I have fewer issues with Roethlisberger than ever, and I may be in the minority, but I tend to feel that he has evolved into a complete passer in this league. Some have continued to question his ability to read defenses. They will point to the high sack totals and claim he hangs on to the football too long. There is only a small element of truth here, though. The bigger issue remains that the protection is truly that bad, and that not until late in the year when Dan Kreider was lost did the team truly begin to compensate by shortening routes. Charlie Batch DOES get rid of the ball sooner than Roethlisberger, but that wasn’t a good thing. Batch wasn’t making better reads, but forcing passes into tight coverage and throwing balls early against the Ravens. While playing against the Ravens, he wasn’t sacked once. He did, however, throw three interceptions. Roethlisberger had almost a 3:1 ratio of TD’s to INT’s and a 65.3% completion percentage playing behind what has to be considered one of the worst pass blocking OL’s in the league. Teams tried to keep him in the pocket each and every week, but met with similar results. My critique of #7 is light, and some will take issue with that. I think he has become a complete NFL quarterback as good as any.

I wish every Steeler was aging like Hines Ward. This is another guy I have very little negative to say about. People continue to question him, but he continues to deliver big when it matters most. His playoff stats are among the best in the league, and would be better than any full 16 game season he has played in if measured out completely. My main gripe with Ward is in how the team decides to use him, and it’s something he has complained about himself. Let the man run some damn deep routes. No, he isn’t a burner. However, Ward is a polished receiver who makes plays for his QB. They are doing him and the offense a disservice by using him in one way. The team needs to find creative ways to get the ball into his hands down field. More play-action would help, as would allowing him to run some double moves. How many times have teams seen him run hooks or crossing routes? Mathis jumped a route in the playoff game where it appeared that he was actually playing the deep zone in a cover 3. I am reminded of DeAngelo Hall’s boasting that he didn’t have to worry about Ward beating him deep. We all remember shoeless Ward beating him over the top (and dominating him all game, for that matter).

He has a lot of work to go before he is a top flight receiver. His routes are too inconsistent and have caused issues all year. He seems to struggle most with his intermediate patterns. Against the Broncos, he seemed to cut too early and it led to Dre Bly beating him to the ball. He did the exact same thing against the Jaguars and killed a drive. Holmes needs to do a better job of going up for jump balls. He had his hands on a lot of deep passes this year. He went over defenders heads to get many of them. This included a play against the Ravens on MNF. Routinely he beats his man, but his own mental mistakes have cost him. He dropped deep passes against Arizona and New York. Either of those could have won the team two more games. Holmes has the raw talent to be dominant, but lacks the consistency from play to play at this point.

When I reviewed the run game earlier this season, I saw some of the same old issues with Parker as a runner. He just doesn’t always see the holes that are open. He has improved since 05 and has done a nice job at cutting back for gains in the past two seasons, but he still has issues. I wouldn’t say Parker has a fumbling problem, either, but he seems to have one or two games a year where he just coughs the ball up inexplicably. He has had two games against the Bungals like this in his young career. I would like to see him used more as a receiver, but this seems to be a pipe dream.

Needs to run lower if he ever wants to be a real power back. He is overrated in pas protection. His best asset is his ability to catch passes. Roethlisberger developed some faith in him, as we saw when he gave him a jump ball against Jax. He generally does a nice job high pointing the football.

The forgotten man of ‘06 exploded this season. Miller is incredible reliable working teams underneath, but still isn’t utilized enough. What we saw against Jacksonville should be the blueprint for the future. Miller lacks top end speed for a TE, but he has great hands and is a powerful runner in the open field. I have issues with his blocking. He’s good enough to set the point on outside runs, but he’s not strong enough to generate push. I suppose that’s not too bad, given most TE’s can’t catch and block. He’s completely unreliable in pass protection.

Needs to work on getting lower to develop into a better blocker. He’s similar to Miller right now in terms of being better at getting position. When he seals his man, he generally does a nice job. He doesn’t get leverage, and his size doesn’t help. Needs to be used more as a receiver. Young and a lot of potential.

