at mid-speed seemed more difficult at first glance, but wasn't so in reality.

In fact, it was so easy, he stopped the drill after 14.

We'll see what happens with the rest of camp.

Back with the black (and) gold

After taking a month off - just from blogging - I'm back.

Just because I wasn't blogging doesn't mean I wasn't working. In that vein, here are my thoughts on what I saw at the Steelers' OTAs, which wrapped up this week:

© New head coach Mike Tomlin has shuffled a number of players in and out of the first-team offense and defense, something designed to do a couple of different things.

First, it helps serve notice that nobody is going to be given a job, even when we all know there are certain guys who will be. Casey Hampton will be a starter. Ben Roethlisberger will be a starter. Troy Polamalu will be a starter. You get the idea.

Secondly, Tomlin now has a better idea of the talent level of many of his backups, many of which he probably didn't have any film of since last year's training camp. Got to see if those guys have gotten any better.

© Willie Colon is one guy whom Tomlin singled out as somebody who's pushing for a starting job. Colon spent a lot of time running with the first team this spring, lining up at right tackle, right guard and even center.

The Steelers want Colon ready for the long-term with both right guard Kendall Simmons and right tackle Max Starks scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the upcoming season. Plus, if Colon actually beats one of those guys out now, it's a plus – one less offseason worry next year.

© This team worked on special teams like I've never before seen in 14 seasons of covering the Steelers. Large portions of practice were spent every day working on teams. I don't know if it will pay off in the long run, but it will be interesting to see.

© Tomlin has promised a tougher training camp than this team is used to, but that won't be hard to accomplish.

Despite the lip service Bill Cowher paid to tough, hard practices, his camps in recent years had become pretty easy.

Tomlin's camp schedule will feature two practices per day, just about every day. It will be interesting to see if the natives get restless.

© The undrafted rookie who has caught my eye the most in this camp is wide receiver Eric Fowler from Grand Valley State.

Fowler isn't particularly fast, but he has displayed fantastic hands and he seems to have a knack for using his 6-foot-3-inch frame to screen off defenders and make catches.

© This team won't miss Joey Porter nearly as much as many in the national media are predicting.

© The Alan Faneca situation has been the talk of the offseason, but I don't believe Faneca will be a problem once camp opens. He's too much of a professional to his contract to get in the way of his play and become a distractions.

© The biggest disappointment of the offseason workouts was first-round pick Lawrence Timmons.

Timmons injured his groin on the opening day of mini-camp and though he was in attendance at all of the team's offseason workouts, he did not participate.

I can't help but think that it will severely slow his learning curve. And I wasn't sold on Timmons as the pick to begin with. It's not a good start.

Mozes in Minnesota

Those questioning why Washington's Dan Mozes would sign with Minnesota need to look no farther than the Vikings' depth chart.

Starting center Matt Birk is a former Pro Bowl player, but is getting up in age.

The team selected Ryan Cook in the second round of last year's draft as Birk's eventual replacement, but Cook ended up starting at right tackle last season and appears headed for that position again this season.

That leaves Mozes fighting for a roster spot and/or a possible practice squad spot with fellow rookie Kyle Cook, a former Michigan State star, and Norm Katnik, who spent last season on the Vikings' practice squad.

Those aren't bad odds when you're trying to earn a spot on an NFL roster.

Minicamp thoughts and notes

The Steelers signed Kevan Barlow to a free agent deal this week to possibly help ease the burden on running back Willie Parker.

The team then gave Barlow No. 22 and put him in Duce Staley's old locker – no kidding.

Barlow promptly went out and sprained his ankle on the second day of practice with his new team. If he adds about 20 pounds between now and training camp, the coincidences will be too great to ignore.

© Speaking of injured players, Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley, the team's top two draft picks this year, were both injured on Friday and unable to practice the rest of the weekend.

New head coach Mike Tomlin said it wouldn't be a problem if the guys were quick learners and able to take "mental reps."

