Is Steelers Draft Pick Landry Jones The Heir Apparent To Roethlisberger?

by Jason and Jayden

The 115th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Landry Jones, has great size, a very strong arm which allows him to make every NFL throw, has a fairly quick release, can fit passes into tight spots, has good timing on his throws and has good accuracy.

And there is little chance he will succeed Ben Roethlisberger as the starting quarterback for the Steelers.

There are two ways to look at this: Barring an injury or some sort of contract dispute, it is too early to draft an actual replacement. But, then, Jones has the requisite tools that you'd want as the man to make sure Renegade keeps playing week after week. Let's go over each.

Admittedly, the injury possibility is a strong possibility with Big Ben. As Skip Bayless said on ESPN's First Take during an interview with Steelers' wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on Wednesday: "This man is hurt every week....His body is about 30 years older than he is." Adding the motorcycle accident as a reason along with the many hits and sacks he's taken throughout his career.

All in all what Bayless said said is valid: Big Ben is hurt a lot. There very well could be an injury, whether accumulative or via a freak Joe Theismann-like play, that could shorten his career. Having a safety-valve heir apparent in place is smart business.

That part of it, then, makes sense. Because, as Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner said about the situation when Jones was drafted, it was time to "freshen up the (quarterbacks') room." With Geppetto and the Blue Fairy still working on repairing Byron Leftwich, and Uncle Charlie Batch due to receive his AARP card any day now, it was time. - http://tinyurl.com/cme2ycw

At the same time, though, one of the reasons Todd Haley was brought in to be the new offensive coordinator was to limit the hits on Big Ben. As Sanders said in the First Take episode referred to before, "coach Haley and the coaches, they are all worried about the injuries. But they're trying to get the ball out of his hands a lot faster. And, you know, I'm looking forward to Ben taking off because he's definitely in his prime."

That they are and that he is. Before Big Ben's injury, he was on pace for the fewest sacks of his career (23 in 2005), and still ended up being sacked "only" 30 times. The real difference in this is that he suffered the fewest sacks per pass attempt in his career (6.3%).

He also was enjoying a great statistical year that had him in several MVP talks, as he was fifth in the league in passing, was completing 65.2% of his passes, had 15 touchdown passes to only four interceptions, was leading the NFL in third-down passing and was on pace for having one of the best seasons of his career. A well-rested Big Ben will look to get back to that to extend his career.

As far as there being a potential contract dispute next season, while it is very unlikely that one occurs, Big Ben would have the upper hand. His Salary Cap number in 2014 is almost $19 million, and if the Steelers were to restructure him yet again it would only save about $5.5 million in Cap space. That would then push his 2015 Cap hit to almost $24 million. The Steelers simply can't have him or anyone else carrying that big of a cap hit in 2015. So, expect an extension to be signed next season, a la Tom Brady, that will keep Big Ben in Black and Gold for the remainder of his career.

Jones, though, is an intriguing proposition for the future. He was a very productive quarterback at Oklahoma, finishing with an amazing 16,646 career passing yards, 123 touchdowns and several school records on top of the attributes listed at the outset. Plus, he was known for being able to break free from defenders attempting to grab at him and also complete passes with defenders on him...like another passer you might call to mind. And Uncle Charlie believes that the Steelers felt it was time to more directly address the issue.

“[U]ltimately, I think this isn’t about replacing me. Big picture, maybe they’re thinking, ‘Can we develop Landry Jones to be the starter? Maybe two years from now, he could be our guy for the next 10 years.’ We don’t know. But with the contracts for quarterbacks these days, he’d certainly be a heck of a lot cheaper than Ben at age 34 or 35 or 36.” - http://tinyurl.com/cxdfswr

That, though, is contrary to what Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said.

"You look at the great quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, they’re in their mid-30s, and Ben’s just 31,” Colbert said. “We think there’s a lot of football and we hope there’s a lot of football left in him, and hopefully it’s even better than he’s been for us. It’s our job to maximize these years that he has left, and we really think that he has a nice stretch in him.” (italics ours)

Then, why draft him in the fourth round? Why draft a fourth rounder at all as your heir apparent? But that aside for now, if it's your job to maximize those years, why not wait for less-polished quarterbacks Tyler Bray of Tennessee or Zac Dysert Miami of Ohio in rounds six or seven? Therefore, if they don't pan out, less is squandered. Plus, the quarterback situation wouldn't look any differently than it does now, and it would provide the time supposedly desired. (I smell future trade bait.)

