Steelers Salary Cap Scheme Goes Up in Smoke

"The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry."

Don’t look now Steelers Nation, the wounds from the touturing suffered at the hands of the Titans are still smarting, but the Pittsburgh Steelers may have already dimmed their prospects for 2014.

That’s right, the impact of the injures the Steelers suffered vs. the Titans may reach into 2014 and beyond. And this has nothing to do with Larry Foote, Maurkice Pouncey and LaRod Stephens Howling’s prospects for recovery.

Each of those moves robbed the team of depth on a Steelers 2013 roster that was thin to begin with. But those injuries, along with Shaun Suisham’s pulled hamstring, forced Kevin Colbert to scramble for replace them with Jonathan Dwyer, Shayne Graham, and Fernando Velasco.

The Steelers routinely leave themselves some salary cap space to do some in-season roster shuffling, but when you need to sign three veterans it isn’t quite so simple, as Ed Bouchette’s tweet shows:

#Steelers convetr little over $3 M from Heath Miller's 2013 salary into bonus, which counts half this year, half next. Salary now $1,974,500
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) September 11, 2013

Normally restructuring a contract here and there isn’t a problem. But contract restructuring has become standard operating procedure on the South Side.

• What the Steelers once mocked, they now embrace.

The problem with salary cap contract restructures is that they’re like using one credit card to payoff another – you only delay the inevitable. Kevin Colbert has said as much himself, and the Steelers, while restructuring deals this off season, had begun to step back from that process.

In addition, they made no moves to extend the contracts of any of their impending free agents. Ziggy Hood, Emmanuel Sanders are due for their second contract, and both probably could have been signed for less this past summer. Ryan Clark and Brett Keisel likewise are in their contract years.

• But the Steelers offered no contract extensions this summer at St. Vincients

Part of this is prudence – simply waiting to see where these players are in terms of health and production at the end of the year instead of guessing.

• But another part of it is salary cap driven. 

NFL rules allow a team to credit unused salary cap space from one season to another. The Steelers were rumored to go into 2013 with between two and three million in cap space. While they made no public statements to confirm this, part of the Steelers plans was to save this space with an eye towards 2014.

• This cap consciousness is one potential explanation for the front office coaching split over Jonathan Dwyer

Now of course they’ve had to go and restructure Heath Miller’s contract, losing some if not all of that potential cap credit for 2014.

Alas, the Steelers can’t seem to catch a break.

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Steelers 2013 Roster Analysis, Defense: Safety and Cornerback Are Not Secondary....

Steel Curtain Rising's analysis of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 roster concludes with a look at the secondary.

Starters:  Cortez Allen, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, and Ryan Clark
Back Ups:  William Gay, Shamarko Thomas, Robert Golden, Damon Cromartie-Smith, Curtis Brown, and Antwon Blake

Strengths: Cortez Allen looks to be the real thing, and Troy Polamalu is looking like he's in 2008/2010 form. If either of those two trends are sustained, the turnover dearth could be reversed in 2013

Weaknesses:  Like other areas of the team, proven depth is thin in the secondary, particularly at safety.

The Skinny: The Steelers gambled that they could get more bang for their buck by letting Keenan Lewis walk, and promoting Cortez Allen; they also made the unheard of move of trading a future draft pick to get Shamarko Thomas, who looked good in preseason. On paper this until looks like its ready to excel, but several unproven players must execute. If they do, good things can happen, assuming that Troy Polamalu doesn't get hurt....

Click here and scroll around to read analysis of other position areas on the Steelers 2013 Roster.

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Watch Tower: Digging Out Discord in the Steelers Locker Room & for Whom the Bell Doesn't Toll

The Pittsburgh Steelers have concluded training camp and the preseason, the roster has been trimmed, the waiver wire scoured, and the Steelers 2013 roster has been set, meaning that the time of the year when the media enjoys its most unfettered access to the Steelers players, coaches and front office staff is winding down.

With all of that access, what do they do with it? Let the Watch Tower take a look.

Kovacevic Gets to the Bottom of of the Steelers 2012 Discord

As the Watch Tower was critical of Pittsburgh Tribune Review Writer Dejan Kovacevic last season and it is only just that the Watch Tower now recognize Kovacevic for penning on of the top stories of this preseason/training camp.

Locker room discord was a major under current to the Steelers 2012 8-8 season, and since then there’s been plenty of dirty laundry aired – you know, critiques of LaMarr Woodley’s commitment to training, comments from Antonio Brown about players more focused on stats than winning.

And while the issue has been discussed by the press, Kovacevic went right to the leaders of the defense, Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu and addressed the issue and got both men to speak candidly about the dissension that infected their ranks in 2012.

• If you haven’t read Kovacevic’s column yet, do so. 

The role of the credential press in the digital age has been a focus of the Watch Tower lately, and its lights have not shied away from exposing some of the Steelers press corps recent failings.

