Roethlisberger, Haley Open To Change And Coming Together

by Jayden and Jason

"Last year, it was Todd's offense he brought to us. This year, I'd say it's more our offense....Todd's open to change."

Those words were spoken by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Big Ben Roethlisberger when asked if he felt he had more ownership in the offense this season. Big Ben's comments seem to not only reflect a more comfortable quarterback, but a happy one.

“We’re growing and we’re learning and we’re communicating,” Roethlisberger said. “This year, more of us know what’s going on, so we can coach each other up instead of always having questions, going to coaches to get answers.”

NFL Network reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala spoke recently with Steelers running back Jonathan Dwyer, who said that Big Ben had been meeting with Haley to discuss the offense and, subsequently, Big Ben “has a lot more power” this year regarding the philosophy of the offense.

Dwyer said he sees a better relationship there, as did Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Both have alluded to the fact that a level of familiarity has bred a level comfortableness - not contempt.

"You can tell out here in practice," Pouncey said. "With Ben taking that bigger role, it's going to be a lot of help to us."

"They've grown to know each other, their families and things of that sort, so of course they've grown to get comfortable with each other," Sanders added. - http://tinyurl.com/lejb2q3

Big Ben's embracing and having a share in the direction of the offense is beneficial if not paramount. A shorter, quicker passing game, and a stronger running game, is exactly what he needs. Injuries have gotten the best of Big Ben and the Steelers the last couple of years and aided in the team's failures.

Big Ben sycophants won't want to hear this, but he is neither as fast as he used to be (not that he was ever confused with Michael Vick) nor is his body able to recover from the weekly pounding he tends to take. Far from fragile, yet no longer as formidable, either.

Point blank, Big Ben is needed on the field for the entire season. As we've written before, the road to success begins with Big Ben accepting the change. That means all phases and criteria of what Haley is trying to accomplish on offense have to be met. And according to the franchise quarterback, that's exactly what has been done.

"There has been some changes....It’s some compromise from all different position coaches, running back coaches, line and quarterback coaches. I think we’ve taken a little bit of everything and made it a lot better. You can ask anybody on offense that, including coaches, and they’ll tell you that we all like the way the offense is and where it’s going."

What could this all mean for the Steelers? Hopefully it means a happy No. 7 - the Ring, not the just quarterback.

Mike Wallace's Mouth Running Faster Than His Feet Needs To Stop

by Jayden

Well, I said we wasn't going to go there, but he pushed once too often, so now I have to go there. His comments last weekend, on top of the others he had made, pushed me to the point where I can no longer be nice. I have never bashed him and have been appreciative of the things he did for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but enough is enough. It is time for Mike Wallace to shut up.

First, he took a jab at his former quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, in saying that his new quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, has a stronger arm. Maybe so. However, I remember people raving about the great arms of Dan McGuire, Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell. Remember them? Me neither. So...his point is?

Now, I'm not going to go all Terrell Owens on y'all and cry, "That's my quarterback....It's not fair." But without that inferior-armed quarterback, Wallace would not have had all those deep passes thrown to him. As a matter of fact, I do believe Wallace was overthrown a couple of times. Go fig. It was also that same QB who put up with Wallace's inconsistent route running and dropped passes, yet still gave him opportunity after opportunity. And this is how he talks about him?



But what really pushed it over the edge was what he said most recently: “Everybody has a college mentality around here. It’s a lot different than where I came from. Everybody’s hungry. Everybody wants to get better, get to where we need to be – that’s a winning record.”

OH, NO YOU DIDN’T!

Well, that was the icing on the cake for me. When he bashes a franchise that has done nothing but win and then compare them to a team that has averaged a whopping 6.5 wins a season over the last six years, that is the last straw for me. Hell, he wasn't even alive the last time the Dolphins even went to the Super Bowl. The Dolphins are all about 'getting better'? Well, no sh*t, Sherlock! What choice do they have?

Again, I have tried not bashing Wallace, but frankly I wasn’t upset when he left. Just as I wasn’t upset when Santonio Holmes was traded, and, frankly, Holmes was twice the receiver he is. At least he stepped up and proved he wanted to win in Super Bowl 43. To me, that showed the kind of receiver Holmes was, and something that Wallace never showed. Did he ever go to Big Ben and say, 'Hey I want the ball. Give me the ball and we can do this'? I highly doubt it. From your comments here it was probably more on the line of, "Hey, I need more touches to pad my stats and make Mike Wallace more bankable."

I'm not the only one who doesn't get him, either. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wondered why Wallace continues "to disparage the Steelers, the city of Pittsburgh and Ben Roethlisberger?" - http://t.co/lB4ve3WTSq

These most recent comments tell me what I already knew: he is not about being a team player and is all about himself. He is a spoiled, enabled, self-entitled Divo who thinks that all of sudden he is the second coming since the Dolphins gave him a big contract. Well, guess what? He isn't. I'm not the only one who believes that, either. As NFL.com's Adam Schein wrote back in March, Wallace is "all about the money" and doesn't 'prioritize winning'. - http://tinyurl.com/kgulnhy

Sure, under new Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin, the Green Bay Packers offense ranked in the top 10 in the NFL for points scored and total yards every year he was either the offensive line and tight ends coach and offensive coordinator, but Wallace is hardly Donald Driver or Greg Jennings and Tannehill is not even close to Aaron Rodgers.

With the Steelers he had a lot of weapons surrounding him. In Miami, that simply won't be the case, because Brian Hartline is a decent receiver but he is no Antonio Brown. Not even close. Sadly, Philbin just doesn't have the arsenal he had in Green Bay. But, hey, keep up with that "college mentality" and see how that works out, because this isn't college.

Also, all of this comes from a guy who says they are all about winning. Well, where was all of this when he was playing for the Steelers last season? (pauses for effect) Well, he knew he was leaving and didn’t care. He held out, he dropped key passes and didn’t run routes. The sad thing is that not one Steelers player has said anything negative about Wallace, in fact, they have all be singing his praises, calling him their "brother" and wishing him the best. But all that had come out of Wallace's unappreciative mouth had been shots at his former team and teammates.

I think we all remember quite well the last rumblings from a Philadelphia team that made big splashes in the offseason during the free agency. Vince Young used the words "dream team" to describe the Eagles and, eight wins later, that dream a nightmare. Could history repeat it self here?

Yet, there were rumblings last season that receivers were more concerned about their individual stats and/or free agency than about winning. Hmmm...I wonder who that was? According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last December, he even publicly complained about the team’s new offense and his lack of touches saying that "when you don't get the ball for two-and-half quarters, you lose focus." Is someone is telling on himself a little bit?

Now, when you add the backtracking he did with the homophobic Jason Collins tweet on his Twitter feed, Wallace looks like Michael Jackson with as much moonwalking as he's done. Once more his PR people, er uh, he has apologized for running his mouth by tweeting this on Monday: "I want it to be known that I have nothing but love and respect for everybody" in the Steelers organization. He said the Steelers players "are my brothers for life beyond football so to all the people who think I take shots at them it is totally misleading."

Uh-huh... Does he really think now, though, that any fan will accept or believe that or defend him? Sadly, I know there will be some who will, but I will no longer be one of them.

So when he takes the field this year, he'd better hope he didn’t write checks his ASStounding speed can't cash. He also had better hope that Ryan Clark doesn't remember. Why? Ask Willis McGahee, or Ed Dickson, or Victor Cruz, or...

The Money Generation: Turning Steelers Young Money Into "Future Dividends"

"The culture we have now is about money. The Steelers were a team that kept that away from the organization as long as possible....Guys [coming into the NFL now] are seeing it as 'I want to play and make as much money as I possibly can.'" - Ryan Clark (brackets ours)

About three weeks ago, Clark made those comments based on words spoken by the legendary Mean Joe Greene upon his retirement. Between ESPN's First Take and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Clark made several more comments regarding the mindset of today's players and how it has finally crept into the Steelers organization. The latest, though not the first, example was Mike Wallace who took his talents to South Beach. Could the next one be Emmanuel Sanders? Maybe. After all, they were part of the "Young Money" nucleus.