Plus, while in all fairness to the Steelers, they took Kirk Cousins to dinner the year before, then Bray's father wouldn't have reason to complain. After all, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers did say that they wanted him. - http://tinyurl.com/ckwfte5

Regardless, the only conceivable way that Jones succeeds as the starter is if Big Ben goes down permanently. Otherwise, like was asked by Ed Bouchette, which actually mimics what Colbert said, "How long are you going to groom someone to take his place?"

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TIDBITS: In case you didn't know, the Steelers 15 undrafted free agents are as follows:
defensive end Brian Arnfelt (Northwestern)
linebacker Alan Baxter (Northern Illinois)
guard Nik Embernate (San Diego State)
wide receiver Reggie Dunn (Utah)
offensive tackle Mike Farrell (Penn State)
offensive tackle Mike Golic, Jr. (Notre Dame)
DE Cordian Hagans (LA-Lafayette)
guard Chris Hubbard (UAB)
defensive tackle Omar Hunter (Florida)
long snapper Luke Ingram (Hawaii)
center Joe Madsen (WVU)
RB Curtis McNeal (USC)
center Ivory Wade (Baylor)
defensive tackle Anthony Rashad White (Michigan State)
and WR J.D. Woods (WVU)

~

Steelers number changes:
J. Jones, No. 95;
L. Bell, 26;
T. Hawthorne, 30;
L. Jones, 3;
S. Thomas, 29;
M. Wheaton, 11;
V. Williams, 44;
M. Spaeth, 87;
LSH, 34;
Ta'amu, 74;
DVD, 23;
N. Williams, 91;
and J. Brown, 15.

~

There will be 41 rookies who will attend Steelers Mini-Camp in all. Here's the link to the information on the Steelers website: http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/41-to-attend-rookie-minicamp/5e804de0-b33e-4a4d-8b4c-d8791d723eb8

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Hey! Did you know that Ben Roethlisberger's sister was in the wedding of new Steelers rookie QB Landry Jones? Carlee is good friends with Jones' wife, Whitney!

...yeah...I didn't care, either.

Skip Bayless Wrong In Vilifying Ryan Clark For Ravens Comments; Steelers Make Special Change

"Genius doesn't work on an assembly line basis. You can't simply say, 'Today I will be brilliant.'"

Few sports broadcasters today exemplify that quote more than ESPN personality Skip Bayless. His comments on Thursday's episode of First Take regarding Ryan Clark's interview on the NFL Network this week prove that statement yet again. 

Clark, the starting free safety of the Pittsburgh Steelers, answered questions regarding the rival Baltimore Ravens. As expected, Clark spoke on the games themselves and how last year's games affected him.

"I will say this about the Ravens: Playing that first game last year and watching them dance on the field, seeing them fake an extra point while up 27 [points] already, it allowed me to understand how much they actually dislike us as an organization," Clark said. 

He admitted that seeing them do that left an impression: "It brewed and stirred up a little hate in me, also for me to understand how I have to approach playing them and how I have to look at them."

Clark rightly felt incensed at such a junior varsity move. There was a bit of poetic justice, though, as the Ravens promptly went out the next week and were beaten by the Tennessee Titans, 26-13. They had obviously put too much emphasis on beating the Steelers. Not once, but twice. 

After the week eight 23-20 win over the Steelers, the Ravens players gave their head coach, John Harbaugh, a Gatorade bath. Well, they blew their wad again and Joe Flaccid and co. went limp into the Seattle Seahawks game and lost 22-17. Clark referenced that also, noting a difference with the Steelers' team and organization.

"I still feel like, this organization, we worry about winning championships. We don't focus on beating one team," Clark pointed out. "It won't be Gatorade baths because we beat the Ravens. It won't be parties, it won't be bottles popping and confetti. It will be one game on our journey to win the Super Bowl and I always look at that."

The reason this is being written, though, is because of the usual crack analysis by ESPN's Skip Bayless. And by crack I mean he must be smoking it, because he took issue with what Clark initially had said during that interview. Clark was asked about his personal feelings of the Ravens and responded positively. 