But Kovacevic’s column shows once again just how fundamentally important it is to have seasoned reporters who have the relationship and the credibility to get straight talk out of players.  This bud’s for you Dejan.

Another Piece of the Todd Haley Puzzle Falls into Place

By now, for all of the talk in 2012 to the contrary, everyone knows that Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley had a rocky relationship last season.

• But apparently the Steelers signal caller wasn’t the only one on the outs with the new offensive coordinator.

And Steelers Nation has Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to thank for adding another key variable to the equation.

In writing about the maturing of the Roethlsiberger-Haley relationship, Ed Bouchette offered this:

Relationships with fellow offensive coaches and players never warmed up, and neither did the offense. Things seem to have changed a year later. Ben Roethlisberger, who called it "growing pains," opened training camp by saying he and Haley see more eye-to-eye. [Emphasis added]

One of the question marks that surrounded Haley’s arrival in Pittsburgh was his ability to work and play well with others. So the fact that he might have rubbed coaches the wrong way is nothing extraordinary.

But this is the first time that the Watch Tower is aware of that any journalist has reported that Haley had difficulties with his fellow coaches, and Bouchette deserves credit for reporting this fact.

A Word on Contracts

Kevin Colbert told KDKA News during the Steelers preseason loss to the Carolina Panthers that there were no on-going negotiations for contract extensions.

That fact in and of itself might not mean much, because the Steelers, while not negotiating contracts during the season since 1993, have been known to make 11th hour signings days before the first game.

• The question of who is eligible for an extension has been banded about greatly during camp and preseason.

But Dale Lolley of the Observer Reporter went out on a limb and predicted that the two most likely players to get extensions were Brett Keisel and Ryan Clark. Kudos to Lolley for having the guts to take a swing at a ball that’s barely within the strike zone.

Steelers Radio Goes Live in LATAM

Ed Bouchette shared some important news for Steelers fans in the very corer of the world where Steel Curtain Rising is written:

If you're not in radio distance, you can hear #Steelers games at http://t.co/UfOfVCIJbb free. There is one hitch http://t.co/07YL36wC0V
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) August 10, 2013

As Bouchette explained on Shuila, the Steelers began broadcasting their games live on the radio in Spanish via their website.

The team has a huge following in Mexico and their games have been broadcast in Mexico for at least a year.

• But now radio broadcasts will be carried throughout Latin American cast via the Steelers website.

The broadcast team does a good job and is clearly knowledgeable of the game (which is a plesant treat, during the Steelers 2010 road victory over Baltimore, one of ESPN’s Spanish commentators confused Dante Stallworth with John Stallworth. Several times he claimed that Dante was a former Steelers, until Raul Allegre finally corrected him.)

One element which the production can improve on is filling in the commercial gaps. During the Steelers loss to the Giants, instead of airing commercials there was dead air time – leaving anyone who stopped by the site at that time to wonder if they were indeed broadcasting the game.

• Absent commercials, they could have provided additional commentary, or provided free publicity to American football clubs in Latin America, such as the FAA (Argentine American Football league).

Listening to a football game on the radio doesn’t compare to baseball on the radio, but this is a wise marketing move for the Steelers.

Are the Steelers Injury Problems Really Worse?

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been ravaged by injuries during the last several seasons. But its been an open question as to whether the Steelers are better or wrose off than the rest of the league.

Basic statistics such as starter games lost to injury are not available to the public, leading Art Rooney II to cite one number and a columnist of the Dallas Morning News to calculate another.

PA-VA Steeler from Behind the Steel Curtain took the matter into his own hands (full disclosure, I also writer for BTSC). Using the best available research, the BTSC scribe compiled the Steelers injury totals for the entire Mike Tomlin era and compared them with the rest of the league.

• Steel Curtain Rising’s editorial policy is not to steal the thunder of another writer, so you’ll need to check the piece to see the conclusion.

But the Watch Tower doesn’t need to spill the beans to call out BTSC for sedding light on dearly deserves it.  And again, the Watch Tower asks, why has the credentialed press not pursued this story more aggressively?

Bragging Rights for a Paper Champion?

BTSC also earns kudos for its film analysis of Brian Arnfelt. No one on the press talked about him, but as their film review reveals, he is one kid who really took advantage of his time on the field.

While Brian Arnfelt did not survive the Steelers final cut, he did make the practice squad. Scott Brown, whom ESPN recently poached from the Tribune Review, made mention of Arnfelt after he’d made the practice squad.

But BTSC singled this kid out first, and if he develops into to another one of Kevin Colbert's undrafted rookie free agent steals, BTSC will have “bragging rights.”

Watch Tower Gets Some Competition?

Again, the Watch Tower finds space to single out BTSC, this time for doing a Watch Towerish piece of their own. While not strictly Steelers related, Christopher Carter, rightly called out the NFL for pressuring ESPN to pull out of a documentary on concussions.

• The NFL has gone on the offensive regarding concussions this off season, which they have a right to. 
• Steelers.com has in fact published many well researched articles on the subject.