I haven't been around either long enough, though, to know if either player is capable of doing that. It could be a pretty big setback.

© Watching new punter Dan Sepulaveda punt is nothing short of awesome. When the big rookie fourth-round draft pick kicks the ball, it takes off like it was shot out of a rocket.

Saturday morning, he was practicing his "Aussie roll," where he actually holds the ball vertical to the ground instead of horizontal and then kicks the toe of the ball. It flops end over end like a kickoff, knuckling in the air.

Some of the Steelers' punt return men were struggling to catch those balls, making last-second adjustments to haul them in.

Sepulaveda will be a weapon this season – though not one fans are going to want to see 10 times per game.

© At one point during Saturday's practice after tight end Heath Miller made a beautiful catch over the middle, one of the defensive players on the sidelines yelled, "Maybe we should line our tight ends up at wide receiver."

The defensive player was taking a playful jab at the receivers, but judging by the number of times I saw two and three tight ends on the field, the Steelers' coaches are thinking the same thing.

© Everybody who has been quick to write Timmons down as James Harrison's backup at right outside linebacker has forgotten about Arnold Harrison, a second-year player.

The Steelers haven't and Arnold Harrison could make a big step forward this season.

© I spoke to John Kuhn Sunday about where he fits into the whole running back situation with this team and he doesn't seem worried about the signing of Barlow and the possible re-signing of Verron Haynes – which is still a possibility.

Kuhn feels his blocking has improved enough that he could make the roster as a combo fullback/halfback and also as a special teams contributor.

© The biggest differences between a Bill Cowher minicamp and a Tomlin one was the presence of whistles.

In 15 seasons, Cowher never had coaches on the field with whistles. Tomlin does.

Faneca's follies

In the 14 years I've covered the Steelers, I've never seen a player open up and rip the organization as Alan Faneca did Friday on the opening day of minicamp.

Faneca was candid in his thoughts about the team - as he usually is. But this time, his candidness was pointed at the team's front office instead of himself or his teammates.

A pillar of honesty throughout his career with the Steelers, Faneca wore his emotions on his dripping wet with sweat sleave as he addressed reporters following the team's two-hour morning practice Friday, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Faneca's not happy that his days in Pittsburgh are numbered and he's not afraid to tell anyone about it.

The question is, where do the two sides go from here?

Faneca admitted that finding a way to play through his animosity is something he's going to struggle with all season long. But, being a consummate professional, he'll probably find a way. Once he steps between the white lines, it will be all business for Faneca.

But the team, and particularly new head coach Mike Tomlin, have to be concerned about how the rest of the players perceive Faneca's situation, especially coming on the heals of the team's release of Joey Porter in March.

Maybe the younger players will look at those two situations as a dose of reality. If guys such as Porter and Faneca can be shown the door - albeit in different ways - so can they.

But maybe Faneca's situation and Porter's release will damage that family feeling the Steelers have promoted within their locker room, especially in the past few years when players truly have cared about the guy next to them. They've not only been teammates on the field, they've been a family unit of 53 players off it as well.

And it doesn't take much to damage those kind of feelings. Heck, it wasn't all that long ago – 2000 training camp in fact – that linebackers Jason Gildon and Earl Holmes went after Richard Huntley with chairs following a minicamp practice.

It will be Tomlin's job in his first season to hold this ship together. But when members of the crew aren't particularly happy – especially key members – and everybody knows it, it can make for tough sailing.

Faneca situation looms

In just a few short days we’ll finally know a little more about what the future holds not only for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they open their first mandatory training camp with their rookie draft picks, but also star guard Alan Faneca as well.

While new head coach Mike Tomlin was quick to dump linebacker Joey Porter rather than have Porter serve as a distraction because of a contract holdout, the team kept Faneca, who was in the same exact situation as Porter.

Both were heading into the final season of their contract with the Steelers and both were due a $1 million roster bonus at the beginning of March.

But the Steelers gave Faneca his roster bonus, but released Porter rather than pay his bonus only to have him skip mini-camp and/or training camp.