"Also, these kids coming in, even when you see them sign on signing day, what do they say? 'I'm going to go to LSU, I'm going to go to Alabama for three years and then I'm going to leave and go to the NFL.' So the culture we have now is about money. They want to make money, and I will be honest, the Steelers were a team that kept that away from the organization as long as possible.

The notion of putting money first is a real and disturbing trend. But it isn't a new one. Though it is becoming more prevalent, it has actually been happening for years. Because of this and several other reasons, those who look to money first end up going broke first. Reasons delineated in this article in the National Football Post: http://tinyurl.com/pkr93a2

Greene told the Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette that "the scary thing is that players have a one-upsmanship about money; they sign a contract and they like it until someone signs a bigger one..." This first happened as soon as free agency began.

Back in late September of 1993, Emmitt Smith ended his 64-day holdout and signed a four-year, $13.6 million contract that made him the highest-paid runner in football history to that point. Smith had held out because he felt he was the best running back in the NFL at the time and said he wouldn't sign unless Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones paid him "Thurman Thomas money."

The Buffalo Bills' Thomas had been the NFL's highest-paid running back at $13.5 million over four years.

Fast forward just four months and Detroit Lions star runner Barry Sanders inks a $17.2 million contract. So again, this is nothing new.

Clark is correct in that the "Steelers were a team that kept that away from the organization as long as possible," but not in the way he presented it. Specifically with Alan Faneca.

In March 2006, Steve Hutchinson signed a seven-year, $49 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings. In 2007, a disgruntled Alan Faneca made it known he wasn't happy with his lot. On March 1, 2008, when he became a free agent, the New York Jets signed Faneca to a five-year, $40 million contract. So aside from that, Clark was essentially correct.

Now the Manny Sanders situation is upon us, and no one wants to see a repeat of the Mike Wallace drama. To his credit, Manny is saying the right things. One thing that Wallace didn't do.

"It felt good to be wanted," Manny said. "But at the end of the day, I'm still a Pittsburgh Steeler. I have one more year here, and hopefully, it can continue into a long-term deal because I want to be here."

He has reiterated that by saying: "I love the Pittsburgh Steelers," he said. "I want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. I'm happy that I'm still a Pittsburgh Steeler. Hopefully we can work out a long-term deal, and I can be a Steeler for my entire career."

However, Manny's agent, Jordan Woy, indicated to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month that the Steelers would have to offer a "very good deal" for Sanders to pass up unrestricted free agency. And as Ray Fittipaldo wrote in Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it seems "unlikely."

"Sanders has said that he wants to remain in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers aren’t likely to pay Sanders for what he might do in an expanded role in the offense now that Mike Wallace is in Miami," Fittipaldo wrote. "Based on what Woy said, Sanders seems equally unlikely to agree to a deal that pays him based on his production to this point in his career, which could set up a situation where a breakout year for Sanders winds up making him less likely to return to Pittsburgh in 2014."

Manny genuinely seems to want to be in Black and Gold. Wallace, on the other hand, didn't. Despite what many want to believe, he simply wanted out. His father even said in an interview with the Miami Herald that the Minnesota Vikings had offered him more money to play there, but that he took less money to play for the Dolphins because "he wanted to get out of that snow and cold weather." - http://tinyurl.com/pvxndy3

Not trying to disrespect or cast aspersions, but it is the truth and that much is at least in Manny's favor. If Manny, isn't sincere, it which would make the matching of the offer sheet a short-sighted move, then the question arises of whether or not this will be a trend. Markus Wheaton, because of the new CBA, is going to sign a four-year deal. Is this conversation going to be had again in 2017? Is it going to happen approximately every four years?

The likes of Antonio Brown don't come around as often anymore. Like Clark said, the Steelers in particular "don't have those type of people in the organization anymore because I don't think those kind of people come into the draft." Wheaton was one of many in the Steelers who showed maturity and character. While it isn't a guarantee, it is a reason to maintain faith that Wheaton could step in and help Young Money become "Future Dividends".

Wheaton will be a perfect fit for offensive coordinator Todd Haley's offense, with conventional wisdom suggesting he mainly plays the slot behind Manny and AB. And if he impresses, he can take over for Manny who would be allowed to leave as an unrestricted free agent in 2014 if a deal isn't sealed before the season begins.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that, nor that the difference between Manny's staying and leaving is the approximate equivalent of $13.6 million and $13.5 million.