But the NFL’s only fooling themselves if they think that pressuring broadcast partners to kill projects like this will some out make the concussion issue “go away.”

For Whom the Bell Doesn’t Toll

Finally, without a doubt, the hottest Steelers story in July and early August was the emergence of second round draft pick Le’von Bell. Both the professional press and fans making a pilgrimage to St. Vincents have been at a loss to describe how good Bell has looked.

Mike Tomlin has long been loathe to anoint starters, but there was little surprise when Gerry Dulac reported 3 days before the Steelers preseason opener vs. the Giants that Bell would run with the starters.

On the morning of the game, Ed Bouchette declared:

A new era that harkens back to an old one could begin at Heinz Field tonight when the Steelers play the New York Giants in their first exhibition game.

• Bouchette then went as far as to compare Le'Veon Bell's preseason debut to that of Franco Harris….

…By the time it was all said and done, it was the debut that never was, as Mike Tomlin made Bell a scratch due to knee soreness.

The Watch Tower does not want to single out Bouchette on this one, as the entire Pittsburgh press crops was caught flat footed on this one, in spite of the fact that these reporters are living, working, eating, and sleeping along side the Steelers franchise while at St. Vincents.

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Steelers Ryan Clark Echos Jack Lambert and He is Right To...

“Quarterbacks should wear dresses.” – Jack Lambert, early 1980’s
“They might as well just take us off the field and see how many points you can score on offense in 60 minutes.” – Ryan Clark, August 2013

Ryan Clark might lack Lambert’s brevity, but his criticism of the NFL as equally accurate as it is damming.

• When it comes to hypocrisy, the NFL knows no limits.

Fear not, this is no column decrying new NFL safety rules to reduce the threat of head trauma. Such rules, absent medical break throughs and/or a clearer understanding of what is causing so many former NFL players to lose it up stairs when they’re in their 60’s, 50’s or even 40’s, are needed.

But like a spoiled child, the NFL wants to have its cake and eat it too.

This is nothing new. In the early and mid 1970’s there was an opposing defender who was so physical with receivers downfield that the NFL had to modify its rules, preventing defenders from touching receivers beyond 5 yards.

That defender was of course Mel Blount, and Chuck Noll took advantage of the rules changes to unleash Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Bennie Cunningham and Super Bowls XIII and XIV followed.

The NFC Titan’s of the 1980’s followed suit Bill Walsh and Joe Montana and Joe Gibbs and a trio of quarterbacks dominated a decade.

• But as happens, NFL defensive coordinators did what they do – they adapted.

And the way you adapt to making it more difficult to cover downfield is to increase pressure on the quarterback upfront. Pass rush specialists like Lawrence Taylor emerged. Others developed schemes to bring pressure from unique angles – you may have heard of Dick LeBeau and the Zone Blitz.

• Of course increase pressure resulted in more injuries to quarterbacks.

So the NFL began legislating to protect its prized primiadonnas – nary a consideration was given to the root cause of the issue.

The same thing is repeating itself today. The NFL is rightly attempting to protect players, both defensive and offensive, from head injuries. So defensive backs adjust their technique to avoid the head and neck.

• The result is that players like Dustin Keller suffer knee injuries as a result of a hit by D.J. Swearinger.

And of course the NFL steps in. Nothing is illegal. Yet. But we will investigate.

And the one doing the investigating is none other than the Steelers old friend Ray Anderson….

…Ray Anderson who made a similar “not illegal now but…” statement after Hines Ward devastating block of Keith Rivers. Ray Anderson who singled out James Harrison while turning a bind eye to questionable hits on Ben Roethlisberger…. (Click here for more on the Steelers and Anderson)

Yeah, Ryan Clark is right to call out the NFL.

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INCYM: Steelers-Giants Video Higlights

There’s no substitute to seeing things through you own eyes, and that even includes the oft maligned August institution we know as preseason football. Case in point, the Pittsburgh Steelers recent preseason loss to the New York Giants.

As you might expect preseason football isn’t high on programmers lists here in Latin America, and I do not have reliable enough internet connectivity to think of watching on-line. So listening (in Spanish) on Steelers.com and reading commentaries of others has to suffice.

But the ESPN highlights package someone was kind enough to upload to YouTube makes a world of difference.



There’s no coherent analysis one can draw from a handful of plays, but a few thoughts to come to mind.

For all the talk about the emergence of a newly dominant starting offensive line, Ben Roethlisberger looked to be running for his life a little too much in these highlights. LaRod Stephens-Howling really did look impressive. Eli Manning and Victor Cruz did make an excellent play, but it is also clear that Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark were out of position, so the savaging of William Gay is a little out of place.

• 3rd round pick Marcus Wheaton also looks good, although first round pick Jarvis Jones, while playing well, looked a little more pedestrian and some of his post-game PR indicates. 

However DaMon Cromartie-Smith’s lapses in punt coverage become even more inexcusable on film, as does Landry Jones fouled exchange with Baron Batch and the ensuing safety.

