The 2010 Pro Bowl rosters were announced on Tuesday night, and just two Steelers were on the list, with one major snub. The snub was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who didn’t make the roster as a reserve despite being the first Steeler QB ever to throw over 4,000 yards.
The two Steelers to make the roster include NT Casey Hampton, who may be lining up in the game as a Steeler for the final time. It’s no secret that Hampton is a free agent, and many don’t feel he’ll be back in 2010. One player that will be back is James Harrison, who made the roster as a starting linebacker.
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DrGeorge
December 30, 2009 at 10:16 am
Let’s face it, Matt, the Pro Bowl is based more on statistics and reputation than actual ability in order to assure decent TV ratings. Often the way a player is used will affect the voting. Flamboyance and self-aggrandizement play a role too, which the Steelers rightly discourage. Playing on a losing team doesn’t help either. So we were lucky to get two picks this year, even if one of them is wrong.
In his youth, Hampton was an exceptional athlete; but not this year. He is no longer at the same physical level as Ngata, for example, and he is slower. As a free agent, he’ll find a home, but the Steelers can’t afford to pay him the kind of money others will pay. And his NFL career is coming to an end. This pick was not deserved.
Harrison is a legitimate choice. He is held on virtually every play and sometimes double teamed. His stats would be even better if the Steelers had a stronger D-line to balance his rush. Harrison has a disturbing lack of discipline on his rush techniques, tending to go wide right around opposing LTs, leaving a gapping hole inside. Opponents have exploited his failure to maintain his rush lane all year by running inside of him. Even so, he’s one of the best physically at his position.
Ben is not yet as consistent as Brady, Rivers or Manning. Despite his penchant for big plays and difficult throws, he still makes poor throwing decisions on routine plays, especially in the flat and in the red zone. His little lawsuit in Las Vegas didn’t help his cause either: very bad for the NFL image.
Our receivers are solid, but we have so much receiving talent no one receiver gets spectacular numbers. End of analysis. Think of all the years Hines Ward excelled, but was overlooked for the Pro Bowl. Shameful.
Heath Miller is the glaring, undeserved omission this year. He is certainly one of the best TEs in the league, but in our present offensive scheme he will never have the kind of receiving stats A. Gates and other lesser TEs get. Blocking is vital in our scheme, but not sexy and hard to measure statistically. On another team, Miller would be a featured receiver and make the Pro Bowl regularly. Any coach would love to have this guy.
mark
December 30, 2009 at 11:28 am
I think Ben deserved the nod. As for Hampton, I respectfully disagree with DrGeorge. I think Casey has had a productive season. he still takes on the double teams and opens the lanes for the LB’s.The loss of Aaron Smith has probably kept Hampton from having a more noticeable season. Heath Miller should absolutely be in Hawaii this season. He has had a career year for the team. Woodley,Farrior and Holmes probably deserved a mention at the very least for the Pro Bowl too, although I am down on Farrior this season. Anyway, stats are one thing and production might be another these days. The way Ben and the offense put up stats that are worthy, but the production itself still led to 7 losses,questionable play calling and lost opportunities this season.
Mike
December 30, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Do they give pro bowl invitations to offensive coordinators? Bruce Arians should be a unanimous choice. I think Woodley had a better year than Harrison. 92 led the league again in plays that holds were not called. I hate the fact that i am reviewing mock draft websites already, trying to figure out who we may select in the first round. I figure we will pick anywhere from 15-20.
mark
December 31, 2009 at 9:13 am
Mike, I want them to take a CB. It reminds of back in the 2002 season. The Pats and Raiders came out and threw 50/60 times in the 1st 2 games and the Steelers could not stop it! teams are going to throw as long and as much as they can against the Steelers secondary. Yes, Troy being out put them in a bad spot. But, No one else stepped up at all. CB is the way to go.