Could it be the Steelers know something about Faneca that others don’t?

A big deal was made when Faneca skipped the team’s voluntary coaching sessions and non-mandatory mini-camp, even though Faneca wasn’t the only player – nor only star – to miss the practices.

The message boards and radio talk shows were rife with fans saying to trade him.

Of course many of these same people don’t stay an extra minute past quitting time at their jobs. But hey, this is the Steelers we’re talking about here.

But while the fans have been up in arms about Faneca’s supposed sins, the Steelers have been silent about the whole thing. There really have been no shots across the bow or any read-between-the-lines statements from the team about their star guard’s status.

That could change this weekend if Faneca skips the team’s mandatory mini-camp.

But the guess here is that Faneca will show up for the mini-camp. Despite the fact he’s miffed about the team’s initial contract offer, it would serve no purpose for Faneca to skip a three-day, non-contact camp other than to tick off Tomlin.

The opening of training camp might be another matter. But for now, look for Faneca to avoid a nasty confrontation. He hasn’t missed anything to this point that would cause a problem and he’s not a problem-causing kind of guy.

That’s one reason why the Steelers chose to give Faneca his roster bonus while dumping Porter.

Faneca, who unlike Porter isn’t clearly on the downside of his career just yet, has to know he can play out his current contract, bank $4.3 million this season and still cash in at the end of the season. He’s never had a major injury. And even a serious knee injury to wouldn’t be devastating to his future earnings.

That likely had something to do with the decision as well.

Second-third rounds

Look for the Steelers to take an offensive lineman and receiver in rounds two and three.

Revis not likley, Timmons maybe

I'm hearing that the Steelers don't think Darrelle Revis will be a possibility for them at pick 15, but that linebacker Lawrence Timmons is a possibility.

First Mock Draft

1. Oakland, JaMarcus Russell, QB, LSU. Al Davis fired Art Shell, in part, because Shell convinced him to pass on Matt Leinart last year.

2. Detroit, Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech. The Lions go for another wide receiver in the first round. But this one can’t miss.

3. Cleveland, Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma. Peterson has an injury history, so he’ll fit right in with recent Cleveland first rounders.

4. Tampa Bay, Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin. A need pick for a team that couldn’t block a toilet in 2006.

5. Arizona, Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson. The Cardinals can score with anybody. They haven’t been able to stop them.

6. Washington, LaRon Landry, S, LSU. The Redskins get a safety to pair with Sean Taylor.

7. Minnesota, Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame. Just can’t pass on the quarterback.

8. Atlanta (from Houston), Jamaal Anderson, DE, Arkansas. Lost Patrick Kearney in the offseason.

9. Miami, Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville. A youngster with plenty of upside to bolster an aging defense.

10. Houston (from Atlanta), Darrelle Revis, CB, Pitt. Texans have to play the Colts twice a year.

11. San Francisco, Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska. The Steelers really like this guy, but don’t get a chance at him.

12. Buffalo, Leon Hall, CB, Michigan. Bills allowed Nate Clements to leave in free agency.

13. St. Louis, Alan Branch, DT, Michigan. Some have Branch slipping, but the Rams need a big run-stuffing lineman.

14. Carolina, Patrick Willis, LB, Mississippi. Dan Morgan is likely done. Willis fills the void.

15. Steelers, Anthony Spencer, DE/OLB, Purdue. Led the nation in tackles for a loss and also had 10 1/2 sacks in 2006. Would love to trade down to make this pick.

16. Green Bay, Marshawn Lynch, RB, California. Packers lost Ahman Green in the offseason. Lynch fills the void.

17. Jacksonville, Reggie Nelson, S, Florida. Deon Grant left in free agency and the Jags stay in state to get his replacement.

