June 30, 2008

Happy Trails Dump Davenport...


I don't think anyone ever had anything against Najeh Davenport. But I also don't think anyone ever thought he was a long term fixture in Pittsburgh. And with the additions of Mewelde Moore via free agency and Rashard Mendenhall via the draft, it became all but assured that Najeh would be out of a job before September.

Well, the Steelers made it official Friday - dumping Davenport after failing to find any teams interested in a trade.

Over the past two seasons, the Closet Bandit amassed a good 720 yards and 6 TDs for our Steelers. Not exactly a complete failure as a backup.

It should also be noted that among his achievements last season were an admirable 129 yard performance in Week 16 filling in for FWP, and a pretty sweet TD catch against the Pats in our Week 14 bed shitting loss. So we can't really say he never did anything for us.

But it did seem like it was time.

For whatever it's worth - it's possible that this is in fact a bad move. I mean we don't really know anything about how Mewelde Moore will fit in. Nor do we know for sure how well Mendenhall will fit in (though I'm sure we can't imagine him NOT fitting in well). But we do know what we got from Davenport (besides someone who brought new meaning to "soiled clothes").

Either way, in light of his release, I'll promptly be installing a lock on my closet. I suggest you do the same.

What do you guys think? Good move? Unnecessary move? Inevitable move? Ideas on where Davenport will be shitting in closets next season?

Oh, and here's a roundup of what you missed this weekend while you were making a deodorant run at 12:30 AM...

REFERENCE MATERIAL:
Steelers Cut Ties With Davenport [Trib]
Steelers Release Davenport, Three Others [Post-Gazette]
Najeh Davenport Stats [Yahoo! Sports]
Najeh Davenport (S)Hit and Run [OFTOT]

5 comments:

domski43 said...

Davenport came along while Steelers fans were searching for Willie's smashmouth counterpart, or the next Jerome Bettis. Unfortunately, Davenport never became the short yardage back the Steelers needed.

Najeh has good size and speed, but continues to run like he is a scat back, continually trying to shake defenders instead of running right through them.

Do you guys think Gary Russell is going to make the team? Should Carey Davis make the team as a hb/fullback?
If the Steelers keep both of these players they would have 5 running backs...so why are they looking at Kevin Jones? (scratching my head)

Anonymous said...

I don't really know why they are looking at Kevin Jones. I think that Najeh ran way too high to be a bruiser, he was fast for his size, but in the NFL that doesn't mean that much. I am excited for Willie/Rasheed (we need a nickname for him b/c Rasheed Mendenhall isn't a short or funny name, but we should just wait so that it's natural and not forced)

Cotter said...

domski ~ It seems like Russell will make the team. I can't remember which article it was - Trip or PG - but one of them mentioned how the Steelers brass really believes Russell can be an asset to the team. I certainly always thought so, myself. Still, it's hard to say how, given that we now have the worlds most crowded backfield.

marc ~ Apparently we're into collecting RBs these days or something. No, I really don't know either except that Jones used to be a pretty good #1 back. So it's possible that if they got him, they'd dump either Mewelde Moore, Gary Russell or Carey Davis. But I am really just as clueless as you are (though you probably didn't need me to tell you that).

As for a Mendenhall nickname - let's keep that in the queue for training camp.

Cotter said...

* Trip = Trib. Duh, Monday.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't we ever think to nickname Davenpoop "Thee DUMP-truck"?

Or did we, and i missed it?