The downside of depending on highlights is that you’re at the mercy of the editor. Emmanuel Sanders looked good, we’re told, but there’s little of him show. Al Woods stepped it up, but there's very little of him to see. Ditto Alameda Ta’amu who is in a fierce roster fight and needed a monster game, apparently played well but wasn’t shown…

…There’s no replacement for seeing things yourself.

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Watch Tower: Are the Renegade Steelers the NFL's Next "Lean, Mean, Fighting Machine?"

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened training camp as a team looking to fulfill a host of needs and the press has done its best to keep Steelers Nation up to speed covering a wide range of topics, giving the Watch Tower ample subjects on which to shine its light.

Renegade! BTSC On-Line Pre Season Magazine Subdues Traditional Press

Sports publications ramping up coverage at the start of NFL training camp goes back decades – who can forget the early 80’s Sports Illustrated commercials that ran in early July talking about “a time when hands are taped and protected…”

The mainstream Pittsburgh media has been no exception, but this year they were outfoxed by Behind the Steel Curtain and its “Renegade” on line magazine, featuring 26 articles in 26 hours (which didn’t quite reach that goal to a technical snafu.)

In case you're missing it: #Steelers preview posts every hour today to celebrate training camp, and they're all here: http://t.co/JpMC0PagAD
— BTSC Steelers (@btsteelcurtain) July 26, 2013

What’s more amazing is that the 26 articles were written almost entirely by site editor Neal Coolong, despite the fact that he’s got one top Steelers blogging staffs at his disposal (full disclosure, I also write for BTSC.)

When asked about why he undertook such an ambitious project, Coolong explained, “…I go big or I don’t go at all.” Beyond that, Coolong expressed a desire to produce coverage that offers readers something different than other sites provide.

For example, he intentionally chose video highlights on the Steelers 3rd round pick Marcus Wheaton that underscore his likely role in Todd Haley’s offense, as opposed to trying to ride the “Marcus-Wheaton-is-Mike-Wallace” coat tails.

Similarly he took a more sober, but substantive look at 2012 first round draft pick David DeCastro, opting to review video highlights that show DeCastro’s struggles in the Steelers losses vs. Dallas and Cincinnati in addition to highlights that show some of his promise.

• Likewise, in his piece of Jason Worilds, Coolong chose to focus on what he considers the under covered story of Worilds struggles with injuries as opposed to the unenviable task of replacing James Harrison

While Coolong declined to provide specific numbers, he did say that traffic was good, although perhaps not necessarily better than it would have been had he opted for a more conventional approach.

• Regardless of traffic, it is BTSC’s unconventional thinking that the Watch Tower salutes

With respect to the traditional press, both the Tribune Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured stories pushing the yin vs. yang nature of this Steelers training camp.

Allen Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review wrote that the normal crush of national media and talk about Super Bowl expectations was absent at St. Vincent, but then contrasted that with quotes from Larry Foote and Ryan Clark who of course vowed that the Steelers would prove the critics wrong.

Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette attempted to weave a similar piece together drawing upon his drive to Latrobe, quotes from various Steelers, and a reference to ground hog issues St. Vincent’s have been having.  The Watch Tower has long recognized Collier as one of the nation’s wittiest and most insightful sports writers, but whatever he was trying to do in this article quite frankly did not work.

Ray Fittipaldo Joins PG Beat Staff… Then Disappears

Post Gazette Fittipaldo has done occasional pieces on the Steelers since OTA’s in 2010, providing Steelers Nation with some of their first insights on Jonathan Dwyer, for instance.

At the opening of Steelers training camp, Ed Bouchette announced that Fittipaldo was now working the Steelers beat full time for the Post-Gazette. Fittipaldo then did the opening day a video with Bouchette (where he looked a tad bit uncomfortable on camera.)

• The funny thing is, during the week since, Fittipaldo’s bye line has appeared only once.

Its way too early to make anything of this, but it is peculiar to say the least.

Meet Sanders the Steelers New Stud Speedster, Deep Threat

Emmanuel Sanders gave Steelers Nation one of the most interesting stories during the Steelers 2013 off season. First Sannders had an offer with New England. Then he didn’t (or at least Sanders didn't sign New England's offer sheet). Then Sanders did sign it. Then the Steelers were going to let Sanders walk. Then, with Ben Roethlisberger's support, the Steelers matched the offer and kept Sanders.

• And now Sanders is a Steeler again (and wants to stay one apparently.)

The Watch Tower chronicled the Sanders story, and observed that most of the professional press was of the opinion that the Steelers should let Sanders walk and take New England’s third round pick.

• Those arguments had some merit, but they do add irony to some of the early lead stories on Sanders.

Jim Wexell offered an excellent free piece on his subscription site Steel City Insider, titled “When Did Sanders Get So Fast.”

