Predicting the 53 Roster & PS following mini-camp!!

With the Leach vs Johnson debate and looking at our roster I decided to take a serious look at what our team could look like come opening day. As always this is my opinion and I welcome comments and debates. Maybe you like it, maybe you can convince me of changes, either way it's Steeler stuff I Love!!

OFFENSE.... 25 Players

QB (3) Ben, Bruce, Landry Jones

RB (4) Bell, Redman, LaRod Howling, Dwyer- Out is Batch. Dwyer & Redman are both 1 yr RFA signings so this is the final yr they both are Steelers.

FB (1) Will Johnson no Leach signing and he beats out David Johnson. Haley wants and will get a FB.

WR (5) Brown, Sanders, Cotchery, Wheaton, Gilbreath. Plax is out and Gilbreath finally makes the final 53. Last yr for Cotchery (need that vet this year)

TE (3) Miller, Spaeth, Paulson

OL (9) Pouncey,DeCastro, Foster, Gilbert, Adams, Beachum, Nik Embernate, Joe Long, Golic Jr. ..

DeFense..... 24 Players

NT (2) McLendon, A. Ta'amu

DE(4) Hood , Keisel, Heyward, Woods.

LB(9) Timmons,Foote, Woodley, Worilds, Jarvis Jones, Vince Williams, M. McFadden, Adrian Robinson, Chris Carter,... Out is Sly Stevenson... Last year for Carter if he doesn't improve!!!

CB(5) Ike Taylor, C. Allen, Gay, C. Brown, Terry Hawthorne... Curtis Brown barely beats out Van-Dyke. Better improve, King & Victorian wants his spot.

S(4) Troy, Clark, Thomas,Golden... Golden's versatility allows for 5 CB freeing up a roster spot.


ST(4) ....


Kicker...Suisham
Punter... Butler beats the vet Moorman.
LS.........Luke Ingram .. I don't know. Greg Warren has been Solid for yrs, but he's had a couple knee surgeries and is getting older and I've read where Luke could beat him out.

KR..... Reggie Dunn .... Tomlin has shown he's willing to reserve a roster spot for a returner if he's good enough, I'm hoping Dunn flashes in Pre-season and earns that spot, we could really use a dynamic returner making dynamic plays.


Okay, there it is so let me have it good or bad.

Cajun-

Edit: Crap, I forgot the PS. here goes the 8 players for the PS.
DL Fangupo & DL Nick Williams
WR Justin Brown & TE Jamie McCoy & RB Curtis McNeal & WR J.D. Woods
OL ( OG/C ) Joe Madsen & CB Josh Victorian ( if still eligible)

 

TARHEELFLYER

 

I'm asking because I don't remember... Has Tomlin really ever kept a guy strictly as a KR?

 

Stefan Logan---

Cajun-

 

Yeah, he had one of the best KR seasons in Steelers history, setting the record. Hewas good on PR too, and I still read everywhere about the "failed Stefan Logan experiment." He didn't do anything on offense, but that's because we didn't try, so that's not part of the experiment. He's thrived in Detroit after he left here.

Of course, they were still kicking from the 30 then.

 

I thought I remembered reading last year he had one of the lowest return averages in the league, along with fair catching a kick return inside the 10.

 

Haha, I didn't hear about that. According to his stats, he did well his first two years, then suffered an enormous dropoff in 2012. Still, he was good for us and good for two years after he left.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LogaSt00.htm

And the video. Looks like he thought he backed up into the end zone, but it was the 5 yard line.

[video]http://www.nfl.com/videos/detroit-lions/0ap2000000117546/Stefan-Logan-downs-ball-at-the-4-yard-line[/video]

 

they also held him up and took the ball off of him here. then the rest of the teams started trying to do it when he was here. some almost accomplished it after that. thats when we kind of lost favor with him.

 

That Jacob Hester TD was the biggest load of BS ever.

 

i heard that. i didn't remember who got it, but every game after that teams tried to do it to the kid.

 

That seems totally unfair for him to earn a reputation for that. Anybody would fumble after being held up and driven backwards that long with guys pulling at the ball. You should really only have to hold onto it for a second or two. If they give the defense 5 seconds like they did on that play, there'd be 50 fumbles per game.

 

Too early for me to do a 53, but I mostly agree with Cajun. The one thing I'd definitely change is having Plaxico in over Gilreath. I also think Dunn is on the outside looking in. He'll have to really wow on punt returns, because of the new kickoff location rule. Then again, who else might do it? AB and Sanders are starters. Wheaton doesn't have much experience, but it seems up his alley. Or maybe Gilreath does make it in addition to Plaxico. But I don't think they cut Plax.

Edit: I forgot all about Stephens-Howling. Duh. He's returned kickoffs, but never punts, so it still doesn't answer that.

I also have a feeling Ingram will beat out Warren. Not through any fault of Greg's. He's been a great player for us, is only 32 or something like that, and has had 3 full healthy seasons since his last knee problem. But I think the Steelers pull the trigger on the best LS prospect of the class, so they don't have to worry about this in a few years. Sucks for Warren, but the same thing happened to Mike Schneck when Warren joined the team.