"I get that question a lot and I don't really hate them," Clark told them. "I was working out with Terrell Suggs this summer before his injury and he's a really cool dude. He said it himself that people don't understand that we only hate you two or three weeks out of the year." 

Skip Bayless took exception with this.

Speaking to guest analyst former NFL player Marcellus Wiley, @marcelluswiley on Twitter, Bayless asked, "You bridged the gap between the old NFL and new NFL, what happened to the old NFL that I grew up loving? What happened to the man's game? What happened to blood and guts, and Steelers hating Ravens, hating Steelers, and Cowboys hating Redskins, Redskins hating Cowboys?" 

"This just turns my stomach to see a Raven and Steeler, both of them decent guys, but suddenly it's all peace and love because they worked out in Arizona in the offseason....If you're a Steeler, you don't associate with the Ravens because it can creep into your psyche that you kind of like the Ravens." 

Huh? "Like the Ravens?" We're talking on the field here. "Like?" Like them? Sorry, not on the field. After Stephen A. Smith told him that he was ridiculous, Bayless got a very poignant response from Wiley when he spoke about rivals. 

"Do you know that the best underlying emotion, when you're talking about competition, is love, not hate? Think about sibling rivalry: when you go against your brother, you want to go after your brother much harder than you want to go against a guy who was drafted to another team," said Wiley.

Wiley is not only right, but this is by no means anything new. Players, even of rival teams, often actually befriend one another. They text, call, hang out, golf and apparently work out together in the offseason and have for years. 

As Wiley referenced, Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas were very close all during their playing career, even famously giving each other a quick peck on the cheek at the tip-off of games. They also gave us some historic performances against each other and even almost got into fights and had to be separated a couple of times.

Bayless, though, didn't respond to a basketball example. So, I'll provide a reminder that Reggie White used to gather players from both teams to pray after the game. After the battle, they left it on the field. 

Another example is a little closer to home. After Ben Roethlisberger faced and was eventually absolved of sexual assault allegations, it was Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis who reached out to the maligned quarterback. Big Ben has even been quoted as saying that they text and or call each other regularly in the offseason. 

More impressive than reaching out to Big Ben was what he did before the 2010 Ravens-Steelers game at M&T Bank Stadium. Lewis took stadium security with him before the game and had all 'Ben is a rapist' type signs taken down and removed. A class act move and something that should be respected. 

So, what's Bayless' problem? Where was the vitriol regarding Lewis and Big Ben? This is a career for the players, this is their job. They know how keep it in perspective after the game is done, how, again, to leave it on the field. Wiley pointed that fact out also. 

"The fans are the ones who are supporting this mythology that we hate everyone on the other team."

Ryan Clark is boisterous, but he isn't belligerent. He expresses his opinion, but he isn't contemptible. He interacts with Steelers fans on Twitter and is always personable. Skip Bayless, despite having various valid points when you listen to the entire podcast on ESPN, was wrong overall in his assessment of Clark's sentiments and of the NFL.

I understand that Bayless is paid to cause controversy, to create headlines and to stir contentions among fans. The latter simply won't happen with this fan. Ryan Clark's respect for his enemy, per se, is commendable and he doesn't have to hate the Raven's players or team. 

Besides, I hate them enough for both of us.

~

Before a completely asinine Mike Wallace-to-Colts trade rumor on Thursday, some real news was released. Al Everest, the now former Steelers special teams coach was fired. 

The first alerts that came down to me were by Mark Kaboly and Jay Glazer. Kaboly tweeted that "Steelers special teams coach Al Everest just walked out the team facility with a handful of his belongings."

Jay Glazer tweeted this from his account "@JayGlazer: Steelers have parted ways with special teams coach Al Everest."

Shocking news. You don't see this type of thing happen two weeks before the start of the regular season. Like Kaboly said shortly after it happened, it's "hard to believe that Steelers ST coach Al Everest was fired for the play on the field. Had to be philosophical differences."

Amos Jones, who was the assistant special teams coach, along with Jerry Oslavsky and Ray Jackson, and reportedly in charge of a lot of what the special teams did anyway, has been promoted to fill the position. He is the third special teams coach under Mike Tomlin - Bob Ligashesky and then Everest.