Had a solid season when he was healthy. The back issues make it hard to judge him. Early on, he struggled in two games - Denver and Arizona. He played terrible against Cinci in the first meeting, though it went unnoticed by many. I’m not sure if he wasn’t hurt already at this point, because he usually handles Justin Smith well. Dumervil dominated all game, but is one of the league’s best speed rushers at this point. Smith is an upper tier tackle still in my book. The problem is that the team has him under contract for just one more season and, obviously, health. Team needs to draft a replacement early this year.

I insist that most of his problems aren’t physical, but technique. I don’t know if they will ever get worked out, though. Making the transition from guard isn’t as easy as some people seem to think. He had problems snapping the ball and getting back into proper position. He would lunge or get caught leaning forward too much. Center is one of the most technique-oriented positions on the field. Mahan was underrated in terms of his run blocking. I am one of the few people who hasn’t written him off entirely, but the team obviously needs to draft a center as an insurance policy.

Simmons is what he is at this point. It’s not going to change, and it seems the team is stuck with him for at least another season (I seem to have to say this every year). He struggles against any DT with an ounce of speed. He doesn’t keep his arms locked out and lets defenders get inside of him. I would also say he plays too high. The only good thing is that he can ride his defender out of the play more often than not. As I wrote last year, Simmons is the key to the run game. At least he has been. When he is clicking (usually against inferior DT’s), the interior run game starts working. When that happens, the offense usually rolls. The team needs a powerful RG, but they have an inconsistent guy like this. His pass pro is terrible, his run blocking is merely acceptable. Simmons is one of the worst starting guards in the league. I plan to count hurries and sacks for the entire season at some point, and I’m pretty sure Simmons is going to come out ahead of everyone else on the line. He was leading earlier in this season before I stopped.

Colon was more maligned than Max Starks ever was, yet succeeded in being the team’s second most consistent offensive lineman. He had an awful day against New York, and had some of his flaws exposed for the first time. They lined Ellis out very wide on a lot of plays. Willie Colon is built like a t-rex and couldn’t get any part of him on a lot of plays. Mike Vrabel was used in the same way, and it was a tough battle for Colon outside. His good footwork and surprisingly good technique allowed him to hold his own, however. The Steelers were one of the most successful teams in the league running off right tackle this season. Colon’s size gives him an advantage here. He generally gets good leverage early on plays, and he also moves well to seal the edge. Colon has a bright future, and could easily shift over to guard or stay at tackle.

We all know his hands issue. It is up to the coaches to find a real solution to maximize his potential. This guy could evolve into a starter someday, much to the chagrin of many out there. I would like to see Roethlisberger give him a few more chances for jump balls, as he does with Holmes. We have only really seen this with Batch, who does seem to have a better relationship with Washington. Washington has shown he can stretch defenses deep, especially when matched up alone outside on a third CB. The team needs to involve him more in the gameplan. Some guys lack great concentration and do lose focus. A lot of people will say that the team doesn’t need a guy like this, but I can think of a number of quality receivers who had these issues early in their career. There’s a guy who wears #81 and plays in Dallas who had some pretty big drops early in his career (and still does).

He looked better at LT than he probably ever did at RT. The question is why. Was it that his technique improved, thanks to Zierelein? Was it that he was a left hander playing LT? I’m not sure. Starks was able to consistently get his hands on defenders with his initial punch, and they never got free. He looked like a potential starter at LT at some point. The problem is, there were still some flaws. Starks still occasionally gave up too much ground as defenders were able to get underneath him. His heights works against him here. He wasn’t really tested by a speed rush, which is where he had his biggest issues. Beyond that, Starks is usually able to just wall off his man in the run game. He struggles in space, however, and is almost useless if asked to pull or has a poor angle on a block. I think Starks ends up walking. There are too many what-if’s with him to go and pay him like a starting tackle. He failed at RT already, and who knows how he feels after his demotion. If the question is Trai Essex as back-up LT for 1/6^th the price, it’s an easy choice in my book.

Essex showed that he can be a competent back-up at LT against the Jaguars. He looked nearly as good as Starks did out there. Essex actually held up better to bull rushes, but just isn’t as strong as Starks at the snap. Essex will likely come dirt cheap, and left me feeling relieved. He showed he wasn’t a complete waste of a pick and a roster spot.

