It is mid-May and the sports world is not focused on the NFL. But hardcore fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are already getting excited for the 2012-13 season. While I previously lamented how hard this offseason of goodbyes was going to be, I think the Steelers organization is making all the right moves to make the 2012-13 season a great one.
With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger now 30, and the team's most valuable player sacked an average of 43.5 times over the last six seasons -- including 40 or more sacks in all but one of those campaigns, and coming off an ankle injury last year -- Pittsburgh has drastically retooled its blocking unit.
With the draft over and all wrapped up, we thought it would be a good idea to get back on the phone with our buddy Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN's "NFL Matchup," and talk about the NFL by division. Who did themselves the most favors in the draft, and who came up short when addressing their roster deficits?
The Shutdown Corner Podcast Greg Cosell on the NFC West draft
We started off with the NFC West last week , and we now move to the hyper-competitive AFC North. Appropriate, given Greg's recent post on the NFL Films Blog praising the Cincinnati Bengals' draft strategy . With that in mind, we asked Greg what he thought the Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers did to bolster their teams.
Related: [Cosell on quarterbacks , running backs/wide receivers , tight ends/offensive line , OLB/DE/DT stars , the ILB/DB class , and overall draft review ]
Baltimore Ravens OLB Courtney Upshaw, and how he'll be tasked to replace Terrell Suggs: "The Ravens are very versatile with their fronts. Suggs would line up in two-point and three-point stances. He played a number of different positions and alignments -- that's what the Ravens do, and Upshaw fits that role. I don't think anybody's going to say that he's going to do what Suggs has done for a number of years -- Suggs is a pretty damned good player -- but the way Upshaw plays, I think he could eventually become similar to that guy."
Cincinnati Bengals OG Kevin Zeitler: "I seem to be in the minority here, and we'll never know how the Bengals felt because David DeCastro was gone when they picked, but I thought Zeitler was a little more complete than DeCastro -- I thought he was a better athlete. I thought he had more scheme-versatility, and he fits very well in a zone run game. I'm not sure DeCastro does. Now, DeCastro fits in the power run game better; that's what he did at Stanford. But given what the Bengals want their guards to do, I think Zeitler was the better choice, and would have been the better choice had DeCastro been available."
The Shutdown Corner Podcast: Greg Cosell on the 2012 AFC North Draft
The Cleveland Browns' first-round selections of Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden: "Theoretically, you could look at it this way -- they ended up with Richardson and Weeden instead of Ryan Tannehill and Doug Martin. And I think Richardson/Weeden is the better combination ... in fact, I don't think, I know. Richardson, we don't need to discuss ... I thought he was the best player in this draft. Weeden has some concerns. He was the best pure pocket passer in this draft, but he's got meaningful and troublesome issues with pressure. That's a serious red flag when you transition to the NFL."
In the 2010 draft, the Steelers liked Jonathan Dwyer enough to take him seven picks before Antonio Brown. Brown, a sixth-rounder like Dwyer, has become one of the keys to the Steelers? offense, a formidable receiving threat opposite Mike Wallace. He?s also a Pro Bowl kick returner.
Ben Roethlisberger played on a gimpy ankle in Pittsburgh's Week 15 clash against the San Francisco 49ers, and he did not play particularly well. He hobbled his way to a three-interception, two-fumble performance in a game that the Steelers lost 20-3. That Roethlisberger should have sat out was a widely held opinion among Steelers fans at the time.
Hindsight being what it is, that opinion looks more valid now than ever. The Steelers were thumped anyway, and Ben Roethlisberger also says that the 49ers attempted to further injure his gimpy ankle .
[Related: Former wide receiver Cris Carter admits to putting bounties on defensive players ]
Dan Patrick asked Large Benjamin on Wednesday if he felt like any team ever went after him with an attempt to injure a certain part of his body. Via Matt Maiocco at CSNBayArea.com:
"Um, wow, that's tough," Roethlisberger said. "I don't really complain about that stuff, either. But I think when we played San Fran, I felt like there were some things going on, some extra . . . Now, obviously, I did have the ankle and I was playing, so there was kind of a bull's-eye on there anyway. But for the most part, guys play tough and you go into a game expecting it. I expect to be tougher than them."
I know everyone's (rightfully) super sensitive in the wake of the Saints bounty scandal, but what exactly is the problem here? That one NFL player knew of another player's injury and then used that information to try and injure him further, to the detriment of the opposing team and the aid of his own? Then I guess we better formally investigate every football game ever played.
Black N Gold Pride