I'm looking forward to the Butler/Moorman battle. Butler was handed the job last year, so I think this one is a genuinely open competition.

SteelersDepot was talking about how there'll be a battle between Redman and Dwyer, because the team won't want to pay them both over a million dollars. I understand that, but I think that battle is over and Redman won. I think the battle's between talented, fat Dwyer, and less talented, in shape Batch. If Dwyer doesn't get in shape he's done. If he does... do we really need so-so Batch? He's a 3rd down guy, but we've got Bell, Redman, and Stephens-Howling. And he's not as good on 1st and 2nd down as Dwyer. But then there's special teams... oy... but I think we'll have enough good special teamers that we can focus on the position. Hopefully.

 

any news about nick williams doing in ota ? i like his potential

 

i think malecki stays.

i'm pullin for mcneal. dwyer,redman or batch? could save 2 mil. in caproom. batch could go to the PS still i think.

i'm not sure ta'amu makes the 53. maybe the PS again. if fangupo or omar don't beat him out for that.

i agree, i think ingram beats out greg warren. that dude is built. i'd try his butt at LB too. LOL

 

Pittsburgh spent two picks on Ta'amu. They cut another heavy investment with potential at the beginning of his second season, a guy named Urbik. Even though he stunk, it was still too early. He turned out to be better than our backups were, so we should have kept him. So I think they do everything they can to get Ta'amu to pan out. Don't they run the risk of losing him if they try for PS?

 

yes, but he spent a good part of last year on the PS without us losing him. al woods was running with the 2nd unit so far in OTA's and minicamp. it could free up a roster spot if we only keep 5 D-linemen. mclendon and woods and ziggy can be interchnged at either spot.

was urbik a heavy investment? 3rd rd.

 

Yeah, I'd say 3rd round is a pretty heavy investment for someone cut after one season.

 

well,one season and two camps and preseasons. we had kemoeatu though.

 

Good point. Now it makes perfect sense. You know, why wait around for Mike Adams to recover? I say cut him. We have Guy Whimper.

 

Couldn't buy Urbik any luv on the old board.

 

Mac, I think Snack is right about Ta'amu. We used 2 picks to get him and no-way we cut him this year and try to place him on the PS. They seriously think he has potential and aren't willing to admitt they made a mistake quite this quick. I do hear ya on the Woods running with the 2nd team. If Ta'amu gets his head on straight and makes plays in the pre-season he makes the fiinal 53. If he struggles and woods shows any ability at all @ NT then they'll limit Ta'amu's snaps during pre-season and try to stash him on the PS.

Why do you think Maleki stays? What is it he brings us we don't have already?

Cajun-

 

I think there are 3 ways to look at the "Woods at NT" scenario. There is a big difference between having someone get snaps there and cutting the guy he is in front of.

1. They have lost faith in Ta'amu and are looking for another NT. They do not yet believe Fangupo is plausible as a replacement.

2. They want to only dress 5 guys on Sunday and want to make sure they have someone else who can slide into the middle should McLendon get hurt.

3. They want to only carry 6 guys on the roster and want to make sure they have enough depth at the NT position.

To me...#2 is the most likely.

 

I get your point on Dunn,,, or KRers. You and snack make a decent point about PT only due to so many TBs on kick-offs. My thoughts are if he is the weapon we all are hoping for in the punt game the ANYTHING he brings in the Kick-offs would be bonus. I also don't want to see any of our starters endangering themselves on kick returns. Can I assume by losing Dunn you think we keep another CB? I didn't like keeping only 5 but didn't see anyone who brought more to the team than what Dunn could. Who would be your 6th CB?

What is it about Plax that makes you think he brings anything to the team? I think we only carry 5 WRs so who leaves in place of Plax, Gilreath? I want a young hungry talented Gilreath over an aging pedestrian Plax.

Again, if we keep sly, which I doubt happens even with the move to OLB, who do we lose in his place? Carter? They're but disappoints.

Cajun-

 

mclendo we know, but then brought in fangupo and omar the kid from fla. after all that they move woods into the #2 spot. they also stated ziggy could slide over there on certain downs. Moo was also not snatched off our PS last year. so we are trying everything but ta'amu it seems to me.

it wouldn't suprise me if they only kept 5 on the D-line so we could keep an extra safety or corner or LB. our 5 on the D-line will make nice rotations all along the front.

 

That's what I think, too. I'm betting they are hoping Ta'amu outplays all the other contenders to backup McLendon so they can activate him, but they are covering their asses in case he doesn't.

And to be fair, when they drafted Ta'amu they said they'd have to break him down to nothing and start over. And they already knew what they had in McLendon and likely were planning on re-signing year to a multi-year deal, which they did. So it stands to reason that they expected 2 redshirt years from Ta'amu. Especially considering how little time even #2 NTs get around here. It can't be scenario #1, because even after his disappointing rookie season, they stuck their necks out by keeping him after that horrible run in with the law.