Steelers Morning Huddle 4/24/14
Dec 29, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) looks to pass against the Cleveland Browns during the second quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Don’t worry Steelers fans, the draft is almost upon us. Which means this boring part of the never ending football season is coming to and end for fans everywhere. Here is the second to last Thursday edition of the Steelers Morning Huddle before the draft.
Big Ben Contract Extension Rumors
Before the season I really didn’t have any clue who Scott Brown was. Now I know him as the man who brings fabulous Steelers knowledge to an ESPN.com that lacks an ESPN Pittsburgh division. Shame on them. Just this past morning Scott brought to attention the ongoing contract negotiations between the Steelers and Roethlisberger. In the article Brown quotes Big Ben’s Agent saying,
"“There’s been ongoing [contract] discussions for quite awhile. I think from the time we did the first extension there was sort of a plan moving forward. There’s a plan in place, but both sides are pretty committed to doing that privately and not having it be something that’s discussed in the media.”"
I don’t think that there is any room for debate when it comes to the topic of an extension for Ben. He’s the franchise signal caller and he will be until he retires. Plain and simple. The Steelers’ front office should do whatever needs to be done to keep him in black and gold.
Offense vs. Defense
Steel City Blitz is a website that I don’t come across often, but when I do I often find their articles pretty entertaining. This one is no exception. They focused on the never ending argument between Steelers fans in this article; offense or defense? They finished out the article like this, you need playmakers and that you have stop protecting the LeBeau brand. There are those in the organization that want the running game to return to circa 1975 days in order to keep LeBeau’s defense off the field. “That’s all fine and dandy but how effective will that offense be if the defense is giving up touchdowns every other time down the field? The defense will not be rebuilt in a day and the offense is closer to carrying this team right now so let it do so.”
Marc Uhlmann, who wrote the article, makes some very good points in the article and I am inclined to agree with most of them. Just not all of them. While I do think that the offense is closer to carrying this team than the defense, I don’t think that means we should just let the defense just roll over and die. In my opinion the perfect draft would feature a wide receiver and a tight end in the first four rounds, with the wide receiver preferably coming in the first two, with defense being significantly preferred after that. Except for a running back and maybe an offensive lineman late.