I was asked by a reader in the post I did on Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman directional rushes last season as to what the number of times the Pittsburgh Steelers rushed versus passed on third and short last year. The premise of the question I gather was to claim that the offense did not run enough on third down with three yards or less to go. Instead of just pulling those down and distance numbers, I went ahead and pulled the down analysis report from the regular season and posted the entire thing below in case anyone was looking for a particular down and distance. Keep in mind that Read more [...]

On Tuesday Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor told John Harris on Trib Live Radio that restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace told him while the two were together in Las Vegas this past weekend that he had more yards than both Jerry Rice and Randy Moss through each their first three years in the league. Taylor told Harris that Wallace said, "Man I got more yards than Jerry Rice and Randy Moss in three years. From their first three years." Taylor continued on, "And that's a stat I didn't know. So I'm looking at it like, shoot, I cant really argue with you." Either Taylor misinterpreted Read more [...]

I received a few emails since the post yesterday in which I broke down the rushing of the Pittsburgh Steelers running backs by direction and was asked if I could post the stats of each running back by direction and down from 2011. I compiled the stats of just Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman below as there really is no reason to do Mewelde Moore, Jonathan Dwyer and John Clay as they all combined for 48 carries total. Both Mendenhall and Redman finished with a 52% and 53% success rate respectively. To reiterate what makes a play a successful play, if a back gains 40% of the yardage needed Read more [...]

One thing that has been noticeably different since Alan Faneca left the Pittsburgh Steelers is the ability of the offense to be balanced directionally as far as running plays go. With the drafting of Stanford guard David DeCastro and the move of Willie Colon from right tackle to left guard now, the Steelers offense will hope to be much more balanced than the previous three seasons. Since Faneca left, the Steelers have had problems finding any semblance of productive stability on the offensive line thanks to injuries and inconsistent play. The first course of action was to shore up the center Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Curtis Brown didn't see any snaps on the defensive side of the football as a rookie, but he did contribute quite a bit on special teams, a necessity for all young defensive players drafted by Pittsburgh. Football Outsiders released their 2011 Special Teams Tackles Stats on Monday and Brown finished 11th on their list with 14 return tackles, of which 10 were regarded as stops. A stop, as defined by FO, is when a coverage player made it downfield to get a tackle (or assist) that stopped a return for less-than-average value. The stop rate for Brown was 71%. Keep Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Ryan Clark had a great statistical season last year as far as tackles go. He was in on 100 tackles total with 71 credited to him as being of the solo variety, where he was the primary, or in some cases, the only player involved in making the stop. Both of those numbers were career highs for Clark, but that is not necessarily such a good thing though. The Steelers run defense struggled at times last year and allowed 4.0 yards per carry on the season. Clark recorded 33 of his 71 solo tackles last year against the run according to my stats and on those plays the Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz With the egress of Bruce Arians and the addition of Todd Haley, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be lining up opening night against the Denver Broncos with a new offense that apparently is so complex that Ben Roethlisberger labeled it the Rosetta Stone. While nobody has ever accused Ben of being a rocket scientist, the seasoned veteran should not have any issues in assimilating the new playbook and its offensive philosophies. If anything, Roethlisberger is entering his prime as an NFL quarterback, and if history is a predictor of the future, it is that elite quarterbacks in their ninth Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hinted on Wednesday in his interview with Rich Eisen that he expects to use more no-huddle now that Todd Haley has taken over as offensive coordinator. I have had quite a few request to pull the stats of Roethlisberger over the course of his career when running the no-huddle offense and I have finally compiled the raw stats from the all of the gamebooks dating back to 2004 with Roethlisberger under center. Late me emphasize that these stats are by no means considered official, as they are pulled from the NFL gamebooks. I have noticed in my own Read more [...]

Since the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Florida running back Chris Rainey in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL draft, one really can't help but to think that new offensive coordinator Todd Haley plans to use him the same way that he used Dexter McCluster when he was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. It got me wondering just how much Haley used his running backs in the passing game dating back to his time as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals so I pulled the stats for all 32 teams dating back to 2007. I have included the running back targets and receptions in the numbers to go Read more [...]

I was doing some research on measurables of linebackers that the Pittsburgh Steelers have drafted over the years just for comparison purposes and I figured I would go ahead and make a post out of the results and add in the top linebackers this year for comparison purposes. Let me disclaimer here that combine and pro day results are numbers that should reflect what a scout sees on tape. You can't judge a player on how fast he runs and how well he jumps in shorts. The numbers are fun to play with, but tape of a player does not lie. The numbers below show the best result a player had at either Read more [...]