John
December 31, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I think we will learn what direction they go in the draft, 1st rd. anyway, by what happens to Casey Hampton. If Hampton leaves they do not have a legitamate nose tackle. If that happens and Terrence Cody from bama is available, they will grab him, unless he weighs 450 lbs at the combine. If they resign 98, i agree, draft the best available CB. They should even look to move up and grab the Hayden kid from Florida.
It upsets me that I am discussing the draft.
Mike
December 31, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Draft the besct CB out there. I can see Arians lobby for a RB or WR though.
DrGeorge
December 31, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I agree, Mike. I didn’t envision ending this season with speculations about draft picks before the playoffs! (That distant crunching sound is me grinding my teeth as I write it.)
As for Mark’s idea of going after a CB first, I doubt Tomlin can pull it off. He went for two CBs last year (Lewis and Burnett), and neither was able to step up when called on, which reflects poorly on Tomlin’s 2009 draft acumen. Bear in mind that Hood plays only due to Kirscke’s injury, and Urbik, and Harris have developed more slowly than expected. Only Wallace and D. Johnson from that class are consistent contributors, both on offense. The draft is a crap shoot when filling areas of real need, and CB is a hard position to learn. For fast relief, we should look at veteran free agents at CB, and use the first two picks to replace Hampton and Aaron Smith. (Hampton is almost certainly gone, and Smith may well retire due to injury.) Rookie D-linemen generally develop quickly, and an improved pass rush will take some pressure off the CBs, whoever they are next year.
By the way, last year, 4 out of 9 picks were used for defense. How many do you think there will be in 2010? Even if we had five first-round picks, it wouldn’t be enough.
mark
December 31, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I agree DrGeorge. I would rather a FA corner myself, but he would have to be an immediate impact starter. Not a FA chosen for depth and special teams. Taylor is entrenched and we all know how the Gay experiment worked out. True, 2 picks last year on CB have the Steeler fans wondering if they would try again. Also, Hood is going to play a lot next season. I think he was picked as the eventual replacement for Smith and he might be getting that title sooner than us fans would like. If Hampton is somewhere else next season, then the Steelers are going to go DL,CB,DB(S),RB.Personally, I would love to see Eric Berry in Pittsburgh next season. He can start right away and would be a terrific compliment to Troy. Good hands,BIG hitter and a nose for the ball. Lets face it, through 15 games the Steelers CB’s have ZERO interceptions! That shows where the secondary’s progress and play making skills are. I guess we will have to hope that Burnett and Lewis grow up fast, but I would rather see them grow taller. I am tired of the Steelers drafting 5’9, 5’10 inch CB’s that are 185 lbs. How about a 6 footer that can match WR/TE’s. If they had that Sunday, Todd Heap would not have had 2 TD’s. Time to get physical in the Pittsburgh defensive secondary!
chris
January 1, 2010 at 12:07 pm
As for the draft prospects, lets see who might be available before we start throwing out names. Eric Berry and Terrance Cody currently rank in the top ten overall picks. We will have to see which college players pull away from the pack through college all star games, individual workouts, and scouting combines. Dr. George, I wonder why you question Tomlin’s draft acumen. First, I have to think it is more a team effort with the front office and coaching staff when selecting a player. Second, if you want to blast Tomlin for Burnett and Lewis (by the way, two DB’s that were not supposed to sniff the field in their rookie seasons aside from special teams) then you have to give him draft acumen credit for Mendenhall and Wallace. Were you saying the same thing about Tomlin last season with Mendenhall? I have to think that his previous coaching experience with defense tht he has a pretty good draft acumen on that side of the ball. Let’s not be too hasty with judging both tomlin and these rookie DBs. Let’s remember that both Timmons and Woodley were both irrelevant in their rookie seasons as well. In the end, I want to see Pittsburgh definitely go defense in the draft but selecting the player that grades highest on their list for DL and DBs. Yes, free agency should play a part as to which direction we take.
DrGeorge
January 1, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Chris, I’m not an argumentative fellow, and I see your point and realize that others agree with you. I also agree that Tomlin is not the only one involved in draft selections, but as the head coach it becomes his draft, whether that is fair or not. Just as he received credit for the more lustrous 2007 draft, when his input was probably limited.
But to answer your direct question, I recall that Timmons missed most of last year with his injury; Woodley progressed steadily and played often near the end of the season. I didn’t see that kind of progress from Lewis or Burnett, and their lack of playing time suggests the coaches recognized they weren’t ready. When they did get to play, they didn’t perform well or inspire confidence that would play well in the future.
Given that history and the team’s need for a starting CB, I don’t think Tomlin can afford to use his top draft picks on another rookie CB, who won’t be ready to start for at least a year. You in effect make the same point above in defending Burnett and Lewis. Given the lack of production from the 2008 draft and the team’s urgent needs, Tomlin can’t afford to take a flyer on a rookie CB in 2010.
As for Mendenhall, I said the same thing about him last year as I did this year: he’s an average NFL back (notwithstanding his 1000 yards), adequate to replace Parker, but not great. He is not fast enough or powerful enough to warrant a #1 pick in hindsight. However, I don’t criticize Tomlin for making the pick, because Mendenhall looked much more impressive at Illinois than he ever has with the Steelers. On balance, Mendenhall must be considered a modest success. Likewise Mundy (6) and Dixon(5), taken as a project in 2008, must be considered adequate players and modest successes. But the rest of the 2008 class — Sweed (2), Davis (3), Hills (4), and Humpal (6) — never made the grade. Both for his standing inside the Steelers organization as well as with fans, Tomlin cannot afford to have a repeat of the dismal 2008 draft in 2010, or his draft acumen will be called into question — and rightly so. For that reason, I expect him to use his top two picks on “can’t miss” defensive players who can contribute immediately. With our probable draft position in 2010 that would not be an unreasonable expectation.
chris
January 1, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I certainly do not mean any disrespect and it is obvious that you know our beloved Steelers well, however I do call into question a couple of your points. First, Mendenhall is a legitimate starting RB in this league. He responded well to his benching in the beginning of the season. The final numbers he will finish with was behind the same offensive line that Parker could do absolutely nothing with. That’s impressive. Imagine him with a better line. If you want to classify him as a modest success because it is too early to determine his long term success then that’s fine. But, please do not put him in the same class of Dixon and Mundy. Second, again both rookie DBs were not projected to be can’t miss, immediate impact players that you crave or expect. In fact, Mel Kiper had Lewis rated as the 13th best CB available and Burnett as the 41st CB available. Now this is not saying that we reached on these players or they will never amount to much, but it is a bit premature to say that they were wasted picks because they didn’t contribute this season. We as fans like to use the can’t miss tags but I don’t believe its that easy. There are too many busts that were considered can’t miss prospects. Let’s say for arguement sake that Tomlin drafts the two can’t miss defensive players in their first two rounds that you agree with and they don’t make the grade, will that be the result of Tomlin’s less that impressive draft acumen? Will that be fair or not? Sorry, the draft is not an exact science.
Mike
January 1, 2010 at 6:28 pm
I think every draft has their hits and misses. Tomlin/Colbert’s 3 drafts together have been no different. Timmons and Woodley have been great, Woodley more than Timmons. Spaeth has been a complete waste. Bad blocker and is not a weapon in passing game. I think the biggest problem this team has had is that 4 starters from the superbowl are no longer on the field. 43 and 91 are out with infuries and Foote and McFadden are in other cities. The most underrated mistake the steelers made was not keeping McFadden. They thought Gay was ready and clearly he was not. Add that with 43 not being on the field, Timmons not stepping up and Aaron Smith gone and all of a sudden you have a defense that does not close teams out. The diriction this team takes in the offseason will hinge on Casey Hampton. If they resign him, they will go CB. If not, they are going to have to find a way to find a dominant NG in draft. This defense is predicated on stopping the run.
Who Dat?
January 3, 2010 at 10:06 pm
ummm, that’s cuz waffleburger sucks my ass…hahaha!!!!