Dejan Kovacevic wrote a piece titled “Call Sanders the X-Factor” and discussed how Sanders had taken over Mike Wallace’s slot as the “X” receiver. The Tribune Review's Steel Mill Blog also focused on Sander's as a downfield threat.

The Steelers the NFL’s New “Lean Mean Fighting Machines?”


The clip is of course from the timeless ‘guy movie’ Stripes.

The movie was released just as the Super Steelers were entering their decline, but if press coverage is to be any guide, the 2013 Steelers have taken John Candy’s “Ox” character’s mantra as their rallying cry.

A quick (and very unofficial) survey of press stories shows that no more than four focus on or at least detail weight loss on the part of the Steelers.

• The Tribune Review told us about how Isaac Redman dropped 10 pounds and has seen an immediate difference in his running style.
• Ed Bouchette tells us that Jonathan Dwyer lost between 25-30 pounds in the off season (now why did Dwyer let his weight go up so much, again?) 
• Gerry Dulac wrote a story on how Cameron Heyward is tying his hopes of winning a starting job to weight loss.
• Dulac also dutifully told us about how Marcus Gilbert also shed extra pounds on coach’s orders.

Kudos to Dejan Kovacevic for tying it all together and saying what some fans suspected -- last season too many Steelers were out of shape.

At this point it might be apt to include another clip for Stripes, the one where Bill Murray’s character inspires “Ox” to victory in a mud wrestling match with the “Lean Mean Fighting Machine” mantra, but that clip is not on YouTube and this is a family site.

And perhaps it wouldn’t quite be fitting, as Ed Bouchette did do an article about Steve McLendon’s use of ballet al la Lynn Swann, where he also observed that McLendon "officially" gained 40 pounds from his rookie listed weight of 280....

Steelers Salary Cap

John Clayton, former Pittsburgh Press and current ESPN writer, gave Steelers Nation some hope following the 2013 NFL Draft, when he told fans that the Steelers were more or less out of the woods in salary cap trouble. Happy story, right?

• Not so fast.

Behind the Steel Curtain has done two salary cap pieces taking issue with Clayton’s conclusion. The first went as far as to suggest (citing a Yahoo! article) that the Steelers might need or want to reduce their 2014 salary cap burden by parting ways with expensive veterans, such as Ryan Clark and/or Brett Kesiel.

And BTSC threw further cold water on Clayton’s argument, by providing some analysis that suggest that the NFL’s upcoming TV contracts won’t do much to lift the salary cap – filling in the gaps on what has been a greatly under covered story, both nationally in Pittsburgh.

Steelers Special Teams History Under the Microscope

Bob Labirola did a feature on the Steelers history with special teams in the recent Steelers Digest. One interesting nugget to come out of the story was on Bobby April’s departure.

When Bobby April left Pittsburgh for New Orleans after Super Bowl XXX, word was that he found Bill Cowher too demanding. Labriola sheds a little light here, asserting that the April-Cowher dispute was over who got credit for calling the surprise on-sides.

Not sure what the issue is here, as one NFL Films clip clearly showed April suggesting it to Cowher, Cowher agreeing, and radioing Chan Gailey about the decision.

• Labriola’s article is good, but the Watch Tower has two bones to pick.

First, there is an error, as Labriola claims that errors in the Steelers 1987 finale vs. Kansas City led Chuck Noll to hire his first special teams coach. Unfortunately the ’87 Steelers finished their season with a home loses vs. Houston and Cleveland (I remember listen to the latter game on the PA Turnpike -- it was my introduction to Myron Cope.)

Second, Labriola does a good job of singling out some of the higher profile speicla teams breakdowns in Steelers history, but ignores the quality special teams the Steelers enjoyed under George Stewart, Ron Zook, and Kevin Spencer.

If you're interested in learning more about the Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde nature of the Steelers special teams (sniff, sniff, if you've read this far you probably are,) then click here for Steel Curtain Rising’s article on it.

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Steelers Sign 4th Round Draft Pick Shamarko Thomas

If there’s one word to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 off season “unpredictable” would have to be a strong candidate.

Take the case of James Harrison. First the Steelers wanted James back at a 30% pay cut, with the ability to earn it back via incentives. Deebo said “No” and became a cap casualty and an ex-Steeler. Then when Silverback didn’t get greenbacks waived in front of him, the Steelers declined to bring him back.

• As expected, the Steelers lost Mike Wallace and Keenan Lewis; they also brought back William Gay and Matt Speath – yeah, we all saw that coming too.

And of course there was Emmanuel Sanders. Emmanuel Sanders of the mysterious “yes-New England-tendered-him-no-we-didn’t-yes-they-did” one year restricted free agent tender. Both conventional wisdom and the inside word was the Steelers would let Sanders walk and take the extra pick.

• The Steelers of course matched New England's offer for Sanders. 

Matching Sanders tender was supposed to have burned through the Steelers remaining cap space. Except it didn’t, as the Steelers moved decisively to prevent Green Bay from making a run on one of its other restricted free agents, namely the newly resigned Steve McLendon.

