Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at
9:46 pm
The Pittsburgh Steelers made one transaction on Tuesday as tight end Zack Pianalto was waived from the Reserve/Injured list after fully recovering from what is believed to be a calf injury suffered during the second week of OTA practices.
Pianalto was originally waived injured back on June 3, and he reverted to the Steelers injured reserve list after clearing waivers. He was originally signed to a futures contract by the Steelers back on January 11.
Now that Pianalto has been waived from the Steelers injured reserve list that leaves cornerback Justin King as the only player currently on injured
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Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at
3:58 pm
Joe Fortenbaugh of the National Football Post had an interesting breakdown Tuesday morning of a stat Cleveland Browns general manager Michael Lombardi likes to rely on that encompasses total rushes and total completions by a team over the course of a regular season as it relates to winning percentage and teams making the playoffs. Fortenbaugh's conclusion is that the magic number over a course of a season is an average of 50 or more when the total rushes are added to the total completions and divided by the amount of games.
This stat certainly is interesting, but I wanted to look at from several
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Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at
7:10 am
Last season, three undrafted free agents from the 2012 draft class made the Pittsburgh Steelers 53 man roster out of training camp as punter Drew Butler, linebacker Adrian Robinson and safety Robert Golden all beat the odds. This years' undrafted free agent class has a tougher road, in my opinion, but there are five players I think at least have a chance of making the 2013 team.
G Nik Embernate - (25% Chance) - Embernate was one of the Steelers highest priority undrafted free agents after playing in 47 games at San Diego State, mostly at right guard. Embernate can move well for a player with
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Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at
6:15 am
By Matthew Marczi
When the Pittsburgh Steelers elected to re-sign tight end Matt Spaeth after his release following a two-year stint with the Chicago Bears, it seemed that the general reaction to the news was, on the positive end of the spectrum, apathetic. However, the reality is that his return to the team should be received with pleasure, especially in a season in which Pro Bowl tight end Heath Miller is recovering from a severe knee injury.
Many seemed surprised when Spaeth was picked up by the Bears as a free agent following the 2010 season, wondering why they would even bother signing
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Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 at
5:20 am
During the Pittsburgh Steelers mandatory mini camp last week, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau made it a point to praise safety Shamarko Thomas and linebacker Jarvis Jones when asked if it was too soon to tell if any of his young players had distinguished themselves yet throughout the offseason practices.
"I really like our young safety from Syracuse [Shamarko Thomas] also," said LeBeau. "He’s come in here just like Jarvis [Jones] and worked hard. They’re both learning the defense, and they’re not going to learn it overnight. I’m pleased with where they are."
Thomas, one of two fourth-round
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Monday, June 17th, 2013 at
1:31 pm
It was announced on Sunday that the Cincinnati Bengals will again be featured on the HBO series Hard Knocks which means that we can likely expect to see former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison get some face time as the cameras follow his new team from the start of training camp up until the final cut down day. That should make for some interesting segments for sure.
I have always enjoyed the mini series, but at the same time am glad that the Steelers have decided not to ever partake in it as I think it would serve as an unneeded distraction.
My thoughts aside, where do you weigh
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Monday, June 17th, 2013 at
1:06 pm
Season 3, Episode 112 of The Terrible Podcast is up and co-host David Todd and I go over what I believe are the 38 players that are locks for the Pittsburgh Steelers 53 man roster in 2013 as we sit here in June. That discussion leads to us talking about the Steelers depth at the tight end position being as we still don't know for sure if Heath Miller will be ready for the season opener or not.
Speaking of tight ends, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is scheduled to go under the knife once again so we discuss his status being as the Steelers will face the Patriots in week 9 of
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Monday, June 17th, 2013 at
10:16 am
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley says he has lost weight during the offseason, but wanted to make it clear during an interview last week with 105.9 The X that his weight had nothing to do with his poor performance last season.
"That has nothing to do with the injuries," Woodley said during the final week of offseason practices. "I think what slowed me up last year was just the high ankle sprain. Once you have a high ankle sprain that just affects you throughout the whole year. It stops everything that you're doing as far as an outside linebacker, as far as rushing and trying to
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Monday, June 17th, 2013 at
6:22 am
It's no secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers offense had a tough time adjusting to then-new offensive coordinator Todd Haley last year and this past week running back Isaac Redman admitted as much in an interview on 93.7 The Fan. Redman did, however, say that things are off to a much better start this year.
"Yeah, you can tell it's a better relationship all the way across the board," said Redman, who signed a one-year, $1.323 million restricted tender during the offseason. "We've got to know him for a year; he's got to know us, and you can tell it was kind of awkward, uncomfortable feeling last
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Monday, June 17th, 2013 at
5:42 am
According to Teresa Varley of steelers.com, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr. had a big decision to make as to which team he should sign with on the final day of the 2013 NFL Draft being is it was looking like he would go undrafted in the last round. With several teams calling wanting to sign him as a free agent, the Notre Dame product reportedly leaned on his father, Mike Golic, who played eight seasons in the NFL as a defensive lineman, for advice, which was to sign with Pittsburgh.
