Believe it or not, training camp is only a few weeks away. It has been the summer of suck between all of the off-the-field troubles for the Steelers and the simple fact that there is no football to watch. After a mediocre 9-7 season, I think I’m even more pumped for the Steelers to hopefully get back to form and make the playoffs. I’m guessing the players feel the same way. It should be a fun fall either way.
I decided to lay out my version of the Steelers depth chart going in to training camp. After (or during) training camp we’ll go back and reevaluate things and compare them to where the Steelers are at now. There are a few positions were things are pretty murky right now because of injuries and the like. I’ll just be putting up my best guesses in that case. Obviously I don’t know all the little details like a Tomlin or Colbert would.
Anyway, here it goes. Again, predictions are for day one of training camp.
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger
Byron Leftwich
Dennis Dixon
Charlie Batch
Obviously Big Ben is out for several weeks, but he is still the number one quarterback when healthy/not suspended. The only real interesting debate here is for the backup job. Leftwich got most of the number two reps during OTAs and seems to be Tomlin’s guy. As good as Dixon was last year, it was a really small sample size and things might look a lot differently over four games. In short, I don’t expect either to be as good as Roethlisberger but Leftwich should suck less. I’ll definitely be upset if Dixon doesn’t see a half-decent amount of snaps during Big Ben’s absence though.
Running Back
Rashard Mendenhall
Mewelde Moore
Jonathan Dwyer
Isaac Redman
Mendenhall is the clear number one and it will be interesting to see how much better he’ll be knowing that he is THE GUY from the first practice in training camp. It’ll be time for him to be a leader. Injury prone as he was, the running back group still looks a little thin without Willie Parker. Nothing against Mewelde Moore, but he’s not an every down running back in the event that Mendenhall goes down. Moore is still the clear number two ahead of the inexperienced Dwyer and Redman though. If Dwyer is impressive in camp, he should get a fair amount of carries right away as the Steelers don’t have a true power back outside of Redman, who has a chance to make the team this year if a few things fall in to place. Jump it to see the rest of the roster…
Wide Receiver
Hines Ward
Mike Wallace
Antwaan Randle-El
Arnaz Battle
Emmanuel Sanders
Tyler Grisham
Antonio Brown
Isaiah Williams
Brandon London
With Holmes out of the picture, Ward is the clear number one. There would be a “battle” for the number two receiver between Randle-El and Wallace but I think they’ll both probably see close to the same amount of snaps. Nobody can match Wallace’s explosion and speed and Randle-El is the only experienced Steelers receiver outside of Ward. The most interesting battle could be between Battle and Sanders (see what I did there?!). Sanders would have the inside track if he has a dynamite camp and could end up going down the same path Wallace did in 2009 but Battle brings a ton of NFL experience to the table and will see more reps at first. All of the other guys will be fighting to make the roster, although Grisham was mildly impressive against Baltimore late last season.
Tackle
Max Starks
Jonathan Scott
Ramon Foster
Tony Hills
Chris Scott
Kyle Jolly
This is quite possibly the weakest unit on this football team. Willie Colon’s injury was just devastating. Tony Hills is terrible and he is just a couple injuries away from possibly being this team’s starting left tackle. A lot of pressure will be on newcomer Jonathan Scott, who is probably going to take Colon’s spot unless the Steelers move a guard over to play tackle.
Guard
Chris Kemoeatu
Maurkice Pouncey
Trai Essex
Kraig Urbik
Dorian Brooks
Kemoeatu is one of the better run blockers in the league and Pouncey (who figures to play guard this year) will be an upgrade from the past couple years. Essex is an effective enough backup, but Urbik could be a guy to watch. He’s yet to see any game action but he was drafted as a good athlete and could make a big jump this year.
Center
Justin Hartwig
Doug Legursky
Hartwig has struggled mightily at times during the past couple years, but he’ll likely be the starting center again in 2010. Legursky is on the roster for special teams purposes and if Hartwig gets injured, Pouncey is the most likely replacement at center.
Defensive Tackle
Casey Hampton
Chris Hoke
Sonny Harris
Scott Paxson
Steve McLendon
Thankfully, the Steelers brought Hampton back this past offseason. He was outstanding last season and is the only really talented defensive tackle on the roster. Hoke is an aging but decent backup. Harris was dominant during preseason last year and could play a bigger role in 2010 with a good camp. The other two guys are likely headed to the practice squad at best.
Defensive End
Aaron Smith
Brett Keisel
Ziggy Hood
Nick Eason
Eugene Bright
Smith and Keisel have been penciled in as one and two for a while now. If Ziggy progresses well (and I expect him to) he’ll likely be stealing some snaps away from Keisel and maybe Smith as well. I could see those guys running a three man rotation quite a bit this year. Eason is another one of those solid backup players every team needs.
Outside Linebacker
James Harrison
LaMarr Woodley
Larry Foote
Jason Worilds
Thaddeus Gibson
Andre Frazier
Stevenson Sylvester
Lindsey Witten
Harrison and Woodley are both number ones, obviously. No sense debating who is better. I think Larry Foote will see a lot of time at both linebacker positions so I have listed him at both positions. It’s a crapshoot trying to place some of these guys at outside linebacker versus inside linebacker. Worilds and Gibson can both make the team and will probably contribute on special teams, an area Frazier has always been good at. I really like Sylvester but it will be an uphill battle for him to make the roster.
Inside Linebacker
James Farrior
Lawrence Timmons
Larry Foote
Keyaron Fox
Johnny Williams
Patrick Bailey
Farrior is the captain of the defense and obviously heads the ILB depth chart. Deciding who will play the most next to him is a little more complicated. Timmons and Foote will probably both get a lot of snaps there, depending on the situation. I’m more than comfortable with Keyaron Fox playing some in the middle too. He was outstanding last year on defense and special teams.
Cornerback
Ike Taylor
Bryant McFadden
William Gay
Joe Burnett
Keenan Lewis
Crezdon Butler
David Pitman
Right away, the depth at cornerback looks much better than last year. Taylor/McFadden/Gay anchored the cornerbacks during the 2008 Super Bowl run and a healthy Troy Polamalu makes those guys a great unit if all are on their game. I didn’t get to watch McFadden much in Arizona but he looked terrible during their playoff game last year against Green Bay and a lot of Cards fans weren’t upset when he was traded. Hopefully he will be more comfortable back in Pittsburgh. I still like “Big Play” Willie Gay despite his terrible play during most of last year. He was fantastic in 2008 and him hopefully becoming reliable in coverage will be huge. Burnett and Lewis were unimpressive last year, but that is the case with a lot of rookie cornerbacks. Hopefully things start slowing down for at least one of them in 2010.
Free Safety
Ryan Clark
Ryan Mundy
We’ve seen how effective a healthy Clark/Polamalu tandem can be at safety. Clark, like pretty much everybody else on the defense, wasn’t nearly as good without Polamalu last season. I expect him to have a bounce back year. I think Ryan Mundy can be a solid backup player someday, but he is probably too raw to be counted on if Clark gets injured and is in no way going to challenge for a starting job yet.
Strong Safety
Troy Polamalu
Will Allen
Tuff Harris
Polamalu is the best safety in the world when he is healthy. No question. Will Allen is known for his special teams prowess and his versatility in the secondary. If Polamalu gets hurt again (God forbid), Allen is probably the guy who would fill in. He’ll be asked to do a lot of different things this year.
(Note: It’s way harder than it should be to find a complete and updated roster with all of the player positions listed. I’m almost positive I skipped or misplaced some incoming rookies or FAs. Let us know in the comments if you find an error.)
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