The Steelers made what I felt was a solid move on draft day by dealing a 5th rounder to the Cardinals to get Bryant McFadden back with the team. I think McFadden is going to help this D quite a bit in 2010 and beyond, and today the Post-Gazette reported that it looks as if he will likely be a starting CB with the club this season:
Steelers corner backs Keenan Lewis and Bryant McFadden will battle for the starting left corner job. William Gay and Joe Burnett appear set for backup roles. McFadden, who the Steelers acquired in a draft-day trade, is the heavy favorite.
To me, the more help at the corner spots the better, and with Lewis backing up McFadden along with Gay and Burnett, I think the Steelers will be in much better shape there in 2010.
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DrGeorge
May 9, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Matt, I agree with your assessment. It was a good move on draft day, and McFadden will start at corner and help the D, barring injury. Keenan Lewis got his shot last year and didn’t make the grade at CB; he seems better suited to Safety, and I expect him to gravitate there, this year or next. With Gay and Burnett in reserve, we remain very thin in talent and very short in height at corner. I would not be surprised to see the Steelers add another veteran CB this year, or, if not, a top draft pick next year. I remember McFadden’s inconsistency when he played for us two years ago, and I regard him as a stop gap measure more than a long-term solution.
More speed at ILB and OLB will help in shutting down the dink and dunk attack that riddled our defense last year and aid the D-line in putting more pressure on the QB, which will, in turn, make our corners look better than they are.
mark
May 9, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Thats a good assessment on how the speed up front will help the D-backs overall. However, I never really thought B-Mac was inconsistent DrGeorge. I actually thought he was the stronger, more physical CB. He has better hands then Taylor and I thought he made more of an impact as a rookie and 2nd year player than Taylor ever did. For some reason, Taylor did get a lot more of the credit and is considered by some to be a top Corner, but for as much as I do like Taylor I think McFadden is a perfect compliment and perhaps a better overall CB. As for Burnett, that drop against the Raiders was crushing, but he he got on field a bit and just might be that young back-up the team needs. Lewis was hurt too often and is a question mark and as far as Gay is concerned, well we all know how that turned out. I like having a veteran like Gay as a nickel/dime back because of the experience and the desire to prove people wrong. Taylor and McFadden will be starting here for the next 2-3 seasons barring injury, and the package of defensive backs this season should be more aggressive, more physical and probably show more total talent.
jake
May 10, 2010 at 2:54 pm
both you guys are spot on.. mcfadden was inconsistent on occasion but then so are so many other players at different positions who also share the same problem… i think the difference this year will not be the mistakes that are made, but whats done to make up for them… last year our secondary had close to no picks until the last couple games of the year where interceptions come easy (weather in nov/dec etc).. granted the absence of polamalu for most of these games came at a huge price; but the reality of it is ike taylor, deshea townsend (who i think weve seen the last of 🙁 ), and william gay were making the same mistakes they did in our last superbowl run. the difference last year was that there was no counterbalance secondary ( intercetpions/ pick six’s).. a proven stat is the defense that makes the most turnovers usually wins the game.. with mcfadden opposite to taylor in our 3-4 scheme, i believe we will get back to winning defense this year
arrow61095
May 11, 2010 at 11:28 am
I like the addition of McFadden since you can never have enough corners. I do think that he is more of a backup/short term band-aid for the position. The Steelers really still need a top corner (someone that would allow Ike Taylor to move to the 2nd corner spot). However, McFadden will work for now as a temporary fix.