Steelers Free Agent Spotlight: OT Guy Whimper
By Kim Myers
Dec 29, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers guard Ramon Foster (73) and guard Guy Whimper (78) and tackle Mike Adams (76) and tackle Kelvin Beachum (68) in the tunnel for player introductions before playing the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field. The Steelers won 20-7. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
We wrap up the offensive line free agents for the Steelers with tackle Guy Whimper. Whimper was signed by the Steelers last offseason and was considered unlikely to make the roster and even unlikelier to excel on the line once he saw the field thanks to injuries to Marcus Gilbert and the poor play of Mike Adams. Whimper becomes an unrestricted free agent on March 11th.
Guy Whimper was taken in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the New York Giants out of East Carolina. He spent three seasons with the Giants including the Super Bowl XLII winning team. He was released by the Giants in 2010 and picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars mid-season 2010. He spent the next three seasons with Jacksonville before being waived in early 2013. He was signed in May of 2013 by the Steelers and nicknamed “Abdullah the Butcher” by Mike Tomlin after a professional wrestler from back in the day known for his brutality in the ring.
The Steelers have another opportunity here to shore up some proven depth for their offensive line, something they haven’t been able to do for several years. While they’ve been investing years’ worth of high-round draft picks on their line, depth seemed to always be a problem year after year. The team had a highly-touted line before the kickoff of last season but that all went to crap once Maurkice Pouncey went down and the zone-blocking scheme was officially abandoned. Ben Roethlisberger was on pace to be sacked a gajillion times in the first half of the season but at about the mid-way point, things turned around, partly due to the play by players like Whimper, Velasco, and Wallace, who are all unrestricted free agents now, Ben was sacked less than a dozen times the rest of the year.
I think that the Steelers and Whimper can come to the right price and he can stick with the team and provide stability and insurance to the offensive line, while Mike Munchak at least is being advertised that he can turn Mike Adams around, it would benefit the Steelers to keep Whimper on the roster in the meantime.
What are your thoughts, Steeler Nation? Do you think Guy “Abdullah” Whimper stays with the Black & Gold?
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