The Steelers Wide Receivers: Will Emmanuel Sanders & Markus Wheaton Look To Reinvent "Young Money"?

by Jayden and Jason

"I know my talent," said Emmanuel Sanders. "I'm really good when I get the opportunity."

Ask and you shall receive.

The veteran wide receiver was a restricted free agent this offseason and was tagged with an original-round ($1.3 million) tender. He signed an offer sheet, but the Steelers matched it and, according to Sanders, there is talk of a potential long-term deal between the two camps.

“Of course, and those conversations are going on right now,” Sanders said on The Fan Morning Show last Wednesday after the day's OTA session.

Will the Steelers be able to afford him? Is a player who has never started worth what he may want? That will be covered in part 2 of this discussion. For now, we're looking only at the field of play and whether "Young Money" can become "Future Dividends."

First off, it is not a stretch to expect Manny Sanders to augment his numbers next season. Last year was his most productive as he caught 44 passes (22 in 2011) for 626 yards (288 in 2011). If he does as expected and has another solid jump in production next season, as If It Ain't Steel recently wrote, a season of 60 receptions for 800-900 yards season is completely feasible. Manny says, however, that the sights are set even higher.

"They're expecting 70 catches for 1,000 yards, and that's the same thing that I expect for myself," Manny said a couple of weeks ago.

Manny caught at least one pass in 15 out of 16 games in 2012, and demonstrated that he can make the clutch catch on third downs. So, lofty though they may be, the expectations from the Steelers are within reach. However, Manny did turn the football over twice, fumbling in back-to-back weeks against the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens. So, while his production is important, his ball security is also.

So, moving forward, Manny will most likely be the Steelers' starting split end, with rookie Markus Wheaton pushing Jerricho Cotchery for the honors of the slot position. As we said in a previous post, Wheaton will likely line up both wide and in the slot. If he lives up to his billing and college production, he should also adequately fill the role of erstwhile Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace.

Wallace is very good at what he does, and his production will be missed. But, as Pro Football Focus pointed out, the legend is a bit less ethereal and a bit more earthly when scrutinized. As they covered in a recent posting, though 'considered to be the best vertical receiving threat in the NFL, Mike Wallace simply wasn't anything close to that during his final season with the Steelers.'

"Wallace finished second-to-last in deep passing catch rate. Of the 21 eligible receivers for the stat (50 percent or more of team's total deep targets, or passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air), Wallace finished 20th."

They went on.

"Steelers quarterbacks targeted Wallace on deep passes 31 times (accounting for over a quarter of his total 2012 targets) and completed just six of those passes. Wallace dropped two of the eight catchable attempts."

Wallace finished 2012 with a total Pro Football Focus grade of -4.5, far and away his worst finish to a season in his professional career.

Wallace was obviously much better in previous years, but his steep drop off in 2012 was obviously a sign that he'd already mentally left the team.



So, can Wheaton adequately fill the vacancy left by Wallace? The immediate answer is no. In his rookie season, Wallace only had 39 receptions, not between 60 and 72 catches. The current Steelers offense also takes fewer shots down the field, so a 20-yard per catch average won't likely be seen, either.

As the season progresses, though, and as Wheaton becomes more familiar with the offense, he definitely has the ability to make defenses have to account for him. He has the requisite hands, tenacity and route-running ability to make his presence felt as soon as he sees the field regularly. He also has decent size and the willingness to give up his body to make a play.

Wheaton can be as good eventually, mainly because should play with more hunger than Wallace showed in 2012. If so, Wheaton's numbers could look similar, with some expected drop in yardage. The main issue at that point, though, is the impact of those numbers and the fear factor Wallace brought. Though, if everything else falls into place, that will come in time.

The two wide receivers are talented, to be sure, but making certain that translates onto the field in the form of production and wins is the bottom line of this ledger sheet signed by the reinvented Young Money, Inc.

