It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

[Jooser]

....as Ed Bouchette and Chuck Finder report this morning in the Post-Gazette.

Steelers Notebook: Tomlin offering little information about Stapleton
Thursday, August 06, 2009
By Ed Bouchette and Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


It appears Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex (No. 79) will take over as the starter at right guard regardless of Darnell Stapleton's (No. 72) health.

Offensive lineman Darnell Stapleton continues to watch practices and coach Mike Tomlin continues to shed little light about what is wrong with his second-year starter.

Stapleton has a left knee injury that has kept him from practicing since Sunday. He had at least one MRI (Monday), but Tomlin remains mum about what might be wrong with him.

"No new news with Stapleton," Tomlin said, and, when asked about him a second time, said, "Again, when I'm ready to talk, we'll talk about it."

Stapleton, who started 15 games at right guard through the Super Bowl last season, opened training camp at center for injured Justin Hartwig. Veteran backup tackle/guard Trai Essex has been at right guard and is likely to stay there, no matter what happens with Stapleton.

The problem for the Steelers is not at right guard, