Brett Keisel reportedly out for two months.
So get used to a heavy dose of Nick Eason, Travis Kirschke, and dare I say, Orpheus Roye?
Too bad neither Mike Humpal nor Tony Hills can play DE. How's that decision not to draft any D-lineman looking now?
Balls.
September 15, 2008
This Oughta Be Fun...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
Are there any decent DE's fit for a 3-4 out in free agency now?
Hopefully Orpheus still has some steam left?
The Keisel injury sucks, every team has to deal w/ injuries during the season. It all comes down to having effective interchangeable parts. The Steelers defensive end depth chart looks less than impressive right now. But, I have faith in the Steelers organization to identify respectable backups on the 53 man roster. If the coaches feel that Eason, Kirschke, or Orpheus Roye cant get the job done Kevin Colbert
will work some magic. Kimo von Oelhoffen is available (no joke)
Keisel's replacement doesnt have to set the world on fire (Keisel sure hasn't in my opinion), just do their job. Which is a lot easier to do when you have an upgraded linebacking core, a healthy secondary (minus Deshea), not to mention that you are playing next to Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith.
Keisel's injury does suck, but I am more concerned about Roethlisberger's shoulder. I would also rather see Dennis Dixon out there if something happened to Big Ben. Byron Leftwich couldn't even play QB on a team that runs the ball 110% of the time.
Separated shoulder definitely sucks worse than losing Keisel...how long does it take for that heal?
Leftwich's experience is the only attribute that he has over Dixon. If Leftwich had to step in I would be extremely nervous. He probably wouldn't throw any interceptions though because neither the receiver or the defensive back would be able to catch his fastballs.
Timmy B, are you thinking what i'm thinking? Dixon runs the option in the pros?
Direct snap?
dixon's sidecars to the left and right = mendenhall and parker (nasty!)....a man can dream right?
I mean I usually dream about Kristen Bell, but I suppose Dixon, Mendenhall and Parker aren't too far off?
As long as it's the Steelers you're dreaming about it's never too far off!
If the O-line keeps playing tight i see no reason to think the option wouldn't be..well...an opion. Especially if they had a pass/run/pitch set allowing Dixon to do any of the three at any point. There's easily enough speed in that lineup, and the NFL demands that5 teams try new things. Maybe we wouldn't see it early in the year, but all bets are off come late season.
Hopefully Ben's just achy as usual. He seems to always have *something* "bothering" him, then goes out and plays like an All-Pro. OK by me...
I would, however, like to see Ben hit the weights and get D. McNabb-bulky. If Ben had that kind of muscle and strength nothing could stop him.
And it would be SuperCool to see KimoVon back in the DL lineup...
For that matter, Chris Hoke could rotate a DE as well. I think he started out as an end early in his career.
The more i think about it, the less i'm concerned about our D-line as long as A-ron stays strong...
Can Steely McBeam play defensive end? Or was that Ryan McBean?
If we were going to lose someone, then Keisel would be it. We can still function very well without him. Without Aaron or Big snack we would be screwed. Let's just pray he is back by the game after the bye week.
I think Brett might be highly underrated: he has a non-stop motor, is as fast as any TE, is
6'5"/290 and has long arms. He doesn't get a lot of sacks, or tackles, but he does draw a lot of attention.
I agree that Aaron and Casey are more valuable, but Keisel is a #1 DE anywhere else in the league. Basically i agree that he's the guy we can most afford to lose on the D-line, but we will miss him, no doubt.
If Roye has any gas left in the tank he could be a real force. I just hope we stick with the rotation- Cowher's people had a habit of leaving the front 3 in all game long. I think that's why we lost a few close games under his admin. It *looks* like Tomlin is more the "Monte Kiffin Rote yer damn DL" sorta guy.
Which is nice.
t-rock-i-a-than - I hope they rotate the d-end position as well until keisel comes back. Or until one of the back ups step up and show they can handle the bulk of the workload.
the best possible situation is for one of these backups to emerge as a dark horse and take keisel's job. (i dont see it happening, but that would be awesome for the lack of d-end depth situation)
sucks.
Thought Keisel was going to have a breakout kind of a year.
timmy b ~ I just wanna say - it's about damn time you got your ass on this blog to comment! That said, I dreamt of Willie Parker gouging the Eagles for 250 yards last night...good enough?
tobiathan ~ It's going to be DE by commmittee. Which, actually, will probably be just fine. Still, even though I don't think Keisel's that great of a fit as a 3-4 end, I would rather have him on the field than on the injury report. Oh well.
jppb ~ I hear Steely is actually an accomplished long-snapper.
big snack silverback ~ Precisely! God forbid it was Aaron Smith again.
domski ~ Nick Eason fantasy stats!
doug ~ He still could. I mean he won't have the same number of games in which to do it. But two months puts us at mid-November. So he'll be back for the stretch run and any playoff games we may or may not end up playing. That's when we'd really need him to step up anyhow, right?
Post a Comment