Mike Tomlin had been disappointed with special teams efforts against the Colts. He said, "I didn't like our return game. [The play] was below the line." The Steelers special teams hadn't had a great preseason to the point of Everest's firing, but it was horrible either.

Tomlin released a brief statement, as can be found on the Steelers website, regarding the move: "We are continually evaluating our coaching staff and support staff, and we have decided to go in a different direction with respect to the coaching of our special teams. I want to thank Al for his contributions and efforts, and I wish him well in the future."

Everest had been an NFL special teams coach for 16 seasons and was starting his third season running the Steelers’ squad, and has since admitted his firing was a "shock" and said there were "professional differences." - http://t.co/zJ32YuFF 

Dez Bryant and the Hypocrisy of Main Stream Media

I have been watching all the stuff that has been unfolding  with the Dez Bryant issue and how mainstream media is not trying to “Try him in the court of public opinion."   Bryant was arrested on Monday for misdemeanor assault against his mother. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/17/dez-bryant-accused-of-grabbing-his-mom-by-the-hair-and-hitting-her/    I am not going into the details about it because the article does that.   This is nonsense, though, and something needs to be done ASAP.

There has been more to come out about this incident and the more that comes out the sicker I am getting.  For one, why are mainstream media outlets like ESPN and others giving him a free pass on this?  I was watching ESPN's First Take this morning and was appalled at the garbage that Skip Bayless was saying.  Yes, I know all the facts had not come out at that point and that they did not want to pass judgment.  But in the same segment he was talking all about Bryant’s mother's past run-ins with the law and he basically said we shouldn’t judge Bryant.  Well I beg to differ.  To me, that is hypocrisy at its finest. You can't condone one while excusing the other.

Where was all this “Not Judging in the Court of ESPN First Take” and other sports news outlets when Ben Roethlisberger was accused but never charged?  ESPN led the charge in pretty much destroying Ben’s reputation, and was basically screaming for Ben’s head on a platter even after the facts came out.  Ben was suspended due to the media fueled “Trying in the Court of Public Opinion”.   I for one did support Ben’s suspension, not because I believed he was guilty, but because I believed he needed a kick to the pants that Goodell delivered. And, if you'll notice, we have heard nothing bad about him since.

 So why does Bryant get a free pass with the media  for hitting his mother?   This is the wrong message you are sending, in my opinion.   It was basically said that it is ok.  Here is the link to the first segment, but the other one was not posted, and if it had been, you would see what I am talking about.  http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8173281   

 I am not going to quote something I cannot back up, but being a victim of domestic violence, I was appalled at the words in the second segment.  I am so sick of this issue being made of light of, intimating that it is ok to hit women, just because she has a record.  That is the message I got and it made me want to throw up.  It is not ok to hit any woman, let alone your mother. Period.  I do not care what the circumstances are.  That is the woman that gave you life, has cared for you, and is always there for you.   I do not care that she had a past record.    Women are not punching bags no matter how you try to spin it.  The media's constant picking and choosing of who gets a pass has gotten out of hand.  If you are going to damn one player to hell, the same rules need to apply to all of the players.    Just because he has never been arrested does not make it ok for you or anyone else to condone violence towards women.  Bryant is not the first athlete that has gotten this free pass for domestic violence, there have been several.   It needs to stop.  

According to them, we are supposed to turn the other cheek, so to speak, because this is his first arrest.  Well, where was this turning the other cheek on other athletes that you have harped on while making other players the poster boys of bad behavior?    Oh, that's right they  did not hit women and all they had against them was allegations and no facts.   But I guess that is ok to damn them to hell?  Right?

This is the wrong message because it slaps in the face true victims of assault, especially women that have been victimized over the years by men.  I feel that Goodell needs to address this and address this quickly, and not give him a free pass.  He has shown a pattern of bad behavior over the years and it is escalating.  Goodell said he does not need an arrest to suspend a player, if they show a pattern of bad behavior he can suspend.  Well, now is the time to show it Goodell.  Don't join in with the media led “turning the other cheek” and basically condoning violence towards women.  That should not be the message you want to send considering women make up a big part of the NFL fan base.  

I will end this with what Stephen A. Smith said in the second segment.  He did not condone it, he looked at it the way I did, “If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, it isn’t no Mongoose."