Ward v Brown

[NottinghamForest_UK]

First time poster from England, so be nice-ish

Firstly, sympathies to anyone affected by Irene ....

Anyways, does anyone think Brown is ready to take over Ward's spot yet? If not, how long before he does? If he can continue to show his fine form of course.

[insanesteelersfan]

Re: Ward v Brown

First time poster from England, so be nice-ish

Firstly, sympathies to anyone affected by Irene ....

Anyways, does anyone think Brown is ready to take over Ward's spot yet? If not, how long before he does? If he can continue to show his fine form of course.

Greetings, and God saved the Queen to you sir Of course we are all happy to see what Antonio is bringing us this pre-season. And what's better, he has been productive even without all our WR's being healthy. Sanders has even better speed then Brown has. Both Sanders, Brown and Wallace give us a trio of WR's for the future. Cotchery is only signed for this year, and may not return next season. As for Brown, or anyone else replacing Ward, well one can never truly replace a Hall of Fame WR like Ward will be. But we have the makings in both Sanders and Brown to be okay. Wallace is already established as a WR in the league. So yes, we will be A-OK in the years to come.


Anyways, welcome sir. And make sure you turn one of your English Pubs into a ALL STEELERS Pub

[NottinghamForest_UK]

Re: Ward v Brown

Cheers for the welcome = Geez, its hard enough to find a fellow football fan, yet alone another STEELER! A pub full would be amazing as its tough keeping the eyes open for the late kick offs!

The depth we have is fantastic, I liked Sanders more than Brown last year, but Antonio seems to have grabbed his opportunity fantastically well & with Ward's stock on the decrease, I just think he could be getting much more game time this year & even starting before the year is out. Hopefully anyway as he's on my fantasy bench!

[buckeyehoppy]

Re: Ward v Brown

Cheers for the welcome = Geez, its hard enough to find a fellow football fan, yet alone another STEELER! A pub full would be amazing as its tough keeping the eyes open for the late kick offs!

The depth we have is fantastic, I liked Sanders more than Brown last year, but Antonio seems to have grabbed his opportunity fantastically well & with Ward's stock on the decrease, I just think he could be getting much more game time this year & even starting before the year is out. Hopefully anyway as he's on my fantasy bench!

Welcome to the Planet, Forest_UK!

When we win SBXLVI, Ward will retire. Brown will probably be the favorite to be the #2 WR, since Sanders seems so injury prone.

At most, if we don't win the SB, I don't see Ward playing past his current contract (I think that's just this year and next). He's going to the HOF, based on his career numbers and on the strength of his two SB rings. He still has game. It's just not the game it used to be.

This season will be fun to watch. If Ben gets the kind of protection he needs, he'll devastate opposing defenses. He has every weapon he needs in his arsenal, so the margin for excuses (beyond injuries) is nearly non-existent.

[SidSmythe]

Re: Ward v Brown

they let you watch football over there???

Ward needs to worry about Sanders and Cotchery b/c of their possesion ability.

but on top of his leadership ability ... Hines Ward is a brilliant football player. When you have a QB like Ben who can extend plays, Hines might be the best around finding a way to get open after a play breaks down

[DukieBoy]

Re: Ward v Brown

First time poster from England, so be nice-ish

Firstly, sympathies to anyone affected by Irene ....

Anyways, does anyone think Brown is ready to take over Ward's spot yet? If not, how long before he does? If he can continue to show his fine form of course.

Welcome to the Board, and this green post in honor of Nottingham Forest. I think we'll see a good deal of rotation in our receiving corps to keep them all in the game and add some confusion for defences. It will be fun to watch as long as the Steelers' Big Ben has the time he needs.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Re: Ward v Brown

While both Brown and Ward are receivers, Ward still gives you something that Brown so far does not. Ward is a classic third down possession receiver. Cotchery may be able to give you that ability, maybe even Sanders, but Brown is a field stretcher, more along the lines of Wallace.

But Brown has taken major strides this season so far and looks like a new man. There is a video on here somewhere that shows him at some WR training with Ocho, IIRC Andre Johnson, and at least one other well known receiver. He looked to be in incredible shape and not out of place amongst those veterans. Look for some big things from Antonio this season.

[D Rock]

Re: Ward v Brown

While both Brown and Ward are receivers, Ward still gives you something that Brown so far does not. Ward is a classic third down possession receiver. Cotchery may be able to give you that ability, maybe even Sanders, but Brown is a field stretcher, more along the lines of Wallace.

But Brown has taken major strides this season so far and looks like a new man. There is a video on here somewhere that shows him at some WR training with Ocho, IIRC Andre Johnson, and at least one other well known receiver. He looked to be in incredible shape and not out of place amongst those veterans. Look for some big things from Antonio this season.

I forgot all about that training he did. Santana Moss was there too. Brown made them all look like they were moving in slow motion.

[Djfan]

Re: Ward v Brown

Welcome to the Planet Nottingham!

If you want to start a Steel City Mafia chapter over there, let me know. As a made Boss I will help you get it going.

PM me if interested.

[fordfixer]

Re: Ward v Brown

Welcome to the Planet

[Shawn]

Re: Ward v Brown

Welcome...good to have you at the Planet. I think the thing to keep in mind here is this was one preseason game. Few can doubt Brown's talent, but personally I want to know he can fight for first downs...catch the tough ones to move the chains...and show up game after game. He certainly has more upside than Ward. But, Ward finds ways to be competitive...and to keep chains moving.

I think another question in my mind is who can take Wards place? We have a bunch of homerun hitters. Cotch was a great aquisition because he was made in the mold of Ward.

[D Rock]

Re: Ward v Brown

Welcome...good to have you at the Planet. I think the thing to keep in mind here is this was one preseason game. Few can doubt Brown's talent, but personally I want to know he can fight for first downs...catch the tough ones to move the chains...and show up game after game. He certainly has more upside than Ward. But, Ward finds ways to be competitive...and to keep chains moving.

I think another question in my mind is who can take Wards place? We have a bunch of homerun hitters. Cotch was a great aquisition because he was made in the mold of Ward.

I think the thing that gets everyone so excited is this huge game had a catch and run, a jump ball he beat two people to get, and then combined with the return ability...on top of the 2 big catches down the stretch last year. The helmet catch was the homerun ball, the 3rd and 6 catch was the chain mover. He has flashed a little bit of everything, and that is what is so exciting.

[flippy]

Re: Ward v Brown

Bottom line, Wallace, Brown, and Ward should be on the field for the majority of plays.

[feltdizz]

Re: Ward v Brown

A close friend's brother used to coach at Central Michigan and he said every time Brown touched the ball he would do something amazing. Thing's haven't changed since he made the leap to the NFL.

I don't think I can remember a guy making this many splash plays at WR, KR in such a short amount of time.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Ward v Brown

Bottom line, Wallace, Brown, and Ward should be on the field for the majority of plays.

11 personnel with Mendenhall, Heath, and the 3 WR's you mentioned above is the ideal package of weaponry for Ben's arsenal the vast majority of the time. Sure, when we get down near the goalline we might opt for the Jumbo Bronko package, and if it 3rd and forever, we may prefer to go 5-wide, but I really like what the Wallace-Ward-Brown 3 WR set gives us. Speed-Hands-Moves. A little bit of everything.

In the post-game show after the Falcons game, Tunch compared Antonio Brown's game to that of Louis Lipps. Love it. When they touch the ball, they make something happen.