"He was very proud," Golic Jr. told Varley of his dad's reaction. “He knows what
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Sunday, June 16th, 2013 at
9:02 pm
It's funny how non news can suddenly become big news. According to Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, there's a "strong possibility" Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Heath Miller won't be ready for the 2013 season opener.
Really? Robinson certainly goes out on a limb there and for some reason; this revelation of his resulted in the Steelers trending Sunday on Yahoo. Considering the tight end tore up his knee in the second to last game of the 2012 season, his readiness for the start of the 2013 has always been in question.
Miller updated his status a few weeks ago and refused to
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Sunday, June 16th, 2013 at
6:15 am
I few weeks ago it was reported that Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark had said his agent was working hard to get him a contract extension being as 2013 is his final year of his current contract, but Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Friday that Clark told him no contract negotiations are currently taking place.
This news isn't terribly surprising being as the Steelers normally don't start working on extensions with players until training camp gets underway. Being that Clark will turn 34 this season, he might be low on the priority list being as the team might decide
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Sunday, June 16th, 2013 at
5:20 am
If running back LaRod Stephens-Howling is going to make the Pittsburgh Steelers roster in 2013, he will have to prove to both offensive coordinator Todd Haley and special teams coach Danny Smith that he can be a third down back and a kick returner respectively.
"When I came in for my visit, they let me know the opportunity they had on third downs, and they let me know special teams is a big reason why I'm here," said Stephens-Howling via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "They let me know right off the bat that both things will come into account when it comes to the roster."
Last season rookie
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Saturday, June 15th, 2013 at
1:39 pm
Just this past week, Pat Kirwan of CBS Sports surprisingly predicted that the Pittsburgh Steelers would face the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game in 2013. On Saturday, Mark Schlereth of ESPN was asked to predict the six teams in the AFC that he thinks will make the playoffs and his choices included a few surprises.
Of the six teams that made the playoffs in 2012, Schlereth has the Broncos, New England Patriots, Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals all making it again in 2013. Because of their losses via free agency on the defensive side of the ball, Schlereth thinks the Ravens will
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Saturday, June 15th, 2013 at
9:34 am
By Jeremy Hritz
Thursday morning, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ed Bouchette wrote about the possibility of rookie first round draft pick Jarvis Jones earning the starting right outside linebacker position opposite LaMarr Woodley.
In order for that to occur, according to Bouchette, his ability to assimilate the 3-4 defense has to be sharp: “The better Jones knows the defense, the more chance he will have to start in it. Woodley flashed great pass-rush ability as a rookie in 2007, but did not start a game because he did not know the defense.”
It’s no secret that the Dick LeBeau 3-4
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Saturday, June 15th, 2013 at
6:15 am
By Matthew Marczi
Whether merited or not, there was quite a bit handwringing in the media last offseason over the Pittsburgh Steelers’ decision to hire Todd Haley as the team’s offensive coordinator, and subsequently how quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would respond to a coach known for a fiery disposition after seeing his good friend Bruce Arians shown the door.
Of course, as the 2012 season bears out, not much was ever made of the explosive dynamic that was supposed to exist between the two after initial worries over whether they had met, other than a scarce few comments.
A note or
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Saturday, June 15th, 2013 at
5:37 am
Pittsburgh Steelers running backs coach Kirby Wilson was asked this past week what he's looking for out of second-round draft pick Le'Veon Bell moving forward as the team wrapped up their final week of offseason practices and his response was pretty straight forward.
"Just the ability to grasp the entire offense, the entire package, from a protection standpoint, ball security, running the right route on pass plays," said Wilson. "We are looking for all phases from him in order to be able to compete at the highest level. The fundamentals have to be there."
Wilson also reiterated this past
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Friday, June 14th, 2013 at
4:09 pm
Before we get into the individual roster battles that will begin to take place when the Pittsburgh Steelers report to Latrobe in six weeks, let's have a look at how many roster spots are legitimately up for grabs now that the team has wrapped up their offseason practices.
Quarterbacks (3): Ben Roethlisberger, Bruce Gradkowski, Landry Jones
These three spots have been set in stone ever since the Steelers selected Jones in the fourth round of the draft and while the Oklahoma product has reportedly struglled some during the offseason practices, there is no way that he doesn't make the team.
Running
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Friday, June 14th, 2013 at
1:34 pm
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting Friday that police have arrested Jerrell Whitlock, who is believed to be the third suspect accused in the stabbing of Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Mike Adams earlier this month. Whitlock had fled the Pittsburgh area following the incident and was arrested in Florida.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the preliminary hearing had been postponed for Dquay Means and Michael C. Paranay, the two men who already been arrested and charged with trying to carjack Adams while authorities search for Whitlock.
Means and Paranay both remain jailed on
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Friday, June 14th, 2013 at
12:38 pm
Training camp is now six weeks away and with the offseason practices now behind us; we can speculate what the 2013 Active PUP list might look like when the Pittsburgh Steelers report to Latrobe later next month.
Before we have a look at the players who could be destined for that list, however, it is important to know what the physical unable to perform list is for and the rules that are associated with it.
In order for a player to be qualified for the Reserve PUP list at the start of the regular season, he must have been listed on the Active PUP list for the duration of training camp. A team
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