AB!

[h=1]Steelers receivers moving on without Wallace[/h]By WILL GRAVES (AP Sports Writer) | The Associated Press – 1 hour 47 minutes ago

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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Antonio Brown wasn't making a fashion statement, just a personal one.
While the rest of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates worked out in black shorts during organized team activities on Tuesday, the fourth-year wide receiver darted through traffic in yellow football pants even though the first live practice won't come for another two months.
''I just want to be ready,'' Brown said.
Considering what lay ahead for the now unquestioned leader of a new-look receiving corps, a head start seems like a pretty good idea.
The departure of Pro Bowler Mike Wallace to Miami during the offseason leaves Brown and Emmanuel Sanders as the longest tenured wideouts in Pittsburgh, heady territory for players considered complimentary parts when the Steelers grabbed them three rounds apart in the 2010 Draft.
Now they are the present - and at least in Brown's case - the future. It's a notion Brown has tried to downplay, but one that has become reality after he signed a six-year extension last summer while Wallace sat at home during a lengthy holdout, the beginning of a season-long goodbye that ended with Wallace signing a $60-million free agent deal with the Dolphins.
Brown understands ''guys come and go all the time'' and doesn't feel any more pressure than usual to produce now that he's the one with the most zeroes in his contract.
''I'm just going to do whatever they ask me,'' he said. ''I think I'm capable of making plays. I've always felt that way no matter who else is playing.''
Maybe, but with Wallace gone, defenses are going to turn their attention to Brown. He lacks Wallace's gamebreaking speed, but has remarkably soft hands and made the Pro Bowl as a kick returner in 2011 because of his ability to create havoc in the open field.
It's a skill set that is tailor made for offensive coordinator Todd Haley's intricate passing scheme. Brown was in the midst of a career season last fall before an ankle injury forced him to miss a significant three-week stretch in November. He returned to catch touchdown passes in each of Pittsburgh's final four games and finished with 66 receptions for 787 yards and five scores.
Pro-rate those numbers over a full 16-game schedule and they're Pro Bowl-caliber, though that did little to quell the disappointment of an 8-8 season.
''We know what the standard is and we didn't meet it,'' Brown said. ''That goes for all of us.''
Though Brown considers himself just another guy in the receivers' room, his teammates know he faces great expectations. Their job is to help him meet them.
''Antonio Brown, I think, is going to one of the most feared receivers in the league this year,'' veteran Plaxico Burress said. ''And I'm going to do everything in my power to help him get to the level where he can be an elite receiver.''
That includes making defenses pay for focusing too much on Brown. Burress returned to Pittsburgh last November hoping to give an injury-riddled passing game a boost. Instead, he struggled to get up to speed and caught only three passes.
Still, the Steelers saw enough in the 35-year-old to bring him back. Burress hopes a full offseason program will help him regain some of the rapport he enjoyed with Roethlisberger back in 2004 before he bolted for the New York Giants.
Burress stressed developing chemistry with Roethlisberger will ''take time'' while crediting the quarterback for being accessible.
''Ben is very easy to work with, and you can't say that about every quarterback in this league,'' Burress said. ''So, if we get out on the field and go through a couple series, then we can get back to the sideline to talk about them and make adjustments.
''That's a very important thing to do.''
Adjustments will be necessary as the Steelers try to figure out how to fit in rookies Markus Wheaton and Justin Brown along with Sanders, Burress and Jerricho Cotchery. Wheaton, a third-round pick, may be the best candidate to become the deep threat left by Wallace's departure. Wheaton ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds before the draft, a time he considered slow.
The Steelers will have to wait to get look at Wheaton with the veterans. He won't be able to participate in full workouts until his class at Oregon State graduates. That could give Justin Brown a chance to make an impression.
Either way, Pittsburgh insists it will be fine without Wallace. Roethlisberger will still do his thing, and the receivers expect plenty of chances to do theirs.
''We'll miss (Wallace) on and off the field. But at the same time, we have some good guys who can run and make up for losing a really good receiver,'' Cotchery said. ''A.B. is the No. 1 guy now, and Emmanuel is No. 2. Everybody else fits in after that.''

 

AB is such a threat in the return game, but in the general offense, he needs that other weapon opposite him. i've always felt that way about him. this guy talks about the loss od wallaces deep speed but manny sanders can fly too. he's a legit 4.4 guy. he's not quite MW fast but compared to most DB's in the league he can run by guys.

i also want to not only consider wheaton and brown, but woods from wvu. not a burner, but the kid was 3rd fiddle on that team and 3rd fiddle saw him make 61 catches. thats still alot. moye was decent in happy valley too and is a big target.

brown wheaton and woods all block well in the run game too. something that is critical for success in the run game. my how we missed hines in that department.

 

A bit off-topic but I just hate the idea of using Brown for returns... seems like an awful risk to take with our #1.
I guess you gotta go with your best option but still...

 

I understand the philosophy, but i'm a bit old school........ I still remember the days when your #1 guy could make catches and still get out there and make explosive returns, and not get hurt... of course, that was long before the new thought process of babying your best became the norm...... I still believe the best should be out there........ period.

 

i have to agree. thats over 1,000 yards of returns not on the field. they brought holmes in to do it at one point. i'm sure it's not AB's decision. he reminds me of a guy that would want to be out there. it would just be punt returns too.

 

those are all kick returns. last year he had 405 on kick returns. longs of 38 and 37 the last two years. when he had the bigger yardage, they were not kicking them out of the EZ on a regular basis. he has zero punt returns as a pro.

AB was the first ever to get 1,000 return yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a season. thats hard to retard half his importance to the team and the offense.

 

If Reggie Dunn makes the team will AB ever see another return? Doesn't Dunn only return kickoffs and not punts?

 

I REALLY want to see him make the team. I would like to see him have a small role in some gadget plays designed to get him out in space or something like that. I mean that dude can flat out fly.

 

I agree, That's the difference between us old school guys. just think of when your stars played on both sides of the ball.

 

i'm thinking gilreath may have a better shot. he's a decent wr to. that kid set all kinds of records in the big 10 and for wisconsin on returns. kickoffs are really a none factor these days. a guy may only get a handful of attempts nowdays.

i just think spots on gameday are going to be at a premium this year. not to mention spots on the roster with having to keep these young prospects around to take over next year with all the one year contracts amongst the now starters and backups. keeping just a kick returner takes away another spot of need. at least that's my opinion of it for whatever that's worth. you know that and a dollar.......

 

Everybody *****es that AB can't score touchdowns, yet they rave about his return capabilities,
maybe if he could soley concentrate on his wr duties he could become a 12 td receiver and 1200 yd
receiver like the one trick pony. When #7 had to find a go to guy, other than Heath Miller, who did he look for?
#84 because he is like 7/11, always open.He had your favorite cb on the Steelers fighting him in practice because
he couldn't cover him. LOL

 

we have never seen that type of production at wr from AB yet, so it's hard to say. we can all hope he turns out that good as a wr.

alot of the reason we gave him a ton of money was all the things AB does. without his return game he is just sanders. that's alot of production to remove from the field, that's all i'm saying.

we already have removed alot of scoring from the team, maybe removing more will help, i guess is what your saying.

we brought in a new special teams coach to make our return game better. we have had so many long returns or TD's called back. those returns were not from dwyer or cotchery or heath or anyone else but antonio brown. he makes a big difference in that part of our game. why remove it?

he's got more chance of taking a knockout shot going accross the middle then he does looking at the guys coming at him. he's a pro this is what he does and does it well.