18. Cincinnati, Greg Olsen, TE, Miami (Fla.). With Chris Henry out half the season, the Bengals grab another weapon.

19. Tennessee, Ted Ginn, WR, Ohio State. The Titans grab a speedy weapon for Vince Young.

20. N.Y. Giants, Levi Brown, OT, Penn State. The Giants have several needs and this is a big one.

21. Denver, Jarvis Moss, DE, Florida. The Broncos need help up front. Moss is a rangy pass rusher.

22. Dallas, Aaron Ross, CB, Texas. Cowboys looking for secondary help stay in state to get it.

23. Kansas City, Ben Grubbs, G, Auburn. Retirements have ravaged Kansas City’s once-awesome offensive line.

24. New England, Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn State. Posluszny is an inside backer in a 3-4 defense, but can play outside in a 4-3.

25. N.Y. Jets, Chris Houston, CB, Arkansas. This is the perfect trade-down partner for the Steelers, especially if Revis or Hall are available.

26. Philadelphia, Jon Beason, LB, Miami (Fla.). Eagles have serious linebacker problems and address the position.

27. New Orleans, Justin Harrell, DT, Tennessee. The Saints couldn’t stop anybody on the ground last season.

28. New England, Michael Griffin, S, Texas. Find an eventual replacement for aging Rodney Harrison.

29. Baltimore, Joe Staley, OT, Central Michigan. The Ravens aren’t sure Jonathan Ogden will be back this season. He won’t be back in 2008 for sure.

30. San Diego, Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU. Chargers add some size and speed on the outside.

31. Chicago, Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida State. Bears think Lance Briggs is going to sit out the season.

32. Indianapolis, Robert Meachem, WR, Tennessee. Brandon Stokley left in free agency and Meachem could help ease the eventual loss of Marvin Harrison.

Looking at the defensive line

Priorities are what often drive a draft more than anything else. As much as teams like to pay lip service to the old "best player available" mantra, let’s be honest about something for a second: Few teams, if any, actually work their draft in that matter.

We're going to take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, position by position, over the next month as we try to get a better handle on what directions the team will go on April 28 and 29.

Today: The defensive line

Where's the depth?

We know that new head coach Mike Tomlin plans on sticking with the 3-4 defense for the Steelers – at least through this season. One reason for that is that the team just doesn't have much depth on the defensive line.

Starters Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel are a solid group and are a big reason why the Steelers were so good against the run last season, allowing just 88.2 yards per game. Smith and Keisel were also solid rushing the passer, combining for 10 sacks and 44 pressures.

In fact, you could easily argue the defensive line was the best unit on the team last season.

But behind those three heading into this draft are aging Travis Kirschke, Chris Hoke and Nick Eason, signed earlier this week after spending the previous two seasons with the Browns. The team also has defensive tackle Scott Paxson and end Shaun Nua waiting in the wings after spending last season on the practice squad, but the team isn't expecting much from either of them.

Kirschke enters his 10th NFL season as a player who is clearly on the decline. A nagging back injury has limited his practice time in each of the previous two seasons and the new coaching staff has to be looking for an upgrade at the end position, especially if plans for Keisel to log some time at linebacker work out. At this stage of his career, Kirschke isn't a player the Steelers want to put on the field for 20 to 25 plays. In fact, Kirschke logged 20 or more plays just once last season – at Carolina.

Hoke is a nice complimentary player to Hampton in that he gives the team something as a nose tackle that Hampton does – a pass rush. And he also proved three years ago when Hampton was lost for the season with a knee injury that he could step into the starting lineup and perform. But, like Kirschke, Hoke is no spring chicken. Hoke turns 31 in a couple of weeks.

The 6-3, 310-pound Eason will help the team ease the loss of Rodney Bailey, who signed with Arizona as a free agent. The 25-year-old Eason is the youngster of this bunch and has experience as a 3-4 end after his days with the Browns. Given that experience did come with Cleveland, he may need some time to adjust to a different – winning – program.

At 6-4, 292 pounds, Paxson has good size, but also plays too high. Maybe a season on the practice squad will have cured him of that, but that remains to be seen.