Chris DiMarino and Cian Fahey have done a great job recently in justifying the notion that the Pittsburgh Steelers could possibly draft Stanford tight end Coby Fleener in the first round of the upcoming draft. While it is anything but a lock right now to take place, it certainly is a possibility when you factor in how General Manager Kevin Colbert likes to draft. Fleener is head and shoulders the best tight end in this draft class in my opinion and the Steelers could certainly use another legitimate threat in the passing game. While Heath Miller is far from done, he will turn 30 years of age Read more [...]

By Christopher DiMarino The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a bit of a precarious situation regarding the tight end position. The 2012 season was big year for tight ends around the league. New records were set and the position saw heavy involvement in effective passing attacks. For the Steelers, it was a very average year for tight ends. The Steelers got a great player when they drafted Heath Miller. He is regarded as one of the best blocking tight ends in the league and has been extremely reliable when called upon. In fact when the Steelers need a first down, I now find myself following Miller since Read more [...]

Let me start this post off by saying that I am a huge fan of Pat Kirwan. For those that do not know it, he is the co-host of the show Movin' The Chains on SiriusXM NFL Radio. Before his radio gig, Kirwan spent eight years with the New York Jets, beginning as a defensive assistant coach and advancing to director of player administration, where he negotiated contracts and managed the team's salary cap. Before that he was an area scout for the Phoenix Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has also authored a fantastic book called Take Your Eye Off the Ball that I really suggest everyone read. On Read more [...]

All the eyes of Steeler Nation were fixed firmly upon Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe this week at the 2012 NFL Combine and with good reason. The Steelers will certainly be in the market for a young nose tackle during the 2012 NFL draft and Poe certainly seems to fit the bill of what they will be looking for. You have likely heard over the last few weeks that Poe best resembles Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, not only in build and measurables, but also in his style of play. That comparison is certainly justified. The defensive linemen have now finished their on the field work Read more [...]

The 2012 NFL Scouting Combine is getting underway now in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Lucas Oil Stadium and we are starting to compile the 2012 NFL Combine Results. The scouting combine is an invitation only event, open only to invited college players and NFL team officials. The testing and evaluations include: physical measurements, injury evaluation, drug screen, cybex test, wonderlic test, interviews, 40 yard dash, 225 lb bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, 60-yard shuttle, three-cone drill and position-specific drills. Below are links to each specific player position Read more [...]

There was an interesting discussion this morning on Trib Live Radio in regards to 36 year old wide receivers in relation to Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward this morning and how effective those receivers were at that age. I pulled the numbers that you can see below in the table from Pro Football Reference of receivers that played at 36 years old and also included their AV number for that season. In short, the Approximate Value (AV) method is an attempt to put a single number on the seasonal value of a player at any position from any year. It is not without faults though. According Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Prior to the 2011 season, there was no doubt of who was the premier quarterback from the 2004 NFL Draft. Ben Roethlisberger, selected 11th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers, sported a resume jeweled by three Super Bowl appearances, two Super Bowl victories, and an aptitude for last minute victories. The success he had experienced in his short career carried more weight than the other quarterbacks that were drafted in the first round the same year as Roethlisberger. But after the New York Giants Super Bowl win against New England Patriots, Eli Manning has now knocked a leg or Read more [...]

Now that it looks certain that Todd Haley will be named the Pittsburgh Steelers new offensive coordinator, I have put together a time line of Haley along with the offensive stats dating back to 2007, his first year as an offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals through his time as head coach with the Kansas City Chiefs. You will see the run/pass ratios that are based on attempts, sacks and recorded quarterback scrambles as well. These are of course not 100% guaranteed ratios, but pretty damn close based on drop backs. The stats are also regular season stats and do not included the playoffs. 2007 Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner has been at the top of my potential candidates to replace Bruce Arians as the offensive coordinator since it was announced that Arians would not return in 2012. The reasons are obvious as he already has a good grasp of the talent on the Steelers roster, he has a good relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and he has had an association with head coach Mike Tomlin dating back to 1998 when they both were on the Arkansas State coaching staff. Tomlin in fact hired Fichtner to his staff when he was hired back in 2007. Fichtner also runs Read more [...]

The 2012 Senior Bowl week is underway in Mobile, Alabama and as always the official weigh-in takes place on Monday to get the latest heights and weights of the players prior to the 2012 NFL Combine in late February. Below are the official heights, weights, hand and arm length measurements of both the North and the South rosters and the height measurements are of course done in eighths per the standard. Meaning the last number of the four digits is the eighth measurement. 1 = 1/8, 2 = 1/4, 3 = 3/8, 4 = 1/2, 5 = 5/8, 6 = 3/4, 7 = 7/8. 2012 Senior Bowl Official Weigh-In Results NORTH ROSTER Read more [...]