The offensive line is definitely a weakness, but having Justin Hartwig at center should help protect Ben Roethlisberger where Sean Mahan was absolutely abysmal last year.  Marvel Smith’s return at left tackle should improve the line play, as it will allow Trai Essex to move into a reserve role.  Chris Kemoeatu will step in at left guard and hopefully begin to show some of that vast, angry potential that the Steelers have been talking about for two years while Kendall Simmons will play the right guard spot (with Mahan backing him up).  The right tackle spot will be one of the most intense on the team, as Willie Colon and Max Starks will battle it out, with the loser being very unhappy with his situation and hopefully pushing the other one to success over the course of the season.  All in all, the Steelers’ line doesn’t have any stars this year, but should be able to pull together into a patchwork group capable of protecting the stars long enough to let them make plays.

The pick of Mendenhall may have upset one of these stars, Willie Parker, who has tried as much as possible to play the good soldier since it happened.  Yesterday, however, he said that he probably would have taken a tackle in the first round and was surprised that the Steelers didn’t.  Newsflash, Willie, they were all off the board.  An NFL-record eight were taken in the first round and at least one of them (Sam Baker) is seen as an extremely iffy pick by experts.

Instead, the Steelers took the next pick thing for Parker-a dynamic, talent running back to team up with Parker and extend his career.  An argument can be made that Parker didn’t wear down too badly last year (he had strong weeks in 14 and 15 against strong Jacksonville and New England defenses that didn’t let Roethlisberger beat them), but in weeks nine through 13, Parker was not very good.  His style (running into people) isn’t conducive to a long career and last season he had 321 carries.  Adding Mendenhall, who is a strong runner and will probably see most of his action in short-distance situations this season, will lengthen Parker’s career and give the Steelers an option just in case he does get hurt.

The Sweed pick, which is already being used as another respect card by Hines Ward, is the one that could make the Steelers’ offense scary, though.  Ward is still an intense, talented player who will be successful any time he steps on the field.  Santonio Holmes is still one of the quickest, best young receivers in football.  Nate Washington is still an excellent third option, except he’ll be fourth if Sweed can catch onto the offense.

A tall, very talented receiver, Sweed self-admittedly has issues with route running.  All of the ability in the world is there, but he may or may not be able to put it all together, something that he’s going to have at least one season to do without any pressure before being expected to take on a bigger role.  As the number four receiver, Sweed will come in during passing downs and red zone situations and stretch the field or give Roethlisberger that huge target in the end zone that he has been asking for.

With that going for him, in addition to the two very good tight ends (Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth), Roethlisberger has all the weapons he can possibly ask for.  Now he just needs to win against what has been labeled (and I paraphrase the much maligned Peter King) the toughest schedule in the recent history of the NFL.

• I will feel neglectful if I don’t mention Mendenhall’s being robbed at gunpoint.  It sounds as if he wasn’t up to anything bad and as if he handled the situation about as well as could be expected, but there is that saying that nothing good happens after midnight.  Mendenhall and other Steelers should learn that saying by heart.  It’s good that he and his “female companion” are okay.

That resulted in mock drafts having the Steelers as picking Pitt tackle Jeff Otah or Virginia guard Branden Albert.  The problem with that is that both of those players have rocketed up the boards, with some mock drafts having Albert going as high as seventh overall to the New England Patriots and almost all having Otah in the top 20.  In other words, the Steelers are not going to have the opportunity to pick either one of the two players who fits their needs best.

Gosder Cherilus is the next-best option, then, as the behemoth tackle could become a huge, consistent force at the right tackle position.  The experts claim that he won’t be a left tackle in the pros, but he could be an immediate starter at right tackle.  Plus, the guy’s from Haiti.  That means that the Steelers could have a Haitian and a Samoan (Kemoeatu) on the field at the same time, which would be pretty awesome.

Despite the potential upside of Cherilus, however, the Steelers should still attempt to trade their pick in an effort to acquire more picks in this year’s draft and to kickstart the hole-filling that must start taking place immediately.  Last year, the Cowboys received the Browns’ first-round pick from the 2008 draft as well as their 2nd round pick (36th overall) in the 2007 draft for the 22nd overall pick, which the Browns then used to pick up Brady Quinn.

The Steelers, then, could ask for a future first and a second for their pick as long as a team felt a pressing need to move up to pick their guy, which would probably mean a trade with a receiver-desperate team (the Titans are definitely going to take the highest receiver available).