Prior to the start of free agency, back up safeties Will Allen and Ryan Mundy figured to be two players the Steelers could have back if they wanted them back. Who else would want them?

Dallas gave Allen a home and Mundy likewise found his in the NFC East, with the New York Giants.

• How does all of this relate the headline you ask?

Well, it was just yesterday that the Steelers released a partial transcript of Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert’s conference call with season ticket holders where he explained that picks from the Steelers 2013 NFL Draft Class would have to wait until June to get their contracts, when the Steelers liberated Willie Colon’s cap space.

And on the heels of that news the Steelers promptly went out and came to terms with 4th round draft pick Shamarko Thomas. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the deal is for four years, per the new CBA, and terms were not disclosed.

In practical terms neither the Steelers nor Thomas get an added benefit to signing early. But with Ryan Clark entering the final year of his contract, and age and injuries to Troy Polamalu mounting, Thomas’ development critical to the Steelers ability to rearm while Ben Roethlisberger remains a viable NFL franchise quarterback.

Welcome to Steelers Nation Shamarko Thomas, may your next four years be prosperous ones.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 Draft Class at a Glance

The 2013 NFL Draft is now history, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have 9 new players to show for their efforts. The Steelers entered the draft with serious needs at almost every position and depending on who you believed they either drafted for need, or were able to basically stick to their “best available” player philosophy while hitting their needs.

Neither answer will be terribly relevant as long as they players they picked pan out. Some of course will fail (think Limas Sweed), others will suffer misfortune in the form of injury (think Sean Spence,) while others yet will likely go on to exceed expectations (think Aaron Smith).

Here’s a snap shot of the 9 mean that Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin deemed worthy of a shot at becoming Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 Draft Class:
(click on the names below for capsule profiles and/or video highlights of

1. Jarvis Jones, Outside Linebacker, Georgia
2. Le’von Bell, Running Back, Michigan State
3. Markus Wheaton, Wide Receiver, Oregon State
4. Shamarko Thomas, Safety, Syracuse
4. Landry Thomas, quarterback, Okalahoma
5. Terry Hawthorne, Cornerback, Illinois 
6. Vince Williams, Inside Linebacker, Florida State University
6. Justin Brown, Wide Receiver, Okalahoma
7. Nicholas Williams, Defensive End, Samford

How the Class of 2013 Fits In

Regular readers knows that Steel Curtain Rising neither grades drafts nor evaluates individual draft picks. Such exercises are understandable, but day after draft evaluation is about as valuable as an opening day batting average.

Look back no further to the Steelers 2008 Draft, which the “experts” uniformly thought was a good draft the day after. Five years later the Steelers 2008 Draft looks quite different.

Potentially the Steelers have give themselves the ability to improve play making on the defense, bolstered their running back corps, and injected speed into their wide receiving corps. Markus Wheaton figures to give the Steelers needed depth at safety and could become a possible successor to Troy Polamalu and/or Ryan Clark.

Beyond that, the rest of the class realistically will hope to exit St. Vincents having shown they can contribute enough on special teams to merit a roster spot.

Certainly Vince Williams could cost Stevenson Sylvester, Adrian Robinson and/or Chris Carter a roster spot. Justin Brown could force Jerricho Cotchery and/or Plaxico Burress to seek out what Chuck Noll referred to as “Life’s Work.” Nicholas Williams could cost Al Woods a roster spot.

Or maybe not….

A Shot at a Dream of a Life Time

…But all of that sorting out can wait until the sun shines down on Latrobe.

For now each of these nine men have been given a shot at a dream that all of us shared the first time we touched a Nerf football, called out the cadence of a meaningless snap count, and argued over whether there should be a 3 or 5 Mississippi rush.

At this moment congratulations are in order for the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 Draft Class. Congratulations gentleman, good luck, and welcome to Steelers Nation.

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Steelers Draft Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse Safety in 4th. Video Highlights

As the third day of the 2013 NFL Draft opened the Pittsburgh Steelers pivoted back to defense and they did it in an uncharacteristic way.

Realizing that the days of Troy Polamalu and/or Ryan Clark are numbered and unable to get a safety in rounds 1-3, the Steelers traded their 3rd round pick of the 2014 NFL Draft to the Cleveland Browns to move up to pick Syracuse Safety Shamarko Thomas.

Thomas was one of the Steelers pre draft visits, and while he only stands at 5’11”, considered short for an NFL safety, at 217 pounds he’s earned a reputation as a ferocious hitter.

Steelers secondary coach Carnell Lake, himself a former strong safety for the Steelers, could not say enough good things about Thomas, explaining:

Shamarko is an outstanding football player. I think if he had two more inches he would have been in the first round. Not only can he play safety, but he can also get up there and play man-to-man on the slot receiver. He has played nickel, and he has played corner at times.