Brett Keisel
Keisel is what he is. A quality role player for this team on defense. He isn’t the stoutest against the run, but he holds his ground and doesn‘t get turned. His biggest issues come when the team decides to get cute and stack him off the line. I don’t know why they insist on doing this, but it led to Keisel getting moved far more often from what I saw. Keisel is a pretty consistent player and moves the pocket better than any Steelers lineman. He doesn‘t get sacks because he can‘t get around his man. A lack of speed doesn‘t allow him to gain the edge. If he improved his technique and hand usage, he would be more effective. He will most likely remain the starter for the foreseeable future.

Hampton took a lot of flack when the run defense struggled down the stretch, but most of it was unwarranted in my book. Hampton was the same player he has been for years. He still showed the ability to dominate the man in front of him on key plays and penetrate up field. His strength is just about unmatched, and I don’t believe there is a more consistent player against the run at NT in the league. Hampton is virtually useless in terms of pass rush. He just isn’t quick enough, and his arms are too short or his usage is too poor. Hampton was at his best when just asked to occupy blockers. Like with Keisel, the team got cute with him this year. They slanted him like he was Mean Joe, but the results weren’t pretty. It did allow him to penetrate up field more, but he was also washed out of the play easier. Hampton doesn’t need to lose weight or change his game.

Wasn’t the same after his injury, and had an uncharacteristically weak performance against the Jets. Smith plays the run perfectly, but he doesn’t add much as a pass rusher. He needs to learn to use his hands better, much like with Keisel. He has long arms and locks out on defenders. He controls his man well enough. If it hasn’t happened at this point in his career, it probably won’t. Still, there aren’t but one or two 3-4 DE’s I would take over Smith. He was worth every penny of his new contract. I just hope he stays healthy through the remainder.

Woodley struggled in space. He missed some plays against the Rams because he took bad angles on the ball carrier. He had a habit of getting caught out of position against the run, as well. Woodley is very strong and quick off the snap. Once the mental aspect is down, we may end up seeing the best pass rushing OLB to wear a Steelers uniform since Kevin Greene or Chad Brown. The team loves to stunt Woodley inside when they line him up as a DE on a four man front, and he does a good job moving guards. He showed a few moves in the pre-season, which already makes gives him an edge over Joey Porter (who knew just one way to get after the QB). Woodley was my favorite pick of the draft last year, and I can’t wait to see what he can do full time. I only wish the team had two of him, so one could play inside and the other outside.

Farrior disappointed me in the second half of this season with some uncharacteristically undisciplined play. He got caught out of position against the run against Jacksonville and Baltimore far too much. Without the security blanket of Aaron Smith in front of him, he initially struggled. Farrior is slowing down and can’t really be asked to cover TE’s or backs (as Jones Drew showed). He doesn’t always get deep enough in his zone. Farrior is still a quality player. I am sorry to say, though, that I would prefer it if he were benched or perhaps even cut to save money. If the team likes what it saw from Timmons, the move should be made. Farrior will be a Steeler only through the 08 season as is, and the team could save three million in cap space by such a move. Foote is signed longer and younger, and could potentially return for a third contract. It makes more sense to play Timmons at Farrior’s spot in my book. The bigger issue is how such a decision would go over with the team, and the defense in particular. Loyalty will keep him around.

Foote is another role player on this defense who is fairly consistent. He’s not a liability teams are able to target and exploit. He does an adequate job. Ideally, I would like to see the team aim higher here. It would be nice if they could find a stronger ILB to compliment the quicker Timmons. Foote can’t get off blocks when he blitzes, which is my biggest issue with him. If he doesn’t get a free shot at the QB, he usually won’t do much. Foote is a solid starter at the end of the day, and young. The team has struggled to find anything better, but there are still 3-4 teams (including the 18-1 Patriots) who wouldn’t mind having him.