Granted, if Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart is still on the board, the Steelers would have a tough decision to make.  Do they draft a potential star or see what he can fetch in trade?  That would be tough with Stewart, who may actually be the best all around runner in this draft, but otherwise the Steelers would be better off picking up an early second round pick and either a first round pick the next season or a third and fourth for 2008 for their pick.

Having more selections means filling more holes means better overall quality.

The Steelers are a team that traditionally have upstanding character, rarely taking risks on potential attitude problems and releasing players once they show hints of becoming detrimental to the character of the team. The team’s release of Cedrick Wilson after he was charged with hitting the mother of his son was, therefore, completely unsurprising and in line with the character that the organization has created for itself. Rooney, however, made comments that need to be revoked as soon as possible.

Rooney said that the Steelers hadn’t released Harrison because the circumstances were different and because Harrison was trying to have his son baptized at the time of the incident. There are other reasons for not releasing Harrison such as the incident becoming commonplace in the NFL and dealing with it internally, but justifying spousal abuse, which Rooney seemed to do, is uncalled for and disgusting.

The real reason that Harrison was not released and Wilson was can be traced back to the status of both players on the team. Wilson is a productive fringe player who never seemed to find his home in Pittsburgh, while Harrison is one of the team’s current defensive stars. Releasing Harrison would be akin to the Patriots releasing Teddy Bruschi four or five years ago. It just wouldn’t happen.

Where Rooney went wrong was in trying to justify the decision to release one player and not the other, something he never should have attempted, at least not with out having a prepared statement (and if he was reading from a prepared statement, then there are more problems with the Steelers than we are willing to admit). The comments he made demonstrated an outmoded and inappropriate style of thinking on the part of the Steelers’ higher ups. Hitting a woman is not appropriate whether it is to get a child baptized, to get a sandwich made, because you’re a little bit upset with her or for any other reason.

Rooney could deservedly face a maelstrom of criticism (Bob Smizik has already written a column about the issue) if he does not clarify or take back his comments.

The Steelers’ owner has certainly done a wonderful job of making a story here where there absolutely did not need to be one.

On top of Hartwig’s signing, the team retained Chris Kemoeatu, who will probably start at left guard, and Trai Essex, who will probably be the team’s backup at the tackle positions.  With the signing of Hartwig, Mahan will move into a reserve center/guard role that he is probably more appropriate for than the starting position that was foisted upon him at the beginning of last season.

The signing of Hartwig means that the Steelers have moved to upgrade at center through free agency two years in a row, but the length of the contract, two years, also indicates that they do not see Hartwig as a long term addition and will probably move to replace him in the draft either this year or next year.  The contract is also only for $4 million, meaning that it will have very little effect on the salary cap.

I’m not quite sure what this signing means for Max Starks, as I believe that, including Starks’ $7 million or so that he was guaranteed due to his transition tag, the team is now over the salary cap.  Some veterans will either need to have their salaries reworked or be released.

With the signing of Hartwig, the Steelers line currently shapes up like this:

LT: Marvel Smith, LG: Kemoeatu, C: Hartwig, RG: Simmons, RT: Willie Colon or Starks

Backups: Mahan, Essex, and Colon/Starks

•  I somehow managed to not post about this earlier, but the signing of Keyaron Fox is a solid one.  The former Kansas City Chiefs special teams standout is expected to continue in that role as well as a backup at all linebacker positions for the Steelers.  Fox is a classic Steeler signing, someone who was underutilized in his former role and could perform if asked to take on a greater role.

The right decision, of course, is to let guys like Marvel Smith walk away.  The cost of signing good offensive and defensive linemen is much higher in the modern NFL than bringing in a good coaching/scouting staff, drafting the right players and then developing them in the system.  The Steelers used to be good at this.

In the last few years, however, the Steelers have identified players such as Trai Essex, Chris Kemoeatu, Willie Colon and Max Starks as potential starters.  These players stepped in to play the line and promptly had Roethlisberger on his back.  Yes, they have size and some of them have skill, but they have clearly not developed the consistency necessary to be successful in the NFL.

At the moment, these players are the best that the Steelers have and they are going to have to use them until better options develop, but at the moment those answers just are not available.  If the Steelers are going to rebuild their team from the inside out, as they should, they are going to need to allow the older players to walk.  Sure, having some familiar faces around is a good thing, but growing attached is not the best way to develop a team.

In order for the Steelers to be successful in the future, they are going to have to make tough calls about who to sign and who to let walk and, unfortunately, the answer more often than not should be to let the player walk.

