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Pittsburgh Steelers: Defensive Backs Abundant In Free Agency Market
Everyone who follows the Pittsburgh Steelers knows that the weak link in their storied defense is the secondary unit, despite it being led by the best safety in football and reigning Defensive Player Of The Year, Troy Polamlau.
Ryan Clark, while aging and found out of position a good deal, is one of the few safeties in the NFL that can handle playing opposite of the wild card, his grasp of the complicated D!ck LeBeau 3-4 scheme is unparalleled, and he’s a great locker room presence.
Ike Taylor is still a top corner in the league, and would garner more recognition if he didn’t have hands of stone. He’s currently a free agent, but there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that the Steelers won’t negotiate a contract with him, especially due to the depth at cornerback for the team.
Opposite of Taylor there is the tandem of Bryant McFadden and William Gay. McFadden would be best suited in a safety role, where he’d be able to see the ball at all times, as he also found himself getting beat time and time again. The safety transition could be made smoothly, due to his intelligence and natural tackling ability. Gay, may be the best blitzing corner in the NFL, he always finds a way to the quarterback, but found himself getting abused by some pretty average slot receivers this year, playing in the nickel. That problem was only compounded when he was asked to sub for McFadden due to injuries.
It’s imperative that the Steelers make defensive back a priority in the off-season, via free agency and the draft.There’s quite a few big names on the market, and keep an eye out for the Steel Hurtin’ Draft Profiles of prospective Steelers’ picks as well.
1. Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland Raiders
Asomugha is regarded as the second best corner in the NFL, behind New York’s Darrelle Revis, and there’s definitely a case to be made for him as the number one guy. His statistics are in the gutter, because, well, teams just don’t throw to his side of the field. His contract with the Oakland Raiders was voided because of his statistics, showing what little value one should place on numbers in regards to performance.
He wants to play for a Super Bowl contender, which automatically puts some teams out of the race, but it also makes the price tag steeper, because Super Bowl contenders know that they only need a piece or two to get there and win it. The reigning champion Green Bay Packers are the ‘sexy’ signing, because he has ties to Charles Woodson, but that secondary is already very well paid, the New York Jets would be interested, but it would cost them in terms of holes in other portions of their roster, at receiver most notably.
This is, of course a dream signing, because he’s going to be VERY well paid, and the Steelers historically don’t make a big splash in the free agency market. Someone’s going to pay him some big money to isolate number one receivers, unfortunately, it won’t be the Steelers. They aren’t interested in getting in a bidding war, when they’ve performed very well with sub-par corners for much of the last 10 years.
2. Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos
The Broncos want to get younger, and while Bailey is still a top five corner in the NFL, and still fast as a lightning bolt, he’s getting older and may be contemplating a change to safety, which as evidenced by Pittsburgh’s own Rod Woodson, can extend the career of a shutdown cornerback by years.
He’s still very much interested in being a Denver Bronco, and should they express the same interest, you can cross his name off this list. He would be an automatic upgrade at corner, opposite of Ike Taylor, if only a rent-to-own deal, perhaps moving him to free safety once he grasps the defense and once a replacement at corner is found in the 2012 off-season.
3. Johnathan Joseph, Cincinnati Bengals
Joseph has stated that if the Bengals place the franchise tag on him, that he’ll sign it on the first day, but is hoping that they reach a long term deal before that point. But, on the off-chance that the Bengals don’t see that he’s important to their defense, he would make a great 1-2 punch in the Bengals guts.
Along with Leon Hall, he helped lead a Bengals secondary that performed very well in 2010, and regressed in 2011, but the burden of that blame can be placed on the Bengals’ pass rush department, because that’s where coverage starts and stops. They couldn’t get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and the secondary was left hanging out to dry. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and very, very aggressive, he’s be a great fit in the Pittsburgh defensive scheme.
4. Antonio Cromartie, New York Jets
Cromartie is a great corner in man to man, but sub-par in zone coverage, and also comes with some off-field issues, which the Steelers have addressed with an iron fist (steel curtain?) this past off-season (well, except in the case of Ben Roethlisberger…but that’s another story…) Due to the need at corner though, they may be willing to take a chance on ‘Cro’ as long as they can keep him from threatening Seattle Seahawk’s quarterbacks, and at the very least, he could help the population in Pittsburgh grow by leaps and bounds.
5. Brent Grimes, Atlanta Falcons
Again, the Falcons would be completely brain dead to allow Grimes to walk, after not being drafted, he has turned into one of the better corners in the NFL, and helped rejuvenate a Falcons pass defense that has struggled in past years. He has a nose for the ball, and was among the league leaders in passes defended at the end of the season.
6. Carlos Rogers, Washington Redskins
As much as it would make me cringe to have two starting corners that couldn’t catch the plague in Medieval England, Rogers is a solid corner and a leader in the Redskins secondary, he, like Taylor doesn’t get the recognition that he probably deserves due to their inability to make plays on the ball and come down with them.
There are definitely worse starting corners out there, and Pittsburgh got the ‘pleasure’ of seeing two of them this past season.
