Steelers rookie cornerback Cortez Allen is likely to see his first preseason action Thursday night against the Panthers. Allen was asked by fellow rookie Baron Batch via Twitter this afternoon if he was good to go and Allen replied back, "Thank the Lord." Allen has been sidelined most of training camp and all of the preseason with a hamstring injury and he needs to get on the field if he still wants a shot to make the 53 man roster. The Steelers will likely only keep 6 or 7 cornerbacks this year and Allen could very well be battling free agent Donovan Warren for the 7th spot. Should Allen Read more [...]

Every year heading into the final cut-down week fans are curious as to what players are eligible to be placed on the Steelers practice squad. In the new CBA the rule has not changed as far as the player eligibility goes. As always, every draft pick and undrafted free agent are eligible as these players are rookies. The biggest question always revolves around players that are not rookies that may have served time on a practice squad or have even made a 53 man roster for a short period of time. Below is the rule on practice squad eligibility and a list of the players that are currently on the bottom Read more [...]

Ben Roethlisberger talked to the media on Tuesday and Scott Brown noted how he responded carefully when asked about the NFL's personal conduct policy as it relates to the recent news that Patriots defensive end Albert Haynesworth will not be suspended initially by Roger Goodell after pleading no contest to simple assault charge. Roethlisberger was also careful in criticizing rules designed to better protect quarterbacks this season. Tim Benz of 105 The X caught up with offensive linemen Doug Legursky and Jonathan Scott on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming game against the Panthers. Legursky Read more [...]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his pregame press conference today prior to the Thursday night game against the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Audio is below: [audio:http://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/mike-tomlin-panthers-pre-game-press-conference.mp3] Tomlin opened by saying this is the last opportunity for a few players to make their case to make the 53 man roster. Ike Taylor, Chris Carter and Jerricho Cotchery will not play Thursday night and several players like James Farrior, Troy Polamalu, Casey Hampton, Bryant McFadden, Maurkice Pouncey Read more [...]

The Steelers made their needed cuts Tuesday morning to get in compliance with the league's mandated 80 man roster deadline of 4 p.m. ET today. Released this morning were nose tackle Anthony Gray, wide receiver Terrence McCray, cornerback Niles Brinkley and linebacker Chris Ellis. The roster now stands at 80 players. The initial moves had been made on Saturday as tight end Vaughn Charlton, cornerback Kevin Dockery, wide receiver Eric Greenwood and wide receiver Kenneth Moore were all released. Tight end Miguel Chavis was also waived/injured, while running back Baron Batch was placed on injured reserve. The Read more [...]

The latest depth chart released by the Steelers today has Doug Legursky listed as the starting right guard and Tony Hills listed as his backup. The early word is Legursky will start there Thursday night against the Panthers and Trai Essex could make his first start at center if the Steelers choose to let Maurkice Pouncey sit out with his dinged up ankle. Essex reportedly took first team reps on Monday at practice with Legursky to his right and will indeed play there at some point against the Panthers. The Steelers have had a revolving door at the right guard since camp started as both Chris Read more [...]

Below is the defensive participation chart for the Steelers third preseason game Saturday night versus the Falcons. Like the offensive chart this week, nothing sticks out as far as the rotation into the game. The starters, as expected, saw a great deal of work as the starting linebackers and safeties topped out at 60 plays. Chris Carter is missing from this list as he injured his hamstring early on special teams. Crezdon Butler led the way with 75 well needed plays on defense. Click on the image below to see the full PDF version of the defensive participation chart. #PlayerPOSPLAYS Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 11 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I spend most of out time reviewing the Steelers 34-16 preseason victory over the Atlanta Falcons. This will be the formula we will use during the season and these are the podcasts we like doing the most--analyzing the play on the field. But first, we start with the news that Kevin Colbert has a new title. Call him whatever you like, Colbert has few peers in the business and this is more formality that anything. We also review the early cuts (no surprises) and the injury report. How will the Steelers deal with broken left arm Read more [...]

With the third preseason game in the books it is now time to break down the performance of the offensive line and blocking by the offense as I do every week. As a whole the offensive line looked good and here is a breakdown by player. Marcus Gilbert - Gilbert made is first start of the preseason with Jonathan Scott out with a knee injury and he did not disappoint as he scored well against the likes of John Abraham, Jonathan Babineaux and Ray Edwards. Gilbert was not flawless though as he did allow an early pressure that lead to a sack of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Gilbert was worried about Read more [...]

Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey left the Saturday night preseason game against the Falcons early after aggravating his left ankle injury. It was the same ankle that Pouncey injured last year in the AFC Championship game against the Jets last year that ended up preventing him from playing in the Super Bowl. Pouncey was held out for the rest of the game against the Falcons, but told Scott Brown on Monday that he wants to play against the Panthers this Thursday even though he will not practice today. Pouncey told Brown today that calcium builds up in his left ankle and that once it breaks down Read more [...]

The Steelers beat the Falcons 34-16 Saturday night at Heinz Field in their 3rd preseason game of 2011 and it is now that time again to dissect the roster and project the 53 man roster that will start the season. If you missed versions 1-3 of my 53 man roster prediction, you can view version 1, version 2 and version 3 at each of the links. The first change this week is at quarterback after Byron Leftwich broke his left arm on a meaningless scramble. It was a nasty injury and Leftwich will miss some considerable time by most reports. We may now never know if the Steelers were truly showcasing Read more [...]

The Steelers have a general manager now for the first time in team history as Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert has a new title. The new title for Colbert showed up in the new Steelers 2011 media guide up on the Steelers website. The Steelers have not explained the title change for Colbert, who has been the team's director of football operations since 2000, but it is believed to be a promotion. Since taking the job, the Steelers have won their division six times and have made it to the AFC Championship Game five times. The Steelers have 3 Super Bowl appearances during that span Read more [...]

Below are the offensive personnel packages, play counts and participation chart for the Steelers third preseason game Saturday night versus the Falcons. The third game is usually used as a dress rehearsal of sorts so it is no surprise that the starting unit received 27 plays of work. The order of the substitutions used after the starters exited also included no surprises. The only thing really to note, albeit not a surprise, was the fact that rookie Marcus Gilbert received a few snaps at right tackle after his night was done on the left side. Personnel package wise the Steelers used 5 wide receivers Read more [...]

The Steelers started the process today of pairing down their 90 man roster to the league mandated 80 players by Tuesday afternoon. Steelers Digest is reporting that the Steelers have waived tight end Vaughn Charlton, cornerback Kevin Dockery, wide receiver Eric Greenwood and wide receiver Kenneth Moore outright. They also waived/injured, tight end Miguel Chavis. Charlton, Greenwood and Chavis were all signed as undrafted free agents following the lockout. Chavis was the most notable of the bunch as he was converted to tight end from defensive end later in training camp. He tore his left pectoral Read more [...]

Below are the individual coverage stats and totals from the Saturday night preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. The top table is by play and consist of which Falcons player was targeted with the pass, the yards gained on the play and the yards after the catch the receiver had on the play. Also included is the number of pass rushers the Steelers used on the play and if they blitzed or not on the play. I have included the down and distance as well as well as the direction of the pass. There were five plays where it was impossible to tell who really had coverage as three of those were running Read more [...]