Steelers Morning Huddle 8/15/13

Aug 10, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau talks to an assistant before the game against the New York Giants at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

Hey there Steeler Nation!  The Steelers were back at training camp yesterday giving reporters lots of quotes and sound bites to talk about.  There are lots of articles and blogs posted around the internet.  Here are a few I thought were interesting.

Depth Chart Updated

The Steelers posted the latest depth chart on Steelers.com.  I saw a flurry of tweets about the changes.  Marc Sessler, of NFL.com, called attention to Ed Bouchette’s notes that Le’Veon Bell and Isaac Redman were listed as co-starters.  Well, the online version lists them as 2 and 1 – Redman has the top spot and Bell is 2nd.  However, Sessler makes a good point that this is more about Bell still being somewhat of an unknown because he did not get any game time last Saturday.  No one denies he has talent, but making sure he is ready for the game is another story.

LeBeau Speaks

The normal quiet Coach LeBeau talked with the media and Alan Robinson put together his perspective on the questions and answers.  LeBeau talked about his philosophy and even though people claim things have changed in the game of football, he sees that many things are basically the same through the years.  While I have tremendous respect for Dick LeBeau and what he stands for, I see a time where he may no longer be with the Steelers.  It’s not about his age.  There is something unique about the locker rooms and how a coach’s message can get stale even though it makes sense.  I don’t know if that will ever happen to LeBeau but it has happened to other great coaches.  When it is time, I hope LeBeau walks away on his terms.

Shamarko Thomas 

Christina Rivers is a freelance columnist and a life-long Steelers fan (according to the bio blurb) and she had an article published on the Dallas Fort Worth CBS site about Shamarko Thomas.  If you haven’t had a chance to get familiar with his background, this is a good chance.  The article brings in some other sources that we’ve already put into our Morning Huddle, but it’s a quick read if you still need to get familiar with Thomas’ background.

Underpaid Football Players?

Sounds like a joke intro, right?  Well, Forbes put together lists of all things NFL – the value of teams, who is undervalued, who is overpaid and on and on.  Based on the median salary of the average American, it’s hard to think of any NFL player being underpaid.  However careers are short and that is part of the formula.  Brian McIntyre, of the Shutdown Corner on Yahoo! Sports, looks at the overpaid and underpaid side of the articles.  He calls attention to the No 1 underpaid player – James Harrison of the Cincinnati Bengals.  I am not surprised to see Harrison on that list.  Steelers fans all know how this came about.  It’s a long drug-out saga.  I respect Harrison as a player but I think he and his agent didn’t understand the NFL climate they were negotiating in and they ended up on the wrong side of the deal.  I wish Harrison was still a Steeler, but this may have been for the best because Harrison may have been getting a tad complacent with the Steelers.  Now he’s hungry again.  I wish him the best, except when he plays against the Steelers!

Superbowl Predictions

CBSSports Senior NFL Columnist Pete Prisco put out his predictions of who will be in the Superbowl.  The article is interesting because he walks through predicting winners of every game.  Prisco doesn’t just look at the teams and say “I think New England is strong and they will be in the Superbowl.”  No, he methodically walks himself into his prediction.  All his predictions, by week and by team record, are in the article and he invites readers to print them out and heckle him accordingly later.  By the way – he thinks the Bengals will be in the Superbowl.  Wow, what a couple of years that would be for Steelers fans if he is right – the Ravens followed by the Bengals?  Ugh, wake me up from this nightmare!

Featured Tweet:

Mike Pruista, of WDVE, puts out some of the best tweets from training camp:

It’s nice to hear the one of the injured cornerbacks is on the field again!  That cornerback list was (and still is) looking mighty slim.  I hope Brown won’t be sidelines again.

That’s it for today

Let us know what you think!