Loose Slag from The Still Mill
Some slag to chew on after
the bye week �.
- Not that Jerry Rice is
tearing up the league, but I'm disappointed the Stillers didn't make a move for
him.� Not surprised, of course, but
disappointed nonetheless.� Rice was obtained
for a 7th round pick -- essentially, the pick that is annually used on
worthless, no-chance scrubs like Jason Gavadza or Pete Gonzales.� You've got an offense that gets nothing from
its #4 and #5 receivers, and you've got a couple receivers (Burress, El) that
could use some of Rice's tutelage.�
Should have been a no-brainer.
- Speaking of no brains,
just when you think Billy Cowher is extracting his head from his anus, he makes
the decision to start Wee Willie Williams over Ricardo Colclough (in place of
the injured Charred Scott).� As I've
noted here for years, given the choice of going with a mediocre veteran
with no upside but who has "proven himself" to Lord Billy Cowher, or
a young, talented player with good upside who has yet to prove himself to Lord
Billy, Cowher will always choose the former.�
This has been borne out time and time and time again.� This is precisely why Chris Hope sat while
Burnt Alex started; why Troy Pola sat; and why Haggans sat for years
behind Jason GilDong.� I've long annotated the absurdly excessive bench rot
suffered by rookie, 2nd-year, and 3rd-year players under the supreme tutelage
of Billy Cowher.� Longtime readers here
should be well aware of the bench rot suffered by Mike Vrabel, Earl Holmes,
Amoz Z, DeShea Townsend, Chris Hope, Clark Haggans, Zo Jackson, and numerous
others.� Even Hines Ward rotted his
rookie season behind an illustrious superstar WR named Courtney "Pee
Pee" Hawkins, and Joey Porter rotted behind Carla "The Tupperware
Man" Emmons.�
�� In his prime, Wee Willie was a marginal
starting CB; essentially a poor man's DeShea Townsend, at best.� That was circa 1997.� This is now SEVEN years later.� Williams, never fast, is now as slow as
frozen molasses.� He's puny and is a horrific
mismatch against any of today's big receivers.�
This is the time to get Colclough out of the shallow end of the pool and
into deeper waters, in order to speed up his development and, simultaneously,
allow the defense to reap his ability during the season-ending stretch run and
the playoffs.� Starting Wee Willie at
the expense of retarding Colclough's growth is myopic, stone-stupid, and the
height of asininity, but given Cowhard's past refusal to give youngsters a
chance, this comes as no surprise.�
Sure
enough, Cowher lovers will be quick to point out "examples" of Cowher
going with rookies and youngsters, such as Bruener, Faneca, Hampton, and Ken
Bell.� Let's examine each of these:
� ��Bruener:� Eric Green departed as a FA, leaving the TE entirely barren
except for Jonathan Hayes. The team reached rabidly to take Bruener in round 1,
and with absolutely no one else in the cupboard to turn to, they started
Bruener.
� ��Faneca:� Drafted in round 1, with only Roger Duffy able to serve as a
starting LG.� Another no-brainer in
which there was absolutely no one else to turn to.
� ��Hampton:� With Kimo moved from NT to DE, the Stillers had nothing on
their roster at NT, aside from the feeble, poor '00 draft choice of Kendick
Clancy.� Yet another case of a 1st rounder
drafted for NEED and used in the absence of no one else being even remotely
capable of serving in that spot.�
� ��Ken Bell:� With Kirkland's departure, the only other veteran ILB (besides Earl
Holmes) was Mike Jones, who, oddly enough, was a career OUTSIDE LB who had no
business even working out as an inside LB.�
Again, just another case of Cowher left with no other choice but to go
with the highly drafted youngster.�
Again,
as I've long stated, unless painted into a corner by injury and/or free agent
defection, Bilbo Cowher will always go with the mediocre, "proven"
veteran over the unproven, talented youngster.�
- Speaking of Kendick
Clancy, I can't believe the Stillers couldn't have found someone more capable
that that.� In peak shape, the guy is
subpar.� Now he's been literally sitting
on his ass the past 8-plus weeks.� I
shudder to think just how badly Kendick is going to get blown off the
ball.� Rookie NT Eric Taylor is on the practice
squad, but once again, given the choice of going with a mediocre veteran with
no upside but who has "proven himself" to Lord Billy Cowher, or a
young, talented player with good upside who has yet to prove himself to Lord
Billy, Cowher will always choose the former.�
- I noticed that Plex
Burress was wearing gloves during the Dallas game.� In the past, he'd simply go barehanded, aside from a strip of
tape around each finger.� I'm not
exactly sure if this was the first game Plex has worn gloves, but at any rate,
if he keeps making big catches like he did in Dallas, I'm all for his wearing
gloves the rest of the season.�
- The China Doll, Kendrell
Bell, is supposedly back in practice.� I
wouldn't count on seeing him this Sunday.�
As much as I'd love to see him back on the field, it would be foolish to
rush him back and cause his groin/hernia injury to fester for another 3 or 4
weeks, if not longer.�
- If you didn't watch the
Pats-Jets game this weekend, shame on you for 6 weeks.� You missed one helluva football game.�
- Doesn't it seem like
yesterday that Pete King had this blather to write about The Tubby Tailback:
"I think
Jerome Bettis, not Duce Staley, should be the Steelers' No.