[url]http://steelhurtin.com/2011/02/12/pittsburgh-steelers-defensive-backs-abundant-in-free-agency-market/[/url]
Everyone who follows the Pittsburgh Steelers knows that the weak link in their storied defense is the secondary unit, despite it being led by the best safety in football and reigning Defensive Player Of The Year, Troy Polamlau.
Ryan Clark, while aging and found out of position a good deal, is one of the few safeties in the NFL that can handle playing opposite of the wild card, his grasp of the complicated D!ck LeBeau 3-4 scheme is unparalleled, and he’s a great locker room presence.
Ike Taylor is still a top corner in the league, and would garner more recognition if he didn’t have hands of stone. He’s currently a free agent, but there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that the Steelers won’t negotiate a contract with him, especially due to the depth at cornerback for the team.
Opposite of Taylor there is the tandem of Bryant McFadden and William Gay. McFadden would be best suited in a safety role, where he’d be able to see the ball at all times, as he also found himself getting beat time and time again. The safety transition could be made smoothly, due to his intelligence and natural tackling ability. Gay, may be the best blitzing corner in the NFL, he always finds a way to the quarterback, but found himself getting abused by some pretty average slot receivers this year, playing in the nickel. That problem was only compounded when he was asked to sub for McFadden due to injuries.
It’s imperative that the Steelers make defensive back a priority in the off-season, via free agency and the draft.There’s quite a few big names on the market, and keep an eye out for the Steel Hurtin’ Draft Profiles of prospective Steelers’ picks as well.
1. Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland Raiders
Asomugha is regarded as the second best corner in the NFL, behind New York’s Darrelle Revis, and there’s definitely a case to be made for him as the number one guy. His statistics are in the gutter, because, well, teams just don’t throw to his side of the field. His contract with the Oakland Raiders was voided because of his statistics, showing what little value one should place on numbers in regards to performance.
He wants to play for a Super Bowl contender, which automatically puts some teams out of the race, but it also makes the price tag steeper, because Super Bowl contenders know that they only need a piece or two to get there and win it. The reigning champion Green Bay Packers are the ‘sexy’ signing, because he has ties to Charles Woodson, but that secondary is already very well paid, the New York Jets would be interested, but it would cost them in terms of holes in other portions of their roster, at receiver most notably.
This is, of course a dream signing, because he’s going to be VERY well paid, and the Steelers historically don’t make a big splash in the free agency market. Someone’s going to pay him some big money to isolate number one receivers, unfortunately, it won’t be the Steelers. They aren’t interested in getting in a bidding war, when they’ve performed very well with sub-par corners for much of the last 10 years.
2. Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos
The Broncos want to get younger, and while Bailey is still a top five corner in the NFL, and still fast as a lightning bolt, he’s getting older and may be contemplating a change to safety, which as evidenced by Pittsburgh’s own Rod Woodson, can extend the career of a shutdown cornerback by years.
He’s still very much interested in being a Denver Bronco, and should they express the same interest, you can cross his name off this list. He would be an automatic upgrade at corner, opposite of Ike Taylor, if only a rent-to-own deal, perhaps moving him to free safety once he grasps the defense and once a replacement at corner is found in the 2012 off-season.
3. Johnathan Joseph, Cincinnati Bengals
Joseph has stated that if the Bengals place the franchise tag on him, that he’ll sign it on the first day, but is hoping that they reach a long term deal before that point. But, on the off-chance that the Bengals don’t see that he’s important to their defense, he would make a great 1-2 punch in the Bengals guts.
Along with Leon Hall, he helped lead a Bengals secondary that performed very well in 2010, and regressed in 2011, but the burden of that blame can be placed on the Bengals’ pass rush department, because that’s where coverage starts and stops. They couldn’t get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and the secondary was left hanging out to dry. He’s a phenomenal athlete, and very, very aggressive, he’s be a great fit in the Pittsburgh defensive scheme.
4. Antonio Cromartie, New York Jets
Cromartie is a great corner in man to man, but sub-par in zone coverage, and also comes with some off-field issues, which the Steelers have addressed with an iron fist (steel curtain?) this past off-season (well, except in the case of Ben Roethlisberger…but that’s another story…) Due to the need at corner though, they may be willing to take a chance on ‘Cro’ as long as they can keep him from threatening Seattle Seahawk’s quarterbacks, and at the very least, he could help the population in Pittsburgh grow by leaps and bounds.
5. Brent Grimes, Atlanta Falcons
Again, the Falcons would be completely brain dead to allow Grimes to walk, after not being drafted, he has turned into one of the better corners in the NFL, and helped rejuvenate a Falcons pass defense that has struggled in past years. He has a nose for the ball, and was among the league leaders in passes defended at the end of the season.
6. Carlos Rogers, Washington Redskins
As much as it would make me cringe to have two starting corners that couldn’t catch the plague in Medieval England, Rogers is a solid corner and a leader in the Redskins secondary, he, like Taylor doesn’t get the recognition that he probably deserves due to their inability to make plays on the ball and come down with them.
There are definitely worse starting corners out there, and Pittsburgh got the ‘pleasure’ of seeing two of them this past season.
[url]http://steelhurtin.com/2011/02/12/pittsburgh-steelers-defensive-backs-abundant-in-free-agency-market/[/url]
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