Simmons & Mendenhall on IR

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Just heard this during Ben's post game conference on NFLN.

To be honest, the line seemed to settle down a bit once Stapleton replaced Kendall, but Mendenhall will be a big loos to our versatility and depth.

[costanza2k1]

I hope Gary Russell now has some hunger back in him and runs like he did last year in preseason.

[fordfixer]

We are getting pretty thin on o-line and running back

[BigBen2112]

Now we'll see if our OL gets BETTER!

See if we can play better offensively with RB problems now.

Anyone else happy we dont have DVSONE as our GM and traded Parker with Mendenhall out all year now?

[BigBen2112]

We are getting pretty thin on o-line and running back

Again, ask Colbert why.

[SteelTorch]

I'm not concerned about Simmons, the guy is still crap IMO. But we've been hit really hard with injuries this year.

Parker, Hampton, Keisel, Mendenhall, Frazier, and Simmons. Four starters and one crucial backup. We're lucky we're a deep team, otherwise we'd be in serious trouble.

[LouSteel]

Big blow with the Mendy loss... MM did look good against the Ratbirds, though, so hopefully Willie comes back soon and we can work MM into the offense a bit more than blitz pickups.

Simmons... eh, I'm neutral on this one. These losses can damage OL cohesion, but that unit hasn't been looking good at all. So change might be good... but the lack of depth here might come back to bite us in the ass.

[stlrz d]

Damn

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

We really need Parker back quickly. FWP, Davis (who also needs to come back from injury), Moore, and Russell not so bad after some tough injuries.

[buckeyehoppy]

Even though I hate Max Sucks, I would be amazed if he wasn't the starting RT next Sunday night, with Willie moving down to play at RG and Stapleton (who looked very good) getting his reps.

IRing Mendy is a huge bummer. Moore's play tonight softens the blow, but that is another big setback for a draft class that is beginning to look like the Trojan-ENZ Boner of the Year.

This is yet another reason why the draft must devote around half of the picks to the OL and maybe another quarter to the pass rush. The rest of the team looks like world beaters compared to the interior lines. Pretty soon, the Steelers may have to convert to the 2-5 because there are too few bodies to man the 3 in the 3-4.