~

TIDBITS: Speaking of Wallace: "Why does #Dolphins Mike Wallace continue to disparge the #Steelers, the city of Pittsburgh and Ben Roethlisberger?" - http://t.co/lB4ve3WTSq

As one of the subscribers to If It Ain't Steel's Facebook Page said, "His attitude is just like Burress'. Plaxico left and found that life can be great when you're a team player. Wallace will grow up or he'll burn out like 85 [Chad Johnson/OchoCinco/Johnson] and T.O."

~

Veteran safety Ryan Clark envisions finishing career as a member of Steelers.

“I want to be here. I would love to be a Steeler until I retire,” Clark said. “But I don't want this to be my last year. I did the ESPN thing because it's smart to do it. I didn't do it because I'm ready to stop playing football.”

As the article says, "Clark's level of play has not dropped. The 2012 season was one of the best of his career, with 74 tackles, two interceptions and an important role on what again was the NFL's No. 1-ranked defense." - http://t.co/c0vv6taktO

But how much time left does he have before the degree of diminishing returns is too high? I love RC25, but I know that time left is reduced.

"Athletic" Offensive Line 'United' To Run Ball And Protect Ben Roethlisberger

by Jayden and Jason

"...Ben Roethlisberger...has only played 16 games one time in his entire nine year career. He's missed eight games in the last three years. It's hard to win without your franchise quarterback..." - ESPN's Teddy Bruschi

What Bruschi said in response to Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark's comments regarding his former quarterback is just what the coaches are thinking as well. This offseason, new offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, jr. said that the "foundation" of a successful team and season definitely begins with the offensive line, and, more pointedly, players "athletic enough and be able to move."

Those athletic players have two basic jobs: run the ball and, as Bruschi said, "protect the franchise." More on the latter in a moment.

Anymore, teams are getting away from the feature running back and moving more towards two and three-headed monsters who provide a certain level of output at the position. Having Jerome Bettis for almost a decade is great if you can get it, but even The Bus had an effective-if-not-powerful offensive line. And to get back to a powerful running game requires an "athletic" group with "unity" and an edge to their practices starting now.

"For sure,'' current left tackle Marcus Gilbert said. "I think that's what the coaches envision us having -- a highly drafted, athletic group of guys. I think the guys we have now, we're working toward good unity and everything will sort out itself."

Gilbert looks at present to be the man who will be the one to protect Big Ben's blind side. But as head coach Mike Tomlin points out, that isn't set in stone yet.

"One of the things that we learned through the trials of the 2012 season is that both of those young men are capable of playing both spots," [Mike] Tomlin said last month. "We will use the spring and the summer to sort out where we play those two at." - http://tinyurl.com/orc7scz

But what may ultimately be even more important is the quarterback and the protecting of the left side, which Gilbert said "is more important, the quarterback has to have trust in you."

It is a sentiment that Bruschi echoed when, continuing from earlier, he said that quarterbacks are "of the utmost importance and they need to stay alive, and stay healthy, and be there through the entire regular season, and the entire postseason."

Staying healthy throughout it all, though, starts with a healthy offensive line. A point which left guard Ramon Foster understands all too well.

“Just pray that everybody stays healthy,” he said, before adding: “We’ve got guys in our clip right now. Kelvin Beachum is ready. John Malecki played in games last year. Guy Whimper has played on a Super Bowl team. We’ve got some guys. We’ve got some guys who’ve got to mature really fast. If worse comes to worse, I believe guys will be ready.” - http://pit.scout.com/2/1293498.html

He does admit, however, that, considering that those five men need to be as close knit as possible, they are striving for that much-needed "chemistry."

“We’ve been tight this whole off-season. We’ve been here the entire time. I think our chemistry is there. It’s just about putting it on the field.”

There's no way to tell as of yet whether those words from the different linemen will translate onto the field, but this young and athletic group looks to be on its way to bringing back a forward-moving running back and an upright quarterback to the Steel City.

~

TIDBITS: Per Jim Wexell's Twitter (@jimwexell) account: "[Kelvin] Beachum working at Center and [Al] Woods working at NT (for 2nd year) only serves to expand versatility, not a slight of [John] Malecki and/or [Alameda] Ta'amu."