This will be a make-or-break season for Nua, who has spent the past two seasons on the practice squad. He entered the 2006 season expected to beat Bailey out for a reserve spot on the roster, but was unable to make it happen. Nua just doesn't have the motor of fellow BYU graduates Keisel and Hoke.

Because of the excellent crop of defensive linemen available, the team's lack of depth at the position, and Tomlin's past experience with a 4–3 defense, this looks like an excellent place to start when looking at first–day prospects in this draft. In fact, don't be surprised if the Steelers take a couple of defensive linemen in this draft to begin stockpiling talent at the position.

A look at the specialists

Priorities are what often drive a draft more than anything else. As much as teams like to pay lip service to the old "best player available" mantra, let's be honest about something for a second: Few teams, if any, actually work their draft in that matter.

We're going to take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, position by position, over the next month as we try to get a better handle on what directions the team will go on April 28 and 29.

Today: The specialists

As they have begun their preparations for the 2007 season, the Steelers have made no secret of the fact they'd like to replace 37-year-old punter Chris Gardocki.

The problem is, the Steelers wanted to replace Gardocki last year as well but he still came out of training camp as the team's punter, holding off Mike Barr for the third consecutive year.

The difference between last year and previous camps for Barr, however, was that he was given every opportunity to unseat Gardocki. He was just unable to do so.

But Gardocki's punting average has fallen in each of his three seasons with the Steelers, from 43.0 in 2004, to 41.3 last season, his lowest since 1995. Gardocki has never been a strong-legged punter - his value came from his ability to place the ball directionally and from the fact that he's never had a kick blocked.

But last season, he became an obvious liability and there's little chance he’ll still be with the team when training camp opens in July.

The Steelers signed Barr again following the completion of the 2006 season and he will get another opportunity to compete for the punting job. But it's obvious the Steelers aren’t comfortable handing the position to him. Their first foray in team history into the restricted free agent market was by making an offer to San Francisco punter Andy Lee, an offer sheet the 49ers matched.

Spurned in their efforts to acquire a new punter through free agency, the Steelers could look to this draft to bring somebody in to compete with Barr. There is still the off chance that the team could bring in a veteran to compete with Barr, with Matt Turk being the player most often linked to the team.

Placekicker Jeff Reed had an off season in 2006, making 20 of 27 field goal attempts. His 74 percent conversion percentage doesn't look all that bad until you consider that five of those misses came from 40 yards or shorter. That's just too many.

Reed's kickoffs, while adequate, could still be improved upon as well and it will be interesting to see if the Steelers go after a punter in the draft who can also handle kickoffs.

Long-snapper Greg Warren has quietly put together a solid two seasons for the Steelers, making just one bad snap during that period. But Warren also does not play another position, so there is always the off chance that he could be replaced. The Steelers, however, are not actively pursuing a replacement.

After a rough start last season, Santonio Holmes showed some promise as a punt returner as he got more comfortable with the speed of the NFL. Ideally, however, the Steelers would like Willie Reid, who played in just one game last season, to handle those duties instead of Holmes, who will start at wide receiver.

Reid has fully recovered from a foot injury that sidelined him last season and should be able to work his way into the wide receiver rotation, something that will keep him active on game days.

Looking at the QBs

Priorities are what often drive a draft more than anything else. As much as teams like to pay lip service to the old "best player available" mantra, let's be honest about something for a second: Few teams, if any, actually work their draft in that matter.

We're going to take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, position by position, over the next month as we try to get a better handle on what directions the team will go on April 28 and 29.

Today: The quarterbacks

Admit it. There's just a little bit of doubt in the back of your mind about Ben Roethlisberger. Is he the quarterback who led the team to a Super Bowl championship in his second season and had a 98.3 quarterback rating, or is he the guy who stumbled through 2006, throwing 23 interceptions and posting a 75.4 rating?

It's only natural. After Kordell Stewart's breakout season in 1997, he went in the tank in 1998 and 1999 and many fans never forgave him, even after he rebounded in 2000 and 2001.