Taylor has reached a plateau as a corner. He is a very good coverage man, but teams don’t have any fear of throwing at him because there is little risk involved. Taylor is usually left out on island while playing soft. He isn’t in position to jump routes that often, and when passes do hit his hands, he usually can’t catch them. It seems doubtful that he will ever resolve his issues, but should remain a starter for several more years. The team could stand to use him more aggressively. He’s got great size, and can run with just about any receiver.

Townsend refuses to give up his job. He rebounded from a somewhat disappointing 2006 campaign and there is no reason to rush the move. He is slowly being transitioned to the slot, and plays there in packages. He does a nice job of keeping everything in front of him, but still has the instincts and smarts to jump routes. He is a solid corner for this team, and underappreciated.

He has disappointed many because he can’t take the starting job, but that isn’t his fault. Townsend hasn’t slipped much, and the team is in no rush to demote him while he provides steady play, leadership, and playmaking ability. McFadden is a solid cover man, and would make for a reliable #2 opposite a true playmaking corner. He plays a lot like Townsend, but hasn’t shown the ability to make a play on short passes yet. He lacks ideal speed for the top corner spot, and will most likely never be the “star” people were hoping he would be after ‘05. He plays a bit too conservatively for my liking, but that is a relatively minor complaint. Better to give up the occasional short gain than to give up the 40 yard play. The team trusts him in the dime to play outside and they don’t miss much when he steps into the starting line-up. He’ll be fine.

A lot has been said about Polamalu’s season, and right now I’m almost the lone voice in the wilderness in really defending it. Polamalu has the same issues he’s always had, but his biggest problem is that his “splash” plays were down. He hasn’t produced INT’s or sacks or had enough of those 10 tackle days. It is obviously true that Polamalu has some tackling issues. He takes some poor angles when going to the ball carrier. All the Steelers safeties tackle in a similar way, so I believe some of it is coaching. Carter, Smith and Clark all go low in the open field. Polamalu’s biggest issue is that he often dives and puts his head down. Still, this is a relatively minor issue for the Steelers defense. Polamalu makes more tackles (some of which are just spectacular), and the Steelers have remained stingy on D in spite of the numerous complaints about its best players. Polamalu this past season was at his best playing the deep ball. His range is his greatest asset, and there isn’t a man in the NFL right now he moves quite like him. He will never get due credit for the big plays he broke up or prevented this season (like the Vernon Davis pass he broke up, or the flea-flicker against Cinci where he covered half the field). This is a unique, once in a generation player who I will always remember watching as a fan.

We all know Smith’s issues and remember his screw-ups. The wrinkles were showing prior to the games against New England, however. He first allowed big plays against New York, and it was just New England that exploited him on a big stage. He also lost a step on his man against Cinci a few times; only to be saved by some poor Carson Palmer passes. I have high hopes still for this guy. He’s got all the tools to be a very good safety in this league. On that trick play New England ran, it’s a testament to his athletic ability that he was nearly able to get back into position to break the pass up. With a little more luck, he just may have done it. His biggest issue is simply being too aggressive right now, and he may have been better off as SS this season with Polamalu actually playing the FS role. The Steelers will probably never make this switch, but it may be a better way to use both players. The Steelers don’t ask their FS to do a whole lot, to be honest. Smith is a guy who wants to do much more and can’t stay within the scheme right now. He needs to find the appropriate balance, but can shine in a reduced role until then.

Clark is almost the prototype FS for the Steelers. He is a guy who comes up and throws some nice hits and is rarely caught out of position. He has been the definition of solid since being signed, and is one of the Steelers quiet successes in free agency (and one of the reasons they need to use it more to sign lower end vets). This guy was a steal. Right now the early reports are that he will recover fine, and he will compete with Smith for the starting FS spot again. It doesn’t matter who wins, as either will see significant playing time on third down or in passing situations. The Steelers put three very good safeties on the field when he’s healthy. With Clark, the team had not given up a play of over 40 yards in 07.

Carter is too slow and small to rely on as a full time starter, but serves as an adequate role player who can be hidden by the scheme to an extent. The more vanilla the defense, the more of a liability he is going to be.

