Who’s in the hunt for final roster spots
Angst took hold of the fan base after the Steelers lost Plaxico Burress and probably Matt Spaeth for the season within the last couple of days.
Yeah, they lost their No. 5 wide receiver and their blocking tight end.
Big whup.
But at this time of the year, every hole is probably over-scrutinized, and over-scrutinization is my middle name (hey, it鈥檚 better than my real one, Connick).
So I鈥檓 here to over-scrutinize the roster on the eve the preseason opener against the New York Giants.
Could the Steelers have used those two veteran pass-catchers? Probably. But their loss only dropped my list of must-keeps, or roster locks, to 47.
Read on to learn how I got to 47 and who鈥檚 in the hunt for the final six spots.
The number of positional locks are in brackets, and the new uniform numbers are in parenthesis:
Quarterback [2]聽鈥� The locks are Ben Roethlisberger and Bruce Gradkowski (5). Fourth-round draft pick Landry Jones (3) brings to mind the put-down of 鈥淥pie Taylor鈥� from the movie 鈥淲hite Men Can鈥檛 Jump.鈥� Mike Tomlin thinks Jones might play better in a stadium than he has on the practice fields, and if he does 鈥淥pie鈥� becomes a great story in a town that adores backup QBs. But if he doesn鈥檛, he鈥檒l go 鈥渂ack to Mayberry to tell Aunt Bee she BETTER have my bean pies.鈥� The other candidate is John Parker Wilson (4), but the Steelers could live with only two QBs if necessary.
Running Backs [5]聽鈥� Holdovers Isaac Redman, Will Johnson and Jonathan Dwyer are locks, as are rookie Le鈥橵eon Bell (26) and free-agent roadrunner LaRod Stephens-Howling (34). Baron Batch has been running hard in practice of late, but must excel on coverage units to grab one of the half dozen at-large spots.
Wide Receivers [4]聽鈥� Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Markus Wheaton (11) and Jerricho Cotchery are locks. The battle for the fifth spot will draw my attention tonight: Reggie Dunn (13) needs to flash that 4.2 speed on returns this preseason to overtake Stephens-Howling at KR; sixth-round pick Justin Brown (15) has soft hands but will still drop balls; David Gilreath (18) and Kashif Moore (19) are more experienced than J.D. Woods (17), an intriguing undrafted rookie out of WVU; and Derek Moye (14) is 6-5 and has been a red-zone threat for the backup QBs in practice lately.
Tight Ends [3]聽鈥� I鈥檝e never seen Michael Palmer, but he gets my third lock here by default behind David Paulson and Jamie McCoy (82).
Offensive Line [8]聽鈥� The only question among the top five is whether Marcus Gilbert will be flopped back to left tackle, but it鈥檚 Mike Adams鈥� job to lose. Additionally, the locks are Kelvin Beachum, John Malecki (62) and Guy Whimper (61). Watch Justin Cheadle (72) and Joe Long (79) battle each other, and the waiver wire, for a ninth spot.
Defensive Line [6]聽鈥� It appears the four DE spots are taken, but three of those players are in the final years of their contracts. So perhaps rookie Brian Arnfelt (69) has a chance to win an at-large job, since Nick Williams (91) was drafted for the practice squad. Watch big Alameda Ta鈥檃mu (74) and Loni Fangupo (92) battle for the backup NT job.
Linebackers [7]聽鈥� Last year the Steelers kept a fifth OLB, and they probably will again if Adrian Robinson shows up on special teams. But right now I鈥檓 only going with four OLB locks. The longshot is undrafted rookie Alan Baxter (45), who could probably clear waivers and land on the practice squad.
Inside, I鈥檒l give the No. 3 job to Stevenson Sylvester. I didn鈥檛 include Marshall McFadden (40) among the 7 locks, but he should hold off rookie Vince Williams (44) for an at-large spot. WVU鈥檚 Terence Garvin (49) remains a longshot, and I鈥檓 not yet bold enough to delete Kion Wilson (48) from this column.
Defensive Backs [9]聽鈥� With four of the top seven cornerbacks missing the bulk of training camp, Tomlin has to be happy he came to Latrobe with a deep crop. But it鈥檚 hard to believe I鈥檝e included Josh Victorian as a lock behind Curtis Brown for the fifth CB job.
The four locks at safety are the starters, Robert Golden and Shamarko Thomas (29). So that leaves one at-large DB position open for the likes of Damon Cromartie-Smith (42), Isaiah Green (39) and maybe Ross Ventrone (41) if he can play special teams anything like his brother.
Specialists [3]聽鈥� Punters Drew Butler and Brian Moorman (8) are the only real competitors here. Butler鈥檚 the incumbent; Moorman played in Buffalo for new special teams coach Danny Smith. Their performances in preseason games will determine the punting job.
So as you can see by the numbers, the Steelers have 47, and need a wide receiver, offensive lineman, linebacker, defensive back, and probably a quarterback to show themselves this preseason. That would leave one spot available for a wildcard, and it鈥檚 a lock that his middle name won鈥檛 be Connick.