Battles To Watch In Latrobe
As we head into August that can mean only one thing in the world of the Steelers and Steeler fans alike, training camp is upon us. Another year of high hopes surround this team and with the roster makeover that took place in the off season; there may be some additional position battles in camp this year. Those battles will include some important starting roles as well as battles for top reserve spots. Let’s take a position by position look at where some battles will occur and what may go on in camp as well as what we expect to shake out in the end.
Some of these are clear cut and dry. The Quarterback position is only a battle for the backup spot, which could see some action as Ben usually misses a couple games due to his rugged style of play. That battle will take place between two veterans, Byron Leftwhich and Charlie Batch. Leftwhich has missed the last 2 years with injuries while Batch has done a serviceable job when called upon in that time. Despite missing the last 2 years, Leftwhich should win this job. He’s still more talented and certainly has the stronger arm. Batch is still a good guy to have on the squad and if need be, he’ll be ok to fill in here and there as well.
Running back will have a battle for the opening of the season as Mendenhall is expected to miss a good bit of time recovering from his knee injury. The leading candidate to land the starting job and our choice to do so is Isaac Redman. He proved last year that he can carry a good work load and average a good bit of yards per carry to boot. He’s going to have to hold off Baron Batch and even Jonathan Dwyer (yeah, he’s got some talent) but in the end this job is Redmans. In fact, we think there’s potential that not only will he start the season as the number 1 back, but he may just end it there too.
The wide receiver position is interesting as the number one guy, Mike Wallace, hasn’t signed his tender yet and is unhappy with his contract status. Will he miss the first 10 games before he reports? Let’s hope not but if he does that shifts some guys around. Antonio Brown will be number 1 and then Sanders and Cotchery would battle for the 2nd job. We’ll assume Wallace shows up in time for week one and say the top four guys in order will fall like this; Wallace, Brown, Sanders and Cotchery. That’s a very potent attack. The real battle for playing time will be between Sanders and Cotchery. They both have some serious talent and Cotchery may be the man who fills the role Ward left as receivers captain and mentor but Sanders seems to be the guy to beat for that third job.
The most intriguing battle of camp will be on the offensive line. It’s no secret the Steelers revamped their line via the draft this past April and they expect there to be some immediate dividends. We know that Pouncey will be at center, there is no question there and with Willie Colon back after missing the last two years, the team has decided to move him from tackle to guard. It seems a certainty he’ll win one of the guard spots and everyone thinks that draftee David DeCastro is so good he’ll win the other one. We’ll agree with that. That leaves two tackle spots up for grabs between 2nd year man Marcus Gilbert, rookie Mike Adams, newly re signed Max Starks and vet Trai Essex. We’ll take Essex out of the fold as he’s a better back up than starter. We think Gilbert started enough games last year and gained the experience to win a job out of the gates this year. That leaves us with 1 spot and two guys, Starks and Adams. While many folks think Adams will win the job out of the gates, we think it will be Starks. He’s a vet, he played well last year and he should be healed from his injury by the end of camp. Adams will be a good man off the bench and may eventually start some games, but we don’t think he’ll be ready at the beginning of the year.
As we move to the defensive side of the ball there are some good battles as well. On the DL you’ll have a backup tackle battle between McClendon and rookie Ta’amu. McClendon played some good ball last year but the edge in our mind goes to Ta’amu who will also most likely be your starter in 2013.
There is one middle linebacker job open and that battle seems to be between two guys, Larry Foote and Jason Worilds. The Steelers would like the younger Worilds to win this job and he’s shown some flashes but he’s been inconsistent. Foote is a good player and been around for some time but he’s aging and isn’t quite what he used to be. We think it’s a tossup and it may come down to the final pre season game but in the end Worilds will probably be your opening day starter.
The last spot that’s up for grabs is the 2nd corner position. The team released McFadden, thankfully and let William Gay walk. They have high hopes for Cortez Allen and Keenan Lewis and think either man is capable of earning the job. They both have pretty good cover skills but there seems to be some sort of fundamental flaw with Lewis that we can’t quite put our finger on. It seems to have taken him too long to ‘get it’. Allen seems to be the more complete player and is our choice to win the job and we expect he’ll do so.
In the end the Steelers will field the best 22 guys on offense and defense but they won’t know who all 22 are until the very end of camp. While some jobs are in the bag and are just formalities, there are some serious position battles to watch over the next few weeks with specific interest in the offensive line, middle linebacker and 2nd corner spot. It should be a lot of fun as the stairway to 7 kicks off again!