I was getting pretty down on Reed after last season, but he rebounded with a very fine season in ‘07. He seemed to genuinely improve the leg on his kickoffs, and he just may be the best directional kicker in the league right now. He’s one of the few bright spots on special teams, and I never really worry when he comes on the field. Many teams in this league can’t say the same, and it costs them games. If the Patriots had Jeff Reed, they just may have a fourth ring.

Few people were bigger fans of the pick than I was, but he was a relative disappointment in his rookie season. He was booming kicks for the first one or two pre-season games, but then they shortened dramatically. I have proposed my own little theory on the forums numerous times. Every punt was a close call early on, as the protection just wasn’t holding up. I’m no expert on punting, but it seems possible to me that Sepulveda had his leg coached out of him. His motion was too long, and they shortened it. He lost a lot of his strength. We never saw 60 yarders in those final pre-season games, or in the regular season, so I don’t believe this was a case of his leg dying. Sepulveda also didn’t show much “clutchness.” The first time he was backed up in the pre-season, he botched the punt. Three long punt returns cost the Steelers three games this year.

Tomlin had as shaky a season as the rookie punter in my book. Tomlin never got the hang of the challenge thing, though a lot of that may be whatever dimwit they have in the booth telling him what to do. His game management was never particularly impressive. In week 17, he misused his TO’s prior to the two-minute warning. The team showed no comprehension of situational football, and all year took their sweet time getting to the line after questionable plays. His two choices of going for two points has been discussed extensively, along with his decision to go with the 3-6 QB sweep. He made similar errors against the Jets, and failed to sense the momentum shift against the Cardinals earlier in the year. Tomlin was young and inexperienced, but I didn’t even see much growth during the year. He talked about having a better handle on things, but I didn’t see it. Mangini was hired a year earlier, but he clearly learned a number of tricks from Belichick that most coaches never understand. Tomlin’s team was ultimately 2-6 in games decided by 7 points or less. That is truly awful, and the best stat I have to show just how poor this team was at actually capitalizing on opportunities. This Steelers team had the third highest point differential of any Steelers team since 1979 (behind just 05 and 94), yet they finished 10-6 in the regular season and went one and done. Tomlin took over a talented team (the 8-8 record of last year was a mirage), but the results were completely average.

Worse yet, there were two areas on this team that Tomlin seemed to target in pre-season as places where he could leave his mark - special teams and the offensive line. He spent an incredible amount of time on special teams in practice, and hired TWO coaches to deal with the unit. The results speak for themselves. Special teams gaffes were evident against Arizona, New York, Cleveland 2, and Jacksonville 2. All were close games, while three were losses. The OL somehow managed to get worse from last year. A lot of that was Sean Mahan, who came over from the Bucs. The fact that he was from Tomlin’s old team suggests that this was one of his signings. At the least he should have had some knowledge of Mahan’s abilities. Okobi outplayed Mahan in the pre-season, yet still won the starting job. The first youngster Tomlin promoted as Willie Colon at RT over Max Starks. Yet, oddly enough, there was never any real competition at RG. The team rushed to extend Simmons and there were glowing reports coming out of camp prior to that. Some will argue that this was all Colbert and panic, but the fact is that if the coaches had given Kemo a real chance to displace Simmons, the FO would have had no choice of paying Simmons. This is a failure of the coaches as well as management. Under Tomlin, the OL has secured the weakest link on the entire team for (sadly enough, Simmons has the most job security of anyone on this OL) and signed a scrub at center who will most likely be replaced in one year. Tomlin came into Minnesota and whipped his players into shape, but we got some real head-scratching decisions here.

It’s too early to make permanent judgments of the man, but I wasn’t pleased with much I saw. The team started poorly in just about every game down the stretch and peaked in October. This led to a painfully predictable pattern every week of falling behind, only to storm back…and then lose in the final seconds. I guess this describes the most infuriating and exciting part about Tomlin’s team. They don’t play their best until the chips are down, but they will never give-up in a game. They showed an ability to mount comebacks routinely.