1 back for as long as he can stay healthy.� Might be for two weeks, but I don't care. He's the best
combination of outside and inside runner on the roster."�� Every game that goes by makes King look
like a bigger and bigger buffoon.�
- Speaking of The Tubby
Tailback, many a Steeler fan crows and fantasizes about the day that The Big Bellyback
gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.� They'll
proudly point to The Lardback's statistics, all the while forgetting that
Curtis Martin will very quickly pass up The Tubber, as will at least 4 other
RBs by the time The Tubber is eligible for the HoF.� And statistics�.?� If you
want to point at statistics and fawn over a player, then look no further than
Vinny Testeverde, who has better relative stats than The Tubber and, stats
alone, has a better chance of being enshrined in Canton.�
It's not yet
midseason, but here's some near mid-term grades:
QB:�� What more can ya say about Ben Roth?�� A+.�
Hey Tommy -- I hear State Farm is looking for a few good insurance
agents.
RB:� Staley has been a splendid addition.� A.�
Bettis is actually clogging the PT of Verron Haynes, who showed in the
Miami game that he's a mudder that can get tough yardage in bad weather -- a
tool that is typically needed in the playoffs, but barring injury, won't be
used except for a seldom screen pass and draw play.� Bettis - B-.� Haynes -
B+.�
FB:� Dan Kreider is simply The Man.� A.�
TE:� Jay Riem and Jerame Tuman caught fire last
weekend in Dallas.� Would be nice if
this offense recognized what the TE's added to the offense in that game, and if
the offense would at least consider maintaining that boost from the seldom-used
TEs.� Tuman in particular has vastly
improved his blocking.� B.�
WR:� Ward is simply setting the standard that all
WRs in the league aspire to reach.�
Burress had an awfully slow start, but has caught fire the past 3 weeks
and seems to have developed a great rapport with Roethlisberger.� A.�
El has chipped in some, but frankly, it's been rather meager.� As a rusher, he's done quite little, with
his longest run being all of 7 yards.�
He's caught all of 10 passes, and his yards per catch is pretty low --
just marginally higher than that of Riemersma.�
B-.��� The Stillers get nothing
from their #4 and #5 WRs.� F.�
OL:� The line has been pleasantly effective.� Keydrick Vincent, who rotted for years on
the bench, has quietly stepped in for Simmons and has performed
acceptably.� Even Ollie Ross hasn't
drawn my rage that often this season.�
A.
DL:� The line has been pretty solid.� The platoon work has given the team
surprising depth, aided by the contributions of Kirschke and Hoke.� Obviously, Hampton's season-ending injury
really puts a wrench into this unit, as it forces Hoke to start at NT, a chore
that he's not quite built to perform.�
A-.�
LB:� Even without Kendrell Bell, the LB corps has
been a pretty good unit.� Farrior is
having a fine season.� Porter has made
some big plays, and much of his coverage work goes entirely unnoticed.� Clark Haggans has far and away exceeded the
paltry contributions made by Jason GilDong.�
All 3:� A.�� Larry Foote has played as well as one could
ask of him in lieu of Ken Bell, but Foote still concerns me.� He has trouble at times shedding the
blocker, and he still has a penchant to over-run plays as well as get lost in
the wash.� B.�
DB:� Troy Pola and Chris Hope have given the
formerly glacially-slow safety duo a huge boost.� Pola actually leads the team in tackles, and his speed,
athleticism, and hitting ability allow the team to use him as a 5th LB while
still being able to fool teams by dropping Pola back into coverage.� Townsend has been quietly effective.� A.�
Charred Scott has been picked up now and again, and is now out 4-6 weeks
with an injury.� This is probably
addition by subtraction.� C.� Ricardo Colclough has seen some work and
shows promise.� B.� Taylor has been a bit sluggish and out of
sorts.� C.�
ST:� Reed seems to have recovered nicely from
offseason surgery and a sporadic '03 season.�
A.�� Gardocki has been spotty on
pooch punts, but his ability to rapidly get his punts off is incredible.� B.�
Sean Morey has been a superb addition to the coverage teams.� A.�
El has been productive on KO returns, but less so on PR.� B.�
Overall the spec teams have been unusually (unusually, for a
Cowher-coached team) effective.�
B+.��
�(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 3 Stiller playoff losses�.)