Final Cut

[Djfan]

I hope that Johnson to the PS trick works.

[papillon]

I hope that Johnson to the PS trick works.

Not happening IMO, he's almost as good as a couple of potential starters, he won't stay on our PS very long, especially in a league where QBs are valuable and get injured regularly. They should have cut Batch (no one is going to sign him) and kept Johnson. Then in a pinch if they don't think Johnson is ready, simply pick up the phone call Charlie and he's at the stadium 15 minutes later.

Pappy

[ikestops85]

Letting JJ go and keeping Batch is the one move I really dislike. Now, the one move I want them to make is sign Forbath and cut Sushi.

[Oviedo]

Letting JJ go and keeping Batch is the one move I really dislike. Now, the one move I want them to make is sign Forbath and cut Sushi.

Yes to this!!!!!

[phillyesq]

Not happening IMO, he's almost as good as a couple of potential starters, he won't stay on our PS very long, especially in a league where QBs are valuable and get injured regularly. They should have cut Batch (no one is going to sign him) and kept Johnson. Then in a pinch if they don't think Johnson is ready, simply pick up the phone call Charlie and he's at the stadium 15 minutes later.

Pappy

I doubt that JJ is signed to the practice squad or by another team. Guys like Mike Kafka have been released as well and, while young, are more polished and more ready than JJ.

[NorthCoast]

I'm surprised and glad they let Essex go. He deserved it.

I'm also surprised they kept both Lefty and Batch.

I'm still surprised we're still stuck with Sushi.

And I feel bad for Lee and Victorian who played well enough to deserve a spot.

I'm also a little surprised by Gilreath although I don't think he's that good and wasn't worthy of a spot.

Shouldn't be a total surprise about Sushi. His contract is guaranteed so there was little chance the Steelers would cut him, .... unless he totally lost it.

[NorthCoast]

It looks like the Steelers are keeping only 4 WRs...which makes complete sense to me at this point...

They will never use 5 WRs at the same time...not with Rainey and Miller on the roster...

Sign two young guys with upside (Clemons and Maze?) to the PS and let them develop for a year in order to compete for a roster spot next year...

Sign Johnson to the PS and let him develop as well...

Round out the PS with Frederick, Victorian, Bryant, Ikponmwosa and Ryan Lee...

Looking at Haley's offense with KC last season, RBs were targeted as receivers about 10% of the time, which is about the amount you might expect with a 4th or 5th WR.

[NJ-STEELER]

I doubt that JJ is signed to the practice squad or by another team. Guys like Mike Kafka have been released as well and, while young, are more polished and more ready than JJ.

............

$$

[lloydroid]

Does Curtis Brown deserve to make this team? Every time I looked up he was getting fried deep. Put that guy on the field and who ever he is covering should run a fly route and toast him.

[NJ-STEELER]

I'd say his play last year saved a spot on the roster this year

But. Ur right. He needs to improve from his rough preseason

[Slapstick]

Does Curtis Brown deserve to make this team? Every time I looked up he was getting fried deep. Put that guy on the field and who ever he is covering should run a fly route and toast him.

Brown is worth it for special teams (fumble recovery the other night, for example) and can improve in coverage...

[Steelerphile]

Brown is worth it for special teams (fumble recovery the other night, for example) and can improve in coverage...

No way would I cut Curtis Brown. He is one the most athletic DBs on the roster. He has good size and excellent athletic ability. He was an awesome ST player last year. A few blown coverages in the preseason shouldn't make them give up on him.

[hawaiiansteel]

Ed: Cutting Wasn't the Problem, Stopping Was

MONDAY, 03 SEPTEMBER 2012 WRITTEN BY ED BOUCHETTE

Good morning,

I love the smell of the start of the regular season in the morning.

The clock keeps ticking on contract negotiations between the Steelers and Mike Wallace. As I’ve written here since the spring, I think he will play this season at $2.7 million and sign elsewhere in 2013. That’s life, as Antonio Brown might say. It also would continue their streak of never having two highly paid wide receivers, at least not on my watch (I have no idea what Swann and Stallworth were paid).

Next year, they will just have to dig deep into the draft and pluck one out on the third or sixth round.

Some stuff and your questions (remember to send me questions at [EMAIL="platefloor@aol.com"]platefloor@aol.com[/EMAIL] ):

--- Nice touch by Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert to visit the high school game of Bill Stewart’s son, as reported in the PG by Jenn Menendez. They had Friday night off and spent it in Morgantown as a tribute to the late WVU coach, who died suddenly in May.

