Foster Has High Ankle Sprain

[phillyesq]

According to Rotoworld:

Steelers LG Ramon Foster suffered a high-ankle sprain in Sunday's win, and will be sidelined a "couple weeks."

The Steelers' offensive line continues to be stunningly injury prone. Foster dealt with a pectoral strain earlier this season, but Sunday will be the first start he's missed. Guy Whimper filled in for Foster against the Bills, and will likely get the start against the Lions. Foster has graded out as Pro Football Focus' No. 8 left guard this season, so it's not good news for Le'Veon Bell.

Quite surprised to see that Foster graded out that highly. I always thought he was at least average, but that puts him among the top 25% of players at his position. Not too shabby.

[Eich]

"The Steelers' offensive line continues to be stunningly injury prone." This is becoming a stunning understatement.

[flippy]

Just as he's been getting really good. I've been watching Foster closely since he manhandled Ngata one on one and he's been our best Olineman consistently. I still think he's a little tall to be playing G, but he's starting to make it work.

[pfelix73]

I always wanted to move him out to LT to see what he could do. I think our future LT is already on this roster. I know I'm in the minority, but between Foster, Levi Brown, and Adams, we have a LT somewhere in that mix. The OL will continue to gel as 2013 goes along and will be a strong part of the team in 2014 and beyond. I'd kick Pouncey out to LG and keep Velasco at C.The right side is fine as-is..

[NorthCoast]

People were dogging Foster pretty awful early on in his career, but I personally thought he showed promised almost from the get-go. He is definitely rounding into a quality guard, and as you say he may be able to handle tackle duty in a pinch. Something tells me a "pinch" may be coming sooner rather than later at the rate they are falling.....

[Eddie Spaghetti]

foster has always been solid and provided the steelers great value in terms of cap dollars spent.

he has one very loud critic here, who has been wrong all along about this kid.

[flippy]

foster has always been solid and provided the steelers great value in terms of cap dollars spent.

he has one very loud critic here, who has been wrong all along about this kid.

In fairness, he wasn't great from the start of his career. IMHO his size/height has worked a little against him inside. His struggle has been leverage against some big DTs who have been able to get up under him and I still think he's better suited to play T. And he's probably better suited at RT because he doesn't have the quickest feet.

But to his credit, he's been great this season. Everything's coming together for him and it's a real bummer he got hurt now. And I'm not just saying he's playing great compared to the rest of our line that looks putrid at times. He's been really good against some great players 1 on 1 this season. And he should be struggling getting on the same page as the changing parts around him, but it really hasn't had much impact on his game.

I was really looking forward to seeing him against Suh, Taylor, and then Ngata again. I think the next 3 weeks are gonna be a tough haul against some great DTs without Foster. Ben's gonna have his work cut out for him.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

believe what you want flip.

his play vs his cap hit has been a great deal for the steelers over the life of his career, not just this year.

seemingly the only guy who can stay healthy, plays multiple positions, and not very penalized.

never understood the grief this guy gets here.

[flippy]

believe what you want flip.

his play vs his cap hit has been a great deal for the steelers over the life of his career, not just this year.

seemingly the only guy who can stay healthy, plays multiple positions, and not very penalized.

never understood the grief this guy gets here.

If you wanna call him great vs his cap number that's fine. But he wasn't a great G before this season. And he's turning into one of the better Gs in the league this year. The one draw back of playing him at LG is still that he can't pull. And that's one of the biggest reasons our team can't run to the right. I'd still like a G that can move better on the left side because with right handed RB, I think you'd prefer they be able to run right.

I don't know the exact stats, but it seems like we get stuffed a lot on the right. I still think he'd be better suited to play RT if we can find someone who can move/pull from the LG spot.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

that's all I've ever said.

play vs dollars, he has been a very good deal for the steelers.

[flippy]

that's all I've ever said.

play vs dollars, he has been a very good deal for the steelers.

and that's fair. i'm just saying i can see why he had detractors based solely on his play if you take the dollars out of the equation. but even that has to go away now because he's just good now. and i'd even say he's better value now even though we're paying him more because his level of play went up at a greater rate than his contract this year.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

I see what you're saying, but the dollars have to factor in.

plus, he has always played to the whistle and just a little after.

I just think he has been a little undervalued around here, that's all. No big deal.

[flippy]

I see what you're saying, but the dollars have to factor in.

plus, he has always played to the whistle and just a little after.

I just think he has been a little undervalued around here, that's all. No big deal.

I hear ya. I tend to forget about the dollars when watching the games and sometimes look at the guys as if they all are getting paid the same and just judge them based on play. In that regard, we should probably give more credit to a guy like Steve McClendon who looks much better when you take his dollars into account even though his play is often subpar relative to other 3-4 NTs.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

nah.

mclendons performance is putrid.

foster has always seemed to hold his own as a starter.

[Shoe]

nah.

mclendons performance is putrid.

foster has always seemed to hold his own as a starter.

There are many who do this (evaluation) as a job, who would disagree with you. Any I've read, say he is doing a respectable job overall (not taking into account he's a first-year starter and his salary).