The free safety position is the oddity of these, as the Steelers have the injured Ryan Clark and the young Anthony Smith there. Clark was playing very well last season until he had severe internal issues after reacting badly to Denver’s high altitude. Smith then came on only to show that, as a second-year player, he was completely unprepared for the pressures of playing in the NFL, going for the big hit instead of making a play and looking completely lost at times.

If the Steelers think that Clark’s injuries will prevent him from taking the field healthy for a while and that Smith has sufficiently demonstrated that he will not be a good player.  If that is the case, it makes sense to be going after a consistent, veteran player such as Crocker or Wilson, both of whom could fit in with the Steelers’ plans by allowing Troy Polamalu to freelance and be the type of playmaker that he can be.

As for Hadnot, the guard/center started all 16 games for Miami last year and would bring a fair amount of versatility to a Steelers’ line that desperately needs the assistance.  Hadnot is a large, young lineman who would fit in nicely with the Steelers as either a starting center or guard or as a versatile backup.

White would help fill in at one of the Steelers’ areas of greatest weaknesses last season, special teams.  The former Packer is well-known for his ability on kickoff and punt coverage and the Steelers will be looking for a replacement on special teams and linebacker after releasing former ST captain Clint Kriewaldt earlier this offseason.

All in all, the Steelers are not looking at the cap-busting superstars whose signings indicate to the rest of the league just how desperate a certain organization is, but good, consistent players who would make them a better football team, the type of supplementary player that free agency should be used to add.

Now, there is no problem with that as the Steelers have Roethlisberger, an emerging stud WR in Santonio Holmes, a Todd Heap-like presence at TE in Heath Miller, and Pro Bowl possession receiver in Hines Ward, meaning that he has some of the parts to turn the Steelers into a very good passing team. Roethlisberger was right, however, in saying that he needs a big receiver to throw to (Indiana’s James Hardy sounds like a good idea right about now).

Whatever restrictions Roethlisberger puts on the team in terms of cap space are absolutely worth it, as the benefits of having a franchise quarterback, especially one who has already won a Super Bowl, far outweigh whatever negatives his contract incurs on salaries of other players.  Knowing who will be under center and just how good he is will be a huge advantage for a team that had Kordell Stewart at quarterback for an extensive period of time.

The certainty that Roethlisberger brings as well as the assured level of success, however, is only as good as the protection that he receives.  If, for instance, his protection is like it was this year, he will not earn his pay.  If it is like it was in the Super Bowl season, he will be a successful Steeler for the duration of his contract.

The Steelers have shown a willingness to break from their longstanding traditions of avoiding longterm contracts (Troy Polamalu last season and Ben this season) or ignoring the QB position in general.  Now they have to see if they can operate the way the rest of the NFL has for years, just at a higher level.

I personally recommend his autobiography, Double Yoi!, a humorous look back on his entry into sports journalism and some tales from the booth.  In a chapter detailing his fondness for nicknames, Cope wrote:

Chris Fuamatu-Ma`afala? I blurted into my microphone, “The Steelers have just made their sixth-round pick. He is runnning back Chris Fuamatu of Alfalfa State!”

Of course, no such college existed, but who knew? … I thereupon announced a reasonable facsimile of his name and told our audience, “From here in, that guy is Fu.”

Tributes are beginning to pour in for the late broadcaster.  The University of Pittsburgh is requesting that fans attending the mens basketball game against Cincinatti bring their Terrible Towels, and Pittsburgh radio station B94 has cued up a tribute for him that his been playing throughout the day.  The audio is available below, and I apologize for B94’s selection of Daughtry as background music.