--- After all was said (and repeated) and done, none of the Steelers’ cuts was a real surprise unless they don’t bring Trai Essex back. Really, who did they waive that surprised you? Chris Scott? Marshall McFadden, giving them no McFaddens on the team this year? Jeremy Kapinos? Nope, not a one, not even Jerrod Johnson. As Chuck Noll might say (I love quoting the old coach, who should have a book The Sayings of Chairman Charles): “Cutting isn’t the problem, stopping is.’’ And that was back in the day of 47-man rosters, not 53 plus eight.

--- YOU: Will/Can Al Woods play DE and NT? Also, Do you watch/like Hard Knocks?
ME: I haven’t seen Woods play nose tackle, and they have three of those on the roster anyway. As for Hard Knocks, no I do not. Unless the Steelers do it, which they never will, I’m not interested. I do watch Newsroom and Boardwalk Empire on the same channel, though. And, of course, I make the occasional appearance on Auction Kings.

--- YOU: Do you think Dwyer has a chance to get 20-25 carries week one, establish himself as a workhorse back, and hold on to the job for the entire season?
ME: I don’t think any one back will carry that often because I think they will split up the carries. However, if one back is more effective than another, they will learn more toward him. That could be Jonathan Dwyer, it could be Isaac Redman, it could be Rashard Mendenhall when he returns. One thing about this offensive coordinator, he’s not going to have favorites, he’s going to go with what works best.

--- YOU: Just a Steelers fan from NJ wondering two things;
1.) What are our chances of seeing Rashard Mendenhall this season?
2.) Do you have a Twitter? So I can follow the teams news a little more closely.
ME: Yes, I believe Mendenhall could appear in October, although he may not be the same Mendenhall we’ve seen in the past because of the surgery to his knee. My Twitter is @EdBouchette.

--- YOU: I know there aren’t enough practice snaps to go around to typically warrant keeping a 4th QB on the practice squad, but Johnson seemed to show more promise than any of the young QBs the Steelers have taken from Tee Martin to Dennis Dixon. Johnson seemed to have the size, skills and pedigree (he was slated to start ahead of Ryan Tannehill before getting injured), to eventually be a quality No. 2, at least. Am I putting too much stock in his preseason performance? It seems the Steelers should have tried to find a way to keep him. Batch will be 38 in December and is the 3rd string QB. Was it really worth keeping him, especially considering no other team was likely to sign him? He lives in Pittsburgh and is always a phone call away. Why not either go with 2 QBs (Ben and Byron) and sign Jerrod Johnson to the practice squad as the scout team QB, or simply put Johnson on the 53 man roster. If either Ben or Byron get injured, you can call Charlie and re-sign him. It will be interesting to see if Batch is even active on game day. If not, keeping him makes even less sense.
ME: I liked Johnson as well, but the Steelers coaches must not have thought as highly of him or they would have found a way to keep him. You don’t cut good, young quarterbacks, so they must not have seen his future as brightly. Dennis Dixon once was thought of highly too, but they did not re-sign him and he is now on Baltimore’s practice squad, although I do not know how he’s still eligible for that. Charlie Batch brings more to the table than just a third-string quarterback. He’s been there, won that, and he’s also a valuable asset to Ben Roethlisberger.

--- YOU: When they put D.DeCastro on IR, for the 53rd man, U'r saying T.Essex. I'm thinking more a CB or WR, only b/cuz the CB/WR could/can play on STs. W/ C.Rainey being quote a 5th WR, I'm thinking a 5th CB is more important, ecsp. w/ C.Brown dinged.
ME: Its jst my opnion that the Stlrs will put Trai E. on 53 bec they have jst 8 Olmen.

--- YOU: When's Mendenhall's current contract up? Given all the young depth
behind him, and his having had a second, serious injury, I could
imagine things eventually becoming interesting. I do not envy NFL
running backs.
ME: This is the final year of his contract. I don’t know what you mean by interesting, but if you mean there’s a chance he won’t be here in 2013, I agree.

--- YOU: Diccicco was cut by the Bears--will the Steelers take a look at him, at least for special teams--of course Buffalo might come into play here. =
ME: They pour over all the cuts, sometimes they bring them in for workouts and once in a great while they will sign one. I would not expect that to be the case here.

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