From video that is available of Thomas, it is easy to see why his secondary coach is happy to have him (note, this would not be my choice of audio; available as of 4/27/13):




Lake of course would have a particularly appreciation for safeties who can play cornerback, as he himself made the shift in both 1995 and 1997, saving the Steelers seasons both times as a result.

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Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 Draft Needs Matrix

Depending on whose mock draft you read, during the 2013 NFL Draft the Pittsburgh Steelers are set to take:

• Linebacker Jarvis Jones of Georgia, and if not…
• Safety Kenny Vaccar of Texas, and if not…
• Tight End Tyler Eifert from Notre Dame, and if not…
• Cornerback Dee Milliner from Alabama, and if not…
• Wide Receiver Tavon Austin from West Virginia, and if not…
• Safety Eric Reid from LSU

…And if its not one of the above players the Steelers certainly will take some other highly hyped college prospect in the first round.

Of course you know all of that.

Now here’s something you’re not likely to read on any other Steelers site, with or without a mock draft:

• Steel Curtain Rising will neither offer an opinion on who the Steelers will or should draft

Regular readers know this blog is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where suffice to say college football is not a sports programming priority. (Neither is the NFL, but at least there’s the Sunday Ticket.) Truth be told, I never followed the college game much when I still lived in the US.

But what I can do is focus on the Steelers Needs...

Breaking Down the Steelers 2013 NFL Draft Needs

...And needs the Steelers have a plenty. Unlike previous years, you have to go all the way to kickers and punters to find an area the Steelers can safely avoid in the draft.

Here’s another confession. Due to time constraints, I was not planning on doing individual needs analysis, but there was no way to construct a Steelers Draft Needs Matrix without doing so.

Even then evaluating the Steelers 2013 Draft Needs is difficult because of the conflict between short-term and long-term needs. The Steelers have both, and they don’t always over lap.

The temptation on the South Side to focus on the short term has to be strong.

• Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II must resist that temptation.

Focusing on short term needs is one of the things that caused the Steelers Dynasty of the 70’s to collapse under its own weight. With so many entrenched Super Bowl starters, Dick Haley, Art Rooney Jr. and yes, Chuck Noll, stopped focusing on taking the best player available, and drafted with any eye toward their depth chart, out thinking themselves into going for guys that other teams some how missed on.

Heaven only knows how many future Pro Bowlers the Steelers passed on in the late 1970’s based on the assumption that “there’s no way this kid can beat out Dwight White, even if he is getting old….”

Worse yet, focusing on the short term can cause a team to reach, as it did in the 1999 Draft when they picked Troy Edwards and Scott Shields 1 and 2, both men turning out to be horrendous busts.

And let’s acknowledge that the temptation for this kind of thinking has to be strong, given that Ben Roethlisberger’s window as a viable Super Bowl quarterback could be narrowing quickly, if the injuries of the past two seasons are any indication.

• But focus on the long term the Steelers must.

2013 Steelers Draft-Needs Matrix

And that brings us to the Steelers 2013 Draft Needs Matrix.

This matrix is not intended to suggest that the Steelers should target (aka “reach”) for players in this particular order. Rather, it is intended to guide the choice that must be made when the clock begins ticking, and there are two players of equal, or near equal, value on the board.

In developing this Steelers Draft Needs Matrix, absolute need is balanced against long term vs. short term need, with long term need getting the higher priority.

In that respect, safety takes precedence over linebacker, simply because the Steelers are order and thinner at safety with virtual novices playing behind Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark.

And outside linebacker takes precedence over inside linebacker because there’s just a little more depth and a few more players under contract for a longer time than at inside linebacker, and so on down the line.

Steelers 2013 Draft-Needs Matrix:
(click on the position title for a detailed needs analysis)

• Safety takes precedence over Outside Linebacker
• Outside Linebacker takes precedence over Inside Linebacker
• Inside Linebacker take precedence over tight end and wide receiver
• Tight End (barely) takes precedence over Wide Receiver
• Wide Receiver takes precedence over running back
• Running Back takes precedence over defensive line
• Defensive Line takes precedence over offensive line
• Offensive Line takes precedence over cornerback
• Cornerback takes precedence over Quarterback

And for heaven sakes, the Steelers should not even be thinking of drafting a kicker!

Note, however, that there is a very, very fine line separating the needs outlined below. Really, the Steelers needs, long and short term, at any of the positions mentioned above save for quarterback could merit a first round pick if the right man is available.

It’s not likely that a top ten prospect like David DeCastro could fall to the Steelers as happened last year or as happened in 1987 with Rod Woodson, but that’s the beauty of the draft.

Enjoy the 2013 NFL, my fellow citizens of Steelers Nation because our beloved Black and Gold’s ability to bagging Lombardi Number Seven during the Roethlisberger era likely depends on Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert getting this draft right.

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Steelers Draft Needs: Time to Hit the Safety Valve

Previous NFL Drafts of the Kevin Colbert-Mike Tomlin era have seen the Pittsburgh Steelers focus on defensive lineman (2009 and 2011), offensive lineman (2010-2012), cornerbacks (2011), and wide receivers (2010).