Pittsburgh is an unforgiving town with its quarterbacks.

The boos weren't too quick in coming for Roethlisberger in 2006, but by the end of the season, they were there. A Super Bowl championship, apparently, will only take you so far.

Certainly his offseason motorcycle accident played a factor in his poor season – regardless of what Roethlisberger has said about it. His appendectomy that caused him to miss the first game didn’t help either.

But one thing is certain, Roethlisberger is much more hungry for success now. He wants to get back to the level that he played at in his first two seasons, when things seemed to come easily for him – perhaps too easily.

Some have said he didn't work hard enough because of that early success. And if that's true, last season should have been a nice dose of reality for the young QB.

Backing up Roethlisberger on the roster is veteran Charlie Batch, who played extremely well last season when Roethlisberger missed time, first with the appendectomy and later with a concussion.

Batch doesn’t have Roethlisberger's arm, but he does have a lot of moxie and he's proven that he can come in and get the job done when called upon. The other great thing about Batch is that he's content in his backup role – or at least as content as a competitor can be with not playing. He's not somebody who’s going to rock the boat or stab the starter in the back, something other quarterbacks may have done last season when Roethlisberger was struggling.

The Steelers brought Brian St. Pierre back for a second look last season after rookie Omar Jacobs didn't work out.

St. Pierre will never be more than a third quarterback, though the team looks as if it could be OK with him serving in that role again in 2007.

With Roethlisberger and Batch firmly established as the top two quarterbacks, anybody the Steelers add in the draft would be looked at as a possible replacement for St. Pierre.

Because of that, it's unlikely the team would spend a high or even mid–level pick on a quarterback in this year's draft as it did last year when it took Jacobs in the fifth round.

It's more likely the team would use a seventh-round pick on somebody to challenge St. Pierre or just wait to sign a rookie off the street to battle for that spot.

A look at the linebackers

Priorities are what often drive a draft more than anything else. As much as teams like to pay lip service to the old "best player available" mantra, let's be honest about something for a second: Few teams, if any, actually work their draft in that matter.

We're going to take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, position by position, over the next month as we try to get a better handle on what directions the team will go on April 28 and 29.

Today: The linebackers

Joey Porter's release prior to the opening of free agency this offseason leaves a void in the Steelers' lineup that could give us a good glimpse of where the Steelers may be looking for the most help in this year's draft.

New head coach Mike Tomlin has said repeatedly that he feels that James Harrison can step into Porter's spot at outside linebacker and do the job. And Harrison has certainly done so for a game here and a game there in the past.

But we haven't seen the 6-0, 242-pound Harrison play the spot on a weekly basis.

Harrison should be able to match Porter's seven sacks of last season. Rushing the passer is his specialty as he uses his stature to get up under potential blockers and then his impressive power to go through them.

The Steelers, however, also ask their linebackers to do a lot of the run stopping and dropping into pass coverage as well. And there, Harrison may not be up to Porter's level.

On the other side, veteran Clark Haggans recorded nine sacks in just 13 games in 2005, but tailed off to six sacks in 15 games in 2006. The Steelers need a return to form by Haggans in 2007 and must also begin thinking about replacing the 30-year-old at some point in the future.

On the inside, James Farrior and Larry Foote were solid in 2006 as the Steelers ranked among the best run-stopping teams in the NFL. Part of the reason for that was the excellent play of the defensive line, but Farrior and Foote ranked first and second on the team tackles, with 154 and 118, respectively. The duo also recorded four sacks each, while also picking off a pass each.

They aren't the problem on this defense, though again, the Steelers have to start thinking about replacing the 32-year-old Farrior at some point. Farrior is still effective due to his great instincts, but he's obviously lost a step.

There's not a lot of depth behind those four – hence the Steelers flirtations with several free agent linebackers this offseason. Despite all their efforts, the Steelers have been unable to bring in any veteran help at the position and will head into the draft with a group of backups that includes Arnold Harrison on the outside and Rian Wallace, Clint Kriewaldt and Richard Siegler on the inside.

