During the offseason is usually when we see the major media sites start rolling out articles that revolve around list and rankings as they create discussion during the dead time and some are better than others.
On Thursday, Elliot Harrison of NFL.com released his All-Under-25 Team and Pittsburgh Steelers guard David DeCastro is included.
Harrison writes:
DeCastro, who beat out Cincy’s Kevin Zeitler for this spot, allowed a grand total of 1.25 sacks in 15 starts and was flagged just twice. Pittsburgh ran the ball to his side more effectively, too.
That little tidbit is short and to the point. If DeCastro has any faults right now, it would be that he sometimes struggles with picking up stunts. While he likely deserves one more blame in the sack column, he only allowed five quarterback hits. He did, however, allow 23 hurries last season, but that number should shrink a little next season. At least we hope it will.
DeCastro’s best years are still ahead of him and with him being technician, he really should benefit from the addition of new offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who was technician himself during his playing days and a stickler for details as a coach.
It really is hard to find holes in any of Harrison’s other choices on either side of the football and you have to remember that this is an age based list. You could, however, make an argument that Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell belongs on the list instead Giovani Bernard. Bell had 50 more total yards from scrimmage than Bernard had last season and just as many total touchdowns. Bell also put up those numbers while playing three less games than the Cincinnati Bengals rookie running back. Sure, Bernard ‘s 56 receptions last season led all rookie running backs as Harrison states, but Bell was only 11 behind him.
Welcome to list and ranking season.
