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The Jets’ secondary is going to have their hands full with this Pittsburgh Steelers’ receiving corps.
They are loaded.
And this is why Steelers’ management is able to play hard-ball with restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace, who has yet to sign his $2.7 million tender. Contract talks aren’t going well.
While Wallace has a lot of talent, they are stacked behind him.
The Steelers definitely have a next man up mentality at receiver. They feel with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, he’s going to bring out the best in anybody they line-up.
They were never going to pay the mercurial Santonio Holmes big money, so they traded him before he became a free agent, and they aren’t going to give Wallace the $9-10 million a year he wants.
They have faith in their scouting department to find receivers in the middle-late rounds who can get the job done.
Let’s say Wallace is inactive for the Jets game because of his contract mess, the Steelers top three receivers are Antonio Brown, Jerricho Cotchery and Emanuel Sanders. That is a good group right there.
And the Steelers might have grabbed two late round steals at receiver in fifth-rounder Chris Rainey (Florida) and seventh rounder Toney Clemons (Colorado).
Rainey has world class speed, and is very elusive in the open field, and Clemons is much better than your typical seventh round receiver. Colorado was so bad last year, it hurt their prospects in the draft.
Clemons is 6-2, 210 pounds and runs in the 4.4’s. He’s also smart (already graduated) and should pick up the playbook fast.
Even though the Steelers could struggle a little early in the year getting comfortable in the Todd Haley’s offense, the Jets will still have their hands full with this Steelers’ receiving group in Week Two.
Speaking of throwing the football, the Jets should able to do that against Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have been mediocre at cornerback the last few years, and did almost nothing about it this off-season.
William Gay left in free agency for Arizona, and the Steelers didn’t pick a cornerback in the draft until the seventh round, in Terrence Frederick of Texas A @ M, who is certainly no lock to make the team. He was a very inconsistent player for the Aggies, and has average speed.
The Steelers will start veteran Ike Taylor and fourth-year player Keenan Lewis at the cornerback spots. The Jets might have the best cornerback tandem in the league, but the Steelers’ pair is middle of the pack at best. Taylor is a solid player, but he’s best suited to be a #2 corner, but in Pittsburgh, he’s a #1.
If the Jets can protect Mark Sanchez in this game, he should able to throw on this team. But that is a big if. As usual, the Steelers are loaded with 3-4 OLB pass rushers with James Harrison, Lamar Woodley, Jason Worilds and Chris Carter.
A healthy Woodley should be a real boon to the Steelers defense this year. He missed six games last year with a severe hamstring pull.
July 6, 2012
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