As you can see, the depth inside isn't bad – though there’s no obvious eventual replacement for Farrior. It's the outside linebacker depth that is lacking.

Arnold Harrison showed some potential in a pair of starts when Porter and James Harrison were out with injuries, but still has a way to go as a pass rusher at the NFL level.

Because of that lack of depth, the Steelers are considering using defensive end Brett Keisel at outside linebacker at times – especially if they are unable to acquire a top-flight talent at the position in the draft.

Kriewaldt is a serviceable veteran backup who excels on special teams, while Wallace has yet to impress despite spending the past two seasons on the roster. Siegler looked good in training camp last season, but the Steelers released the former San Francisco 49ers' draft choice at the end of camp. He was re-signed later in the season when injury problems depleted the team's depth.

Given that we know the Steelers plan to continue running the 3-4 defense, the linebackers will remain one of the focal points of the team. But the Steelers need a difference maker at the position, something that is lacking with the current group.
Because of that, it wouldn't be surprising to see the team select two or even three linebackers in the upcoming NFL draft. It may make the most sense to get somebody who could be ready to play now, even as a situational player to compliment Harrison, while also taking a project later in the draft who may be Haggans' replacement down the road.

Looking at the running backs

Priorities are what often drive a draft more than anything else. As much as teams like to pay lip service to the old "best player available" mantra, let's be honest about something for a second: Few teams, if any, actually work their draft in that matter.

We're going to take a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, position by position, over the next month as we try to get a better handle on what directions the team will go on April 28 and 29.

Today: The running backs.

One of the first things new head coach Mike Tomlin talked about when he joined the Steelers was how he believes that teams need two good running backs to make their offense work in today's NFL. It was something former head coach Bill Cowher believed as well.

But the Steelers certainly didn't have two good running backs in 2006. The Steelers tried Duce Staley, Verron Haynes and Najeh Davenport in a complimentary role to Willie Parker and none was able to get the job done.

Because of that, the 5-10, 210-pound Parker was forced to handle 337 rushing attempts to go along with 31 receptions. No other running back on the team carried the ball more than 60 times.

The Steelers definitely want to change that despite the fact that Parker produced a 1,494-yard season with 13 rushing touchdowns without missing a game. Tomlin would be much more comfortable with cutting Parker’s rushing attempts back to about 300.

So far, the Steelers have been unsuccessful thus far in adding another runner, re-signing Davenport while releasing Haynes. That leaves Parker, Davenport, fullback Dan Kreider and 2006 rookie John Kuhn as the only running backs on the Steelers' roster right now. None of those players were drafted by the team, as Davenport was signed as a free agent at the start of last season after being released by Green Bay, while Parker, Kreider and Kuhn joined the Steelers as undrafted free agents.

For a team that prides itself on running the football, that’s not a badge of honor.

It's highly likely that the Steelers will use a first-day pick in this year's draft in an attempt to find that second runner to pair with Parker.

Davenport stepped into that role for much of the 2006 season, but wasn't really the answer. The 250-pounder gained 221 yards on his 60 rushing attempts, but didn't show much as a short-yardage back. At 6-1, he runs too high to be effective in those type of situations, though he was effective as a third-down back, proving to be good receiver and a willing blocker on blitz pickups.

Kuhn, a former NCAA Division II standout at Shippensburg, isn't a long-term answer either. Though he picked up 18 yards on his two rushing attempts and another 15 yards on one reception, the team has to be able to do better if it hopes to contend in 2007.

The Steelers said when they released Haynes right before the opening of the free agent period that it would like to re-sign him at some point, but his injury history is a long one.

As for Kreider, he remains one of the best blocking fullbacks in the NFL, but the Steelers are going to have to start thinking about replacing him at some point. The 30-year-old Kreider has taken a beating in his seven seasons with the team and is heading into his contract season.

The chances are very good that the Steelers will not add just one, but possibly two running backs - with one being a fullback-type - in this draft.