By Cian Fahey With the news that Jerricho Cotchery is in St Louis visiting the Rams, Mike Tomlin's noteworthy comment on Emmanuel Sanders' health and Mike Wallace's continued lack of a long-term contract, the Pittsburgh Steelers could value the wide receiver position in this draft more than many anticipate. The most likely receiver to be available for the Steelers to draft is Stephen Hill out of Georgia Tech, but he is also the best fit. Hill isn't rated the top prospect at the position as Kendall Wright of Baylor, Michael Floyd of Notre Dame and Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State University Read more [...]

The 2012 NFL draft is almost here and every year about this time I like to go back through the Pittsburgh Steelers roster and identify the stone cold locks for the 53 man roster on both sides of the ball. This gives clarity to obvious draft needs as well as upcoming roster battles to start looking forward to. First up is the offense and below is the breakdown of the players I would bet my house on to make the 53 man roster baring some sort of injury or suspension. While you could make arguments for several others I do not have listed, I think you would have a hard time selling me that they are Read more [...]

By Christopher DiMarino Can you feel the excitement growing in Steeler Nation? With just over 3 weeks remaining before the draft (April 26th), every fan is on the edge of their seats. There seems to be a blitzkrieg of draft profiles and mocks popping up all over the web and I am enjoying all of them. The draft is unlike anything else in football because of the magnitude of differing opinions both on prospects and likely team decisions. I’ve been especially impressed when reading the comment wires on how many Steelers fans have legitimate opinions and can back them up. The first round pick Read more [...]

By Christina Rivers By now, Steelers fans are recovering somewhat from the news that Hines Ward chose to retire from the NFL in order to do so as a Pittsburgh Steelers player.  In a moving tribute, Steelers fans sent Ward numerous personal messages via Facebook and other media.  Cian Fahey wrote a very moving piece about the type of player Ward was.  Even Dave Bryan here at Steelers Depot wrote a piece about the way that Ward impacted the Steelers as a player and the NFL overall.  It is difficult to imagine no #86 jersey with Ward's name on the back this season.  One thing I will always admire Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz It was great to hear Mike Tomlin talk this week at the owner’s meetings about all things black and gold. Steelers’ fans were finally able to achieve clarity regarding the release of Bruce Arians and the hiring of Todd Haley, both of which Tomlin accepted full responsibility. Tomlin also commented on other intriguing topics such as the potentially volatile relationship between Haley and Ben Roethlisberger, the injury concerns of Emmanuel Sanders and Willie Colon, and the desire of the team to get a “young” quarterback on the roster. However, something that may have been Read more [...]

If you have read this site for a while or are a long time listener of the podcast, you know that I have long been worried about the feet of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders ever since his second surgery. As I have stated before, you never like to hear about young player having problems with their feet early on in their careers, especially if they play a skill position like running back or wide receiver. Head Coach Mike Tomlin announced on Tuesday from the NFL owners meetings that he too has fears similar to mine when it comes to Sanders and his ability to stay healthy. Ed Bouchette Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 91 of The Terrible Podcast is up and with David Todd and I are all over the place in this episode. We start off looking at some of the comments made by Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin at the NFL owners meeting about the injury concerns he has about Emmanuel Sanders and Willie Colon. We also discuss the pre draft visitors that the Steelers have had in thus far as well. What about Max Starks? He wants to come back and Kevin Colbert has hinted that might be a possibility down the line as well. Is this a pre draft smoke screen? Should they really be thinking about bringing Read more [...]

I am already getting a few questions as to who the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 free agents will be after the 2012 season, so I thought I would give you a quick peek at the players that are currently under contract and tendered as of right now. Of course the list of unrestricted players is likely to grow, because a few players the Steelers could likely sign back such as Byron Leftwich, Charlie Batch and William Gay, to name a few, will likely only be signed to one-year qualifying contracts. Looking at the unrestricted list, the two names of course that jump out are Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall. Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey If you have previously read my work throughout my writing career, you will understand that I rarely state the obvious for the fear of patronizing my readers as well as not wanting to run the risk of boring them. Generally, I go against the grain from what the majority think. I'm not a contrarian. Contrarians think differently for the sake of thinking differently. I think differently generally because it's what I believe, whether I'm right or wrong, and I'll stick by it. For that reason, it generally takes a lot for me to write an article where I feel that I am pointing out Read more [...]

By Christopher DiMarino The big question fans are wondering this offseason is what positions the Pittsburgh Steelers will go after in this draft. That is the big question to ask when analyzing tight ends for this draft. Keep in mind that Heath Miller is only 30 (in October) and David Johnson, Weslye Saunders and Jamie McCoy will all be reporting to camp. Heath isn’t getting any younger, and the Steelers power running could always use another tight end (to challenge the bottom 3). The Steelers are deep at wide receiver so grabbing a receiving tight end is hard because it means sidelining a guy Read more [...]

Manish Mehta, the New York Jets beat writer for the New York Daily News, is reporting via Twitter on Wednesday that the Jets have expressed interest in bringing back wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery per a source. The Jets released Cotchery last August after his request to be cut loose as he reportedly was unhappy with his role as the Jets No. 3 receiver. Cotchery of course ended up signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers after the start of training camp and he saw most of his contributions down the stretch after he fully recovered from a hamstring injury suffered in the preseason. Cotchery ended up Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey It is unlikely that Mike Wallace leaves the Pittsburgh Steelers when free agency begins next week but the chance remains as Wallace is a restricted free agent (breaking news I know). In my mind, there are two teams who could likely make a run at Wallace. Those teams are the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. If the Patriots sign Wallace, the Steelers will get the 31st pick in the draft. If the 49ers sign Wallace, then the team will get the 30th overall selection. The Steelers would have the option of using that selection on a receiver but wouldn't be forced to because Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey When Reggie Bush left New Orleans, the Saints made sure to bring in a player who matched his similar skill set despite already having some level of depth at the position. The Saints entered free agency last year, because of the lockout, with Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory as their three running backs. However, once the season began, the team's most important back was free agent addition Darren Sproles. Darren Sproles is probably the worst runner of the group, as Ingram, Thomas and Ivory all run hard whether it be between the tackles or to the outside. Sproles, who Read more [...]

Scott Brown, from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,  reported on Thursday that the Steelers had productive contract talks this past week with Jack Scharf, the agent of unrestricted free agent wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, at the 2012 NFL combine. Cotchery signed a one-year deal with the Steelers after the start of training camp last year and saw a little more than 300 snaps on offense in 2011. Cotchery has expressed several times since the 2011 season ended that he would like to return to the Steelers in 2012, and that he is hoping for a multi-year deal. He also noted that he would like to Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Hines Ward was no doubt an integral part of the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last several years and was a primary contributor in Super Bowl wins number six and seven. His physicality and connection with the fans of Pittsburgh will not be forgotten, no matter what jersey he wears next year (with the exclusion of a black and purple one). Ward will always be a Steeler, and someday soon, he will wear a jacket in Canton. However, it was time for him to go. There would have been no way of justifying keeping him on board for the 2012 season with the plentiful young talent at wide receiver Read more [...]