"More interesting is amount of practice time seen by undrafted rookie DE Brian Arnfelt." (Northwestern)

"@jimwexell: Cap expert @IanWhetstone says loss of [Max] Starks should equal 5th-round compensation. [Mike] Wallace whole 'nother deal."
(Brackets ours)

~

Steelers have best punter of last decade, Brian Moorman, on their roster and did not even have to use a 4th-round pick for him: http://t.co/I39X6pbB6t

What We Can Take From The First Round Of Steelers OTAs

by Jayden and Jason

With the first session of OTAs behind us, there were a few things and players that stood out and are worth noting. The schemes being run and players we've brought to your attention before made themselves more manifest this week. While they provide a glimpse into the near future, they're still not completely indicative of the how the season will go or of the 2013 Pittsburgh Steelers roster. After all, as head coach Mike Tomlin says, it is just "football in shorts."

One of the things that became evident during the OTAs was that the Pittsburgh Steelers absolutely will be running a zone-blocking scheme in 2013. If It Ain't Steel will cover the offensive line and some of its linemen in our next article, but, as we wrote in a previous post, they have always used various inside zone, lead draw, some toss and power schemes. They're just adding the outside zone to the mix. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2013/05/youth-versatility-define-kelvin-beachum.html

In that article, we pointed out that Kelvin Beachum would have his playing time increased and that he would substitute at key positions, something which he proved at OTAs by working at second-team center and even at center with the first team.

As for the scheme and its implementation, the Steelers new offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, jr. is on record as saying that his players should be "athletic enough and be able to move" in order to adequately run his system. The off tackle power was their fundamental run play, but the outside zone and the stretch plays will be new and will require the aforementioned athleticism. A newness that was on display at OTAs and that left guard Ramon Foster said they're "embracing."

“It’s going to be new, but we’re embracing it,” Foster said. “If you look at our run tape last year, teams stacked the box on us. We were running inside zone, inside zone, inside zone, and we never really had an outside threat. But Coach [Todd] Haley’s stressing it this year; Coach Bicknell is stressing it. That’s something we want to do: soften the defense up and be able to run it outside just as well as we do inside.”

Running back Isaac Redman put it more succinctly when he said, "We are going to be dedicated to the zone."

Speaking of Redman, he's another who made his presence known. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly, Redman lost 10 pounds this offseason, his playing weight was listed as 230 pounds, and is hoping to lose five more by the start of Training Camp.

Cornerback Isaiah Green made his presence felt as well. We said recently that the 23-year old, 5'10", 180-pound second-year man wants to be more than just a Training Camp body. Green has a nose for the ball, is athletic and runs a 4.29/40. Simply put, he has all the requisite physical skills to continue to make his presence felt.

Will Johnson did his best to show why he should remain the team's starting fullback, defensive tackle Al Woods played well, though he has little competition and should make the team by default, and If It Ain't Steel favorite outside linebacker Adrian Robinson picked up where he left off last preseason in his bid to speed rush his way onto the 53-man roster this season.

There were several other names and stories that brought headlines this past week, but the one that caught our attention the most was Troy Polamalu supposedly being in his 'best shape since college', and that he's been fighting a calf injury for four years.

Ok, so maybe he isn't exactly at his college fighting weight, he still showed up in pretty good shape for the first OTA session. When interviewed, however, Polamalu was asked if there is anything that he can do for the calf injury moving forward. His response was textbook bland.

"Yeah, I've done quite a few different things this off-season," said Polamalu. "So, yeah, for sure there is. A lot of different rehab and training."

When he was pushed for a further explanation, it was then that the veteran safety revealed that the calf has bothered him for years.

"When you have an injury that's bothered you for the last four years, there gets to be just so much scar tissue in there," he said. "If you don't attack the problem scar tissue, then you're just going to continue to have problems. So this year I really focused on that and found a great physical therapist and obliviously continue to keep working with my trainer. So everything has evolved there and evolved nicely."

Polamalu then explained his kinesiological and rehabilitation process.

"Not to get too deep into muscular biomechanics, you can break down scar tissue, but the problem is your body has to continue to learn how to readapt with broken scar tissue," Polamalu said. "These are all things that I've learned. So hopefully all of this make these problems obsolete."

What's next for Polamalu and his injury?

"Listen, if I knew the future, I would be playing that Powerball," he joked. "Only time will tell."

