Ed: Steelers All-21st Century Offense

[Hawaii 5-0]

Ed: Steelers All-Century Offense

THURSDAY, 17 MAY 2012 WRITTEN BY ED BOUCHETTE

Good morning,

Since defense almost always has been first in Pittsburgh, we’ll switch things up and start today with our selections on offense for the PG+ All-21st Century Steelers team.
I will include some comments, and there will be some that really do not need an explanation.

Quarterback – Ben Roethlisberger

Running backs – Jerome Bettis, Willie Parker

Wide receivers – Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes – Two Super Bowl MVPs. We could have gone with either Plaxico Burress or Mike Wallace at the second spot, but Holmes’ Super Bowl put him over the top.

Tight end – Heath Miller. With Mark Bruener if you were to pick a No. 2.

Tackles – Marvel Smith, Max Starks – Not a lot to choose from after them.

Guards – Alan Faneca, Kendall Simmons – Same as the tackles.

Center – Jeff Hartings – One more year and the nod might have gone to Maurkice Pouncey. But Hartings started at center for six years and Pouncey, for all of his brilliance, hasn’t had enough time there yet. What we really should do is pick two centers and one fewer guard.

Punter – Josh Miller – You could choose almost anyone but Miller was the most consistent with Chris Gardocki a close second.

If you’ll notice, like Bruce Arians’ offense, there is no fullback on this team. If we did have a fullback, it would be Dan Kreider with no close second.

There are a combined 23 Pro Bowls represented on that team and we had to leave others off, such as Pouncey, Mike Wallace and Kordell Stewart. All in all, though, the selections weren’t that difficult.

Tomorrow, we’ll have the defense.

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[Hawaii 5-0]

Ed: Steelers All-Defense Team of 21st Century

FRIDAY, 18 MAY 2012 WRITTEN BY ED BOUCHETTE

Good morning,

Time to wrap up our PG+ All-21st Century Steelers team with the defense today along with our kicker.

Again, some with explanations, some not necessary:

NT – Casey Hampton

DE – Aaron Smith, Brett Keisel – Only other real candidate would be Kimo von Oehlhoffen.

OLB – James Harrison, Joey Porter – LaMarr Woodley, given a few more years, could make his case.

ILB – James Farrior, Larry Foote – Others under consideration were Lawrence Timmons and 2001 NFL defensive rookie of the year Kendrell Bell. Timmons needs more time. Bell flamed out quickly. Foote was steady as she goes, a five-year underrated starter, including two Super Bowl champions.

CB – Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend – Not a lot of greatness from which to pick. Others included Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington. None made a Pro Bowl. You could take any combination of the four and not be wrong.

SS – Troy Polamalu

FS – Ryan Clark – Also under consideration would be Chris Hope but Clark has been more consistent for a longer time here.

K – Jeff Reed

That’s it. Onto a few things and then it’s TGIF.

--- Many people have asked me if the Steelers plan to re-sign Max Starks, who had ACL surgery in January. I was told they would look at him again in June to see what kind of shape he’s in and how his recovery is coming along. I was told that before the draft and really have not talked to anyone about him since then. They have nothing to lose by taking a look at Starks but I don’t know if they want him as a backup. They do have depth at tackle when you consider Jonathan Scott along with Trai Essex and even Colon.

--- It would be a surprise if the rookie kicker from Southern Miss is considered a real threat to Shaun Suisham. First off, he wasn’t their first choice as a second leg. Second, if he was that good, why was he still available when every team in the league wants to bring two kickers to training camp?

--- After the 2009 season, in an interview with me, Art Rooney said a few things that got some notice. The one that received the most attention was him saying he felt there should be more attention paid to the running game. The one that did not get quite as much notice was him saying they should develop their young players more quickly. Since then, they have started two rookies in the offensive line, Maurkice Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert. They have quickly developed and used three young receivers – Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders. And now they’ve virtually pencilled two rookies into the starting offensive line, David DeCastro and Mike Adams.

Was someone listening to the team president? And, because he obviously felt he did not follow his wishes in the running game, coordinator Bruce Arians was fired (oops, sorry, his contract was not renewed).

--- I love the smell of OTAs in the morning.

--- And, already, the reactions to our team are pouring in:

--- YOU: our lists were close but here is the differences. I picked Mendenhall for running back. Bettis and Parker were almost my pick but Bettis was reduced to back-up role in the short time he had in the era and Parker was good when the O-Line was good. When Hartings and Fanaca left it seemed Willie couldn't make it to the line of scrimmage. I felt Rashad did OK in spite of those conditions. Santonio over Plax,,,,I disagree. i think Plax would have had the same or even better success if we kept him. Ben lobbied to keep Plax and Plax made an SB catch for the Giants against an undefeated team more significant than Holmes grab and less of a cancer.

I picked Chris over Josh for punter but that could have gone either way. Outside of that Ed, were pretty much on the same page.

ME: Mendy isn’t even a close third in my book. Plax is worthy, however let’s not include what he did with the Giants as a reason why he should make the all-Steelers team.

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