But there has been one area of need that the Steelers have consistently ignored, albeit often times due to circumstances beyond their control. And that position is Safety.

• The Steelers must address their needs at Safety in the 2013 NFL Draft

With a healthy Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu the Steelers probably still boast the NFL’s best starting safety tandem even with both men on the wrong side of thirty.

• But that later reality is something the Steelers no longer have the luxury of ignoring. 

The Steelers had seemed to be grooming a safety in the form of Lee Flowers or Myron Bell in recent seasons. That safety was Ryan Mundy. It would be wrong to scapegoat Mundy for the woes that bedeviled the Steelers defense in early 2012, but things only began to get righted when they benched Mundy.

The fact that Mundy got beaten out by thirtysomething Will Allen did not bode well for his future in Pittsburgh.

• But that’s an academic question now as both Mundy and Allen have new homes in the NFC East.

That leaves the Steelers with Robert Golden, an undrafted rookie free agent from 2012, and Damon Cromartie-Smith.

Neither man has seen much action and both will have to fight for roster spots under the hot summer sun at St. Vincents in Latrobe.

(They also have someone named Ross Ventrone under a futures contract who doesn't even have a jeresy number assigned to him, no doubt to keep him from showing up on Joe Flacco's scouting reports.)

• The Steelers need an injection of youth and talent at safety, and this is not simply a long term need.

As Tim Gleason, aka “Mary Rose” from Behind the Steel Curtain has written, Troy Polamalu is like a European sports car – an ultimate driving machine when not in the shop.

In years past Polamalu’s health ran hot and cold. Healthy in 2006, not so healthy in 2007. Healthy in 2008, injured for all but a sliver of 2009.

But that too has changed. Polamalu stayed healthy for the bulk of 2010, helping seal victory with any number of dramatic, just in time interceptions. Yet, he was injured for the playoffs when the Steelers could have used his heroics.

2012 told an opposite tale. Polamalu started off hurt, when the Steelers needed him, but finished the season in strong, and appeared to just be returning to form for the playoffs, which of course the Steelers missed.

Who knows? Perhaps Polamalu will find a way stay healthy, and perhaps he and Ryan Clark can defy Father Time the way, say Darrell Green or for that matter Rod Woodson did. That would be great.

• But the Steelers can't count on that, and drafting a safety who can come in and immediately work himself into 3rd and 4th down packages not a want but a need.

The Steelers need to address safety in the 2013 NFL Draft, they need to do it early. And this is one pick they need to get right.

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Steelers Draft Needs: Cornerback

Unless injuries or some other unknown intervenes, the Steelers 2013 corner three-some should be Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen, and William Gay.

• Yes, the Steelers will miss Keenan Lewis there, but that’s not a bad first three corners.

Behind them they have Courtney Brown, Josh Victorian, DeMarcus Van Dyke, and Justin King, all of whom have some game experience. Isaiah Green is also on their roster.

• Nonetheless, the Steelers cannot ignore cornerback in the 2013 NFL Draft

Certainly the Steelers long and short term needs at corner are less severe than at other position areas. But Ike Taylor isn’t going to play forever, and last year injuries took the Steelers to the point where they were playing their 5th and 6th corners.

With the passing game evolved to what it is in today’s NFL, the Steelers can simply ill afford to ignore a quality corner, especially if one falls to them early in the draft, including the first round, however unlikely that may be.

There’s another reason to think long term here. Playing behind Taylor are two other thirty somethings, by the names of Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu.

The first ability that Father Time typically robs an NFL player of is his speed.

• Biological realities all but dictate that Ike Taylor will have “slowed a step” by 2015 if not by 2014.

If and moment arrives, and if by that time that Ryan Clark and/or Polamalu need to begin what Chuck Noll called “Life’s Work” then it is completely feasible that Taylor might still have enough speed to finish his career at safety, the way Rod Woodson did (and should have done in Pittsburgh, but that’s another story.)

And that’s why if fate allows a blue-chip corner to fall to the Steelers in the 2013 NFL Draft they’d be wise to take him.

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Shamarko Thomas, Will Davis Make Pre-Draft Visit to Steelers

The parade of college football players continued yesterday on the South Side as the Steelers focused on a need area that they have neglected in the 2013 NFL Draft for the past several seasons:  Safety.

With Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark aging into their 30’s, and Robert Golden and Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith both virtual novices and former undrafted rookie free agents, draftnicks are speculating that the Steelers could take a safety as high as the first round.

None of the prospects the Steelers worked out yesterday is considered a first rounder, but Shamarko Thomas, a true senior out of Syracuse is one defensive back who could go as early as round 2. The other defensive back worked out by the Steelers is Will Davis of Utah State considered to be a mid round prospect.

The Steelers also worked out their first offensive lineman, inviting offensive guard Nik Embernate. In the estimation of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Alan Robinson, Embernate is among the top quarter of the guards eligible for the 2013 NFL Draft.

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