• According to today’s Post-Gazette, there could be a position battle at catcher where Ryan Doumit has entered camp slimmed down and ready to hit while Ronny Paulino still seems lackadaisical and defensively flawed.  Doumit is very strong from the left-handed side of the plate, but he is supposedly a switch hitter and can not really hit right-handed, meaning that if he and Paulino ended up in some type of a platoon situation the offensive production from the catcher position would probably be at its highest.  The other issue to consider, however, is the effect that Doumit’s being in the starting lineup on most days will have on the bench, as he was expected to be the powerful lefty who could come in during pinch-hit/replacement situations, but would not be available if he were in the starting lineup.  How the Pirates handle this could be very interesting and may say a good amount about John Russell’s approach towards building a lineup.
• Joe Flacco, Pitt’s former backup quarterback who transferred to Delaware because he thought that he would spend too much time on the bench with Tyler Palko at Pitt, has turned into a very legitimate prospect.  The 6′6, 236 pound passer has impressed enough people in Indianapolis, the site of the NFL Combine, that he was the front page of CNNSI.com yesterday and is still the main picture on CNNSI’s NFL page.  Columnist Don Banks says that, “people I trust in the NFL have him pegged as a definite second-round prospect, with an outside shot of cracking the bottom of the first round if some team falls hard for him as their starter in 2010.”  Tyler Palko was picked in the sixth round.
• The Steelers released linebacker Crint Kriewaldt, return man Allen Rossum, and tight end Jerame Tuman.  Kriewaldt is a Penn State product who makes a good fifty-second or -third player on a roster somewhere due to his defensive versatility and ability to play special teams.  He will probably end up in a Steeler uniform again at some point.  Rossum had one return for a touchdown early in the 2007 season and then never really contributed again, meaning that he was basically wasting a roster spot and making his release a complete non-surprise, particularly considering that the Steelers have Santonio Holmes, Ike Taylor, and possibly Jeremy Bloom on the roster to return kicks as well.  The surprise of the group is probably Tuman, who made an excellent third tight end even with the presence of Matt Spaeth.  Tuman is a solid receiver who can make the necessary blocks and has been a consistent performer for several years even if it is only in a reserve role.  Ultimately, none of these releases will matter to the long-term success of the team.
• Marc-Andre Fleury will be recalled to Pittsburgh after playing against the Syracuse Crunch tonight, signaling the return of the former number one overall pick and decision time for Ray Shero.  The general manager must decide whether to keep three goalies on the roster, to send the successful Ty Conklin back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, or to attempt to sneak Dany Sabourin through waivers.  Keeping three goalies would seem to be a little bit counterproductive as only one can play at a time and fatigue could become an issue amongst skaters during a playoff run and having another healthy body could be a plus.  This is, according to many sources, the most likely alternative, though.  The “best” solution would be, in my mind, to attempt to sign Conklin to a contract similar to the one that Sabourin signed prior to this season, assuring the team of a veteran backup goaltender that they have trust in for the next couple of years and making Sabourin even more expendable than his lackluster performance for most of this season has made him.

Coming up on the Pittsburgh sports slate is a game for the Penguins against San Jose at the Igloo tomorrow, Pitt heading to Louisville to take on the #18 Cardinals tomorrow, and Duquesne hosting La Salle at the Palumbo tomorrow.

The Steelers have holes all along their offensive line, where they recently placed the transition player tag on Max Starks, who had an extremely inconsistent season at left tackle.  The line is also where many mock drafts have the Steelers making their first round pick, with former Pitt tackle Jeff Otah being the selection in many of those drafts.  That would make sense, as the line has holes everywhere, particularly with the impending loss of Alan Faneca, and a versatile, consistent lineman is the type of player that the Steelers absolutely need.

There are also impending holes on the defensive line, as anchor Casey Hampton is entering his eighth season in the league and standout end Aaron Smith is heading into his tenth season.  The line, on either offense or defense, is a demanding position that will eventually take its toll on the players.  The Steelers need to start grooming the successors to those two players now, much as they groomed Brett Kiesel to take over at right defensive end.

Other upcoming holes on defense could include linebacker where, despite the additions of LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons in last year’s draft, Clark Haggans is a free agent and James Farrior is entering his 12th season of football.  This is not necessarily a concern in this year’s draft, but definitely could become in short order.

The secondary, in particular cornerback, is always an issue and is the same coming into this year, when Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden, the likely future of the position for the Steelers, are coming off of relatively disappointing seasons where neither developed into the type of blanket corner that the Steelers need.

On the offensive side of the ball, however, Ben Roethlisberger has called for a taller receiver, something that the Steelers may want to give him just to keep the franchise quarterback happy even though wide receiver is nowhere near the top of the team’s priority list at the moment despite the presence of the aging Hines Ward and the fact that the team had four NFL receivers at the end of last season (Willie Reid does not count).  The team really does need to address its wideout depth.

The other weakness on the offense, and the final on the team, is at running back.  Yes, the Steelers have the daunting presence of Willie Parker and a solid backup in Najeh Davenport, but the best teams have two running back systems (or four running back systems, if you are the New York Giants).  The Steelers really could use a young, pounding type of back in order to reassert their superiority in the ground game, something that did not seem at all evident last season after Willie Parker wore down and the offensive line became more porous.

All in all, the Steelers’ most glaring weakness is at offensive line, as the problems with the running game and the issue of keeping Roethlisberger on his feet are traced back to those guys.  The Steelers should take the best player available, but they should be also be giving all of the strong offensive line prospects longer looks than guys at other positions.