I have mixed feelings on LeBeau. I feel he gets way too fancy at times and refuses to just let his guys play. We saw this in New England when he insisted on blitzing, logic be damned. We saw this in Jacksonville, where he continued to run disastrous stunts with Farrior and Foote that left the team vulnerable against the pass and run. His blitzes seem to be hitting home less and less as times goes on, while there is little variation in the teams overall approach based on opponent. We saw some signs of change earlier in the year as the team blitzed less and played more cover 2. This was especially successful against Seattle, when the team had a rash of injuries but managed a stunning shut-out. In the second half of the year, however, we never saw this again. The final game he pulled out this gameplan was Cleveland 2. Still, LeBeau is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. Few people will ever appreciate just how well coached his defenses are. Steelers players jumped routes throughout the final weeks of the season (and that playoff game), and had chances to create about 10 turnovers. Players simply failed to execute when given the chance. If they come up with easy interceptions against Baltimore and Jacksonville 1, the team comes up with two more wins. LeBeau’s team is rarely caught off guard by what the opposing team throws at it. They are one of the best in the league at predicting what a team will run based on the formation and situation, and you can not overstate the importance of that in this league. The team is trying to get him some more gifted players, like Woodley and Timmons. It will be interesting to see how LeBeau uses them. Hopefully he gets that sometimes less really is more, and that he can trust his players to match-up against the opposition without a bunch of tricks.

What’s left to be said here? I would have fired Arians after this season without a second thought. Arians has some strengths, but his faults are maddening and inexcusable. His overall offensive design is impressive, and the results look good on paper. His implementation of that offense was suspect at best on game day, though. The team made poor use of play-action all year long. Screens, too, were disastrous. Both had been staples of the Steelers offense for 15 years under Cowher. I will throw Arians a bone on one thing, however. He wasn’t allowed to run “his” offense until about the second half of the year, when Dan Kreider went down. It was then that the team started to use more spread formations, which matches up better with his history. At the end of the day, however, Arians is going to throw off the rhythm of your offense at a few key moments in each game. He is going to make some decisions that leave everyone baffled and confused. Arians’ insanity left his fans in a fit, and opposing teams rejoicing. Little else needs to be said. Arians is not inexperienced and has been an offensive coordinator before, so there is no excuse to be made here. The paper results and the relationship he has developed with Roethlisberger will allow him to keep his job, but Arians is far from a master of his craft.

It’s hard to really judge him after this past season. His unit was clearly poor, but that can not all be placed on him. They were only slightly worse than last season, and Russ Grimm has the reputation as a guru of sorts when it comes to working with the OL. The positives? The team was better dealing with blitzes. Part of that was just the improvements that Roethlisberger seemed to make, along with the increased use of spread formations. Trai Essex also showed marked improvement when he was called upon against Jacksonville. Same with Max Starks. Both were simply terrible in the pre-season, yet played well enough later on. Zierlein was part of a staff in Buffalo that made its name due to its work with the offensive tackles. Specifically, they converted Jason Peters from TE to LT. The negatives? Well, the entire interior of the OL. Mahan’s technique as a center never improved in the regular season. Simmons is one of the worst RG’s in the league, and probably can’t be salvaged. Marvel Smith was technically sound before Zierlein joined, but Willie Colon did show improvements in his game (how many guys did Russ Grimm improve?). I’m going to say that Zierlein was a good hire at the end of the day, and that will show as more time passes.

Ligahesky is a retread, like Arians. That being say, he deserves less time to screw-up than a younger coach. He was fired in St. Louis, where his special teams were mediocre at best. Here in Pittsburgh he was given unprecedented support from his head coach. Probably no team in the league devoted as much time to special teams as the Steelers, and yet few teams had worse overall units. It didn’t matter who the players being inserted were, as we continued to see the same simple mistakes on the coverage teams. How hard is it to get guys to stay in their lanes on the coverage teams when you get a about hundred practice sessions to work it out? The team made a pretty puzzling move when it hired a second special teams coach by the name of Amos Jones. Jones has no NFL experience, but has been around a while in the college ranks. I’m hoping the intent is to groom him to take over, because the Ligahesky hire was puzzling from the beginning and looked worse by the day. Then, I would think a year would be enough time for a guy like Jones to take over, so that little theory doesn’t hold water.