Steeler's most indispensable player?

[tony hipchest]

i think im with LITP, revefsreleets, and mosca on this one. historically in the draft, teams knew not to even worry about a safety in the 1st round and it is only a recent trend that safeties are being drafted in the 1st 15 picks (thank polamalu for changing this trend though- he exemplifies the importance of the position).

we and the nfl have had many great teams in the past but nobody has peeled off 13 wins in the same (regular) season, and nobody has won a sb at a younger age than ben. akili smith or cade mcnown (or even pennington or grossman) wouldve been able to accomplish the same on the steelers teams the past few years.

a case must be made for willie parker though. (edge still goes to big ben - rb's are shorter lived and easier to find). he can easilly have more carries than the qb has pass attempts in any given game, and is trully a "gamebreaker". there are a definitely a few qb's who can be said to have better skill sets than big ben, but not that many who have what willie brings to the table.

[Preacher]

Most indispensable...

To me, that means, when he is out, the team suffers more then they would with anyone else....

So, Troy? Nope, Our D played pretty well without him. I agree he is our best player.. but I am not sure most indispensable... Same with Ben.

So who has the biggest drop off if they are out?

I gotta say Fast Willie. Here is why...

Say we are playing in the SB... and you had to play the backups in a position....

Would you rather play one of our backup safeties in the place of Troy?
Would you rather play Batch in Ben's place?
Or would you rather play one of our RB's in Willie's place?

I gotta say Willie is the most indispensable.

While I like Faneca... We have a couple of backups that I actually trust... so the drop off wouldn't be nearly as bad as it would be with the RB.

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

i think im with LITP, revefsreleets, and mosca on this one. historically in the draft, teams knew not to even worry about a safety in the 1st round and it is only a recent trend that safeties are being drafted in the 1st 15 picks (thank polamalu for changing this trend though- he exemplifies the importance of the position).

we and the nfl have had many great teams in the past but nobody has peeled off 13 wins in the same (regular) season, and nobody has won a sb at a younger age than ben. akili smith or cade mcnown (or even pennington or grossman) wouldve been able to accomplish the same on the steelers teams the past few years.

a case must be made for willie parker though. (edge still goes to big ben - rb's are shorter lived and easier to find). he can easilly have more carries than the qb has pass attempts in any given game, and is trully a "gamebreaker". there are a definitely a few qb's who can be said to have better skill sets than big ben, but not that many who have what willie brings to the table.

Dang you Tony....

I started my post before you... Stop stealing my thoughts!!!

[MasterOfPuppets]

Originally Posted by Preacher

Dang you Tony....

I started my post before you... Stop stealing my thoughts!!!

HACK !!!!! just kiddin preach

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

HACK !!!!! just kiddin preach

No your not!!

[Black@Gold Forever32]

Ok I think Ben, Troy, all have solid cases and I can't say you're wrong if you go with one of those guys....

But I have to go with Willie Parker....If he goes down with serious injury then the Steelers are screwed and basically will be picking in the top 10 next year if not worse.....I think if Ben went down then Batch could keep this team around 500 or so........

As for Troy true we couldn't do the same things on defense with Troy not in there....But the Steelers have solid depth at safety....Whoever doesn't start at FS probably could take over at SS if Troy went down...Then there is also Tyrone Carter is a solid backup....

If Parker went down that leaves Dookie, Barlow, Haynes,Kuhn or Russell.......I don't think any of those guys could take the balk of the carries and be effective on a consistent basis....We all saw last year that Willie Parker could carry the rock over 300 times in a season....Those guys are nothing more the RBs that could fit into a rotation with Willie Parker......

[xXTheSteelKingsXx]

Originally Posted by Black@Gold Forever32

Ok I think Ben, Troy, all have solid cases and I can't say you're wrong if you go with one of those guys....

But I have to go with Willie Parker....If he goes down with serious injury then the Steelers are screwed and basically will be picking in the top 10 next year if not worse.....I think if Ben went down then Batch could keep this team around 500 or so........

As for Troy true we couldn't do the same things on defense with Troy not in there....But the Steelers have solid depth at safety....Whoever doesn't start at FS probably could take over at SS if Troy went down...Then there is also Tyrone Carter is a solid backup....

If Parker went down that leaves Dookie, Barlow, Haynes,Kuhn or Russell.......I don't think any of those guys could take the balk of the carries and be effective on a consistent basis....We all saw last year that Willie Parker could carry the rock over 300 times in a season....Those guys are nothing more the RBs that could fit into a rotation with Willie Parker......

I was thinking Willie too but the survey had five guys Faneca, Ben, Troy, Ward, and Hampton. How can they not add the guy who won the team MVP in the previous season?

[The Duke]

Definitely Willie

[Stlrs4Life]

Ben, Troy, flip a coin.

[TackleMeBen]

i would have to go with willie parker (man that kills me to say that b/c he played at unc).

i have trust in batch to come in and do a good job if something were to happen to ben.

but i dont think we really have a capable back up for willie if he were to get hurt and go down. (please correct me if i am wrong on this one.)