Steelers Film Room: Underrated Steelers: Ramon Foster
By Nick Kelly
Final Thoughts:
December 9, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; San Diego Chargers defensive end Kendall Reyes (91) and Pittsburgh Steelers guard Ramon Foster (73) battle for position at the line of scrimmage during the first quarter at Heinz Field. The San Diego Chargers won 34-24. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
During this past offseason, there was talk that teams like the Chicago Bears, the Tennessee Titans, or the Arizona Cardinals were interested in the services of Ramon Foster. The Steelers then quickly signed Foster, hours before free agency began. They finally realized that Foster was meant to be in their starting lineup, and he was meant to be a Steeler. He has improved quite a bit every year since coming on to the scene in 2009, and he is one of the best kept secrets on the Steelers team.
The important thing to note is that Foster didn’t face a bunch of chumps in 2012. He faced some of the best defensive tackles in the league, such as Richard Seymour, Cullen Jenkins, Dontari Poe, Phillip Taylor, as well as Haloti Ngata and Geno Atkins twice.
Geno Atkins is arguably the best defensive tackle in football right now after registering 12.5 sacks last year. How many of those came against Ramon Foster? Not a single one. Roethlisberger could sleep a little bit better at night knowing that Ramon Foster could shut Geno Atkins down.
I think one of the best qualities about Foster is his blue-collar mentality. Foster has never had it easy in his NFL career. He has had to fight for every single snap of playing time, a mentality needed to win a championship.
Charles Davis, an analyst for NFL Network, recently had said, “Ramon Foster is the kind of guy that you don’t notice until he is gone.” All I can say is, I sure am glad we didn’t have to find out what Ramon Foster gone would be like.
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