Only time will tell for the rest of the Steelers offseason regimen as well.

~

TIDBITS: Heath Miller spoke with the media when showing up at OTAs. He spoke on his injury, saying that he's improving, but is still cautious.



"I'm just trying to get better every day, and I'm doing what I've been asked to do," Miller said Wednesday. "And I'm listening to my body, so I'll just progress that way."

Miller tore his anterior cruciate ligament, injured the medial collateral ligament and also the posterior collateral ligament.

"That's the big thing now, the main thing, because after surgery you lose a lot of strength," Miller said. "And then there's some atrophy. So, I want to get it back to where it's as strong as my other leg." - http://tinyurl.com/ocs4rmb

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“I think pretty much all of the veteran guys understand that there is gonna be a point in time when we’re gonna have to rely on these young guys....They are gonna have to step up ASAP.” - Ike Taylor

~

Per Mark Kaboly: “From what I've observed over the first 3 days of #Steelers OTAs, Reggie Dunn catches a punt just fine.” (As we've said, Dunn makes the team.)

“Shamarko (Thomas) is gonna be a good one. Will do well in special teams immediately.” (Keeping a promise to his dearly departed mother.)

“Nik Emberate has potential. Need to see him up at camp before willing to say he has legit chance.” (For an undrafted free agent, that still sounds pretty good.)

It's Time To Trade Ben Roethlisberger

AP photos

In the 2013 version of its annual NFL Top 100 Players, the NFL Network listed Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger at No. 61. The same signal caller was at No. 30 last season. Since he's obviously in decline, it's time to trade him while he still has value.

You read that correctly. Trade Ben Roethlisberger. The time couldn't be better. The talking heads have spoken. Why keep a player past the point of his usefulness when his skills must so obviously be eroding? They must be eroding or else the man wouldn't be plummeting down NFL Network's list. In fact, check again to see if he's fallen any further. No? Ok, then we'll go ahead and continue with this piece.

But really, though, we should've seen this coming. Wasn't it just back in February that future first-ballot Hall of Famer and erudite Donovan McNabb rated Big Ben as only the eighth best quarterback in the NFL? Wasn't that even generous on his part considering his choice at No. 9 beat Big Ben in 2012? - http://tinyurl.com/a4fwzk8

After all, what has he done anyway? In the first nine games of the season before his injury, he only led the Steelers to 6-3 record. Who cares that his offense was one of the most efficient in the league by a large margin, leading the NFL in third-down conversions and time of possession? Or that Big Ben was leading the NFL in third-down passing and was on pace for having one of the best seasons of his career.

And it wasn't as if he did anything before that. He only has a paltry .690 winning percentage, which isn't even best in the league. He's second for goodness sake! He's also second among active quarterbacks in playoff victories with 10, second in Super Bowl appearances with three, and second in Super Bowl wins with two. And as we all know, second is just the first loser. And the Steelers don't like losers!

Besides, the NFL Network says he's in the lower half of the NFL, so it must be true. Their polls are absolutely and completely scientific, therefore infallible. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette agrees and explains the process involved.

"Pay no attention to these rankings," wrote Bouchette. "They're silly, a gimmick and merely to help the NFL Network boost some of its meager off-season ratings. They also don't really poll that many players because players won't take the time to do it."

Sounds like solid empirical data to me! Bouchette drives the nail further into Big Ben's proverbial coffin when comparing other such polls.

"Sports Illustrated does its 'player' polls too. I saw how they do it. They'd send an intern to Steelers camp and she would interview a dozen or so of their players, many of them undrafted rookies who would never play in the league and ask questions like 'Who is the worst ref in the NFL?'" - http://tinyurl.com/kawrf3l

Doesn't seem like anything more is needed. With evidence obviously showing that Big Ben has been on a precipitous decline the last few years, the NFL Network conducting an objectively precise poll and Bouchette verifying their methodical approach, what else is there to say?

It's time to trade Big Ben now while the Steelers can still get value for him, even if it only nets a seventh rounder (7 for 7?), and usher in the John Parker Wilson era.

(For those who haven't yet realized it, this is satire. which we thought was abundantly evident. C'mon, people! If nothing else alerted you..."the John Parker Wilson era"??? smdh)