Steelers Player News

Last year the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to only carry four wide receivers on their 53-man roster to start the season. More receivers came in later on due to injuries, but Todd Haley’s offense uses two-tight end sets and pass-catching running backs, which makes four to five receivers plenty. With some younger and less experienced receivers expected to play a role for the Steelers in 2013 it seems likely they will carry five receivers this year to have some extra depth. Right now the Steelers starting receivers are expected to be Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. The players competing for spots behind those two are rookies Markus Wheaton, the Steelers third round pick, and Justin Brown, one of the Steelers sixth round picks, as well as veterans Jerricho Cotchery, David Gilreath and Plaxico Burress. Wheaton, as the team’s third round pick, is guaranteed to make the roster as a rookie. He is also expected to make an instant impact on the team with his speed and route-running abilities. If he impresses the coaching staff during OTAs and training camp he could potentially serve as the team’s third receiver and play in the slot. He could also play on the outside in three receiver sets, which would allow Brown and Sanders to see time in the slot, both of whom have experience there and have the size and speed to excel in that role. Outside of those three players there will be another two roster spots up for grabs. That is unless the Steelers chose to only carry four receivers for the second straight year. They could also carry six receivers, but the only way that seems likely is if undrafted rookie Reggie Dunn wins a roster spot and if he does it will be as a return man more so than as a

The NFL Network has been counting down the top 100 players heading into the 2013 season. The top 100 players last year showed that there were many flaws in the system and the players even asked who had voted for these rankings. According to the network the players themselves were the one’s voting. These issues, coupled with some of the players that made the list, showed that there were many flaws in the system. When the network announced that they would be doing a top 100 for 2013 I figured it would be more of the same and chose not to pay much attention to the list. However, taking a quick look at the players listed 61-100 (the rest of the lists have not yet been released) you can see that the list is once again flawed. In fact, as Steelers fans we need only look at the Steelers players that have so far been rated to see that this list has many issues. So far the only Steelers players on the list are Heath Miller at number 97, Troy Polamalu at number 91 and Ben Roethlisberger at number 61. Now first I will mention that this list is supposed to be based on the 2012 season with a look at who will make the biggest impact in 2013. Therefore, Miller’s ranking could be lower due to the fact that he is coming off of an ACL injury that could affect his play next season. However, Miller and Polamalu are both ranked lower than Dwight Freeney, number 80, and Charles Woodson, number 85, both of whom are struggling to even find homes for next season. Freeney being rated at number 80 is a huge flaw in this years rankings. Last season he had five sacks and twelve tackles. No that

When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Cameron Heyward in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft they had every intention of turning him into an eventual replacement for Brett Keisel and starter. In 2013, Heyward may see his name enter the starting line-up depending on how he performs during training camp and the pre-season. However, it is unlikely that Heyward will be starting in place of Keisel as was previously expected. Instead, Heyward, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, will have a chance to replace Ziggy Hood in the starting line-up this year. Bouchette said in his weekly chat on Tuesday that he has been told Heyward is better than Hood and will get the chance to unseat him in 2013. Last year Heyward only played on twenty-seven percent of the Steelers defensive snaps. Keisel played on eighty-seven percent of snaps and Hood played on eighty-two percent of the defensive plays. Based on snap counts Heyward would project to have more sacks and tackles than Hood if given the same number of plays. During the 2012 season Hood recorded a tackle once every 19 plays on defense. Heyward, on the other hand, recorded a tackle once every 13 plays and he also recorded a sack every 175 plays, which is almost 100 snaps less than it took Hood to record one quarterback take-down. Hood has played four seasons with the Steelers at this point and is yet to force a turnover. Heyward, however, has recorded one forced fumble in less total defensive snaps than Hood played last year alone. That, in itself, is just one of the reasons that Hood has become labelled as a bust for the Steelers after he, like Heyward, was drafted in the first round. Many are also ready to add Heyward to that

New Miami Dolphins wide receiver, and former Pittsburgh Steeler, Mike Wallace believes that his new quarterback will be “great.” Wallace will have to hope that Tannehill becomes a great quarterback because he just left a great quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger to play with him. Although, let’s be honest, Wallace’s move to Miami had more to do with money than the quarterback. “Both have strong arms. Ryan has a cannon, can really fling it,” Wallace said via NBC Sports. “Ryan may be able to throw the ball a little farther than Ben. Obviously, Ben is more experienced in game time experience. The way it’s going, it won’t take long for Ryan to be one of the great quarterbacks. I feel like we can make a lot of big plays.” Roethlisberger is not known for his deep ball, like say Joe Flacco is in Baltimore, even though he does have a very good arm. Instead Roethlisberger is known for his play-making abilities and his accuracy; his career completion percentage is 63.1% and his worst season was 59.7%. “By the time we get to training camp, we’ll be fine. We throw two to three times after practice every day,” Wallace said. “I like this team. I like how everybody works. Not much talking, just grinding. That’s the way it should be. I’m one of the older guys on this team, so it’s different than being in Pittsburgh.” Being one of the older guys in the locker-room means that Wallace will need to be a leader for the Dolphins. Based on comments from Steelers players this off-season, however, which all seem to condemn Wallace for his behavior in 2012 that may be an issue. Though, Wallace did get paid to play in Miami and there is a good chance that his large pay day may

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed fifteen undrafted rookie free agents following the 2013 NFL Draft, but one of them is a but more intriguing than the rest. His name is Reggie Dunn and if you are an avid Steelers’ fan you have probably already heard all about him. He played wide receiver at Utah and during his college career he played three seasons for the Utes and totaled 31 receptions for 355 yards and one touchdown. Those receiving stats don’t exactly jump off the page. Even if they were for only one season they wouldn’t exactly be strong statistically. However, it’s not the receiving abilities that make Dunn intriguing, instead it’s his abilities in the return game. During his sophomore season Dunn returned 12 kicks at a 29.6 yards per kick average and one he returned for a touchdown. The next year he returned 26 kickoffs at a rate of 23.6 yards per return, but it was his senior season that made him a big time return prospect and one of the best return men in college football. Last year as a senior teams were kicking away from Dunn not wanting him to beat them in the return game. Due to that fact he only had ten kick-off return attempts in total. Even so, Dunn took four of those ten kicks back for touchdowns and averaged an unprecedented 51.3 yards per return. If Dunn had also showcased strong abilities in the receiving game he would have been a much stronger prospect in the 2013 NFL Draft and may have been in similar talk as Tavon Austin. He has decent size at 5’10″ and 180 pounds and blazing fast speed with a 4.24 forty-yard dash time. If he can be groomed as a receiver he could make a very nice deep threat or weapon in

Every year during training camp multiple players find themselves in a position where they must perform well or find themselves looking for a new job. This year the Pittsburgh Steelers have multiple players that may be on their last legs with the team and if they don’t perform well during training camp and OTA’s they may be looking for a new team and another opportunity come September. Below is a list of five players that will have to play very well during training camp to see playing time in 2013 and if they don’t perform well may find themselves on the chopping block later this off-season: 1.) Jonathan Dwyer: Dwyer served as the Steelers starting running back at times during the 2012 season, but things aren’t looking good for him at this point. The Steelers drafted Le’Veon Bell in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft and he is expected to start at running back. Former-Pitt and Arizona Cardinals running back Larod Stephens-Howling also signed with the team and is expected to serve as a third-down back and return man. The Steelers will likely only be carrying four running backs and with those two expected to earn roster spots that leaves only two spots. That means one of Isaac Redman, Baron Batch and Dwyer will be on their way out of Pittsburgh. Most would assume the team would keep Redman and Dwyer, but there is a good chance Batch may earn a roster spot. Baron Batch could win a roster spot with his pass blocking abilities and play on special teams. Not to mention keeping Batch over Dwyer or Redman would save the team almsot $1 million against the cap in 2013. That cap savings can’t be overlooked; especially given the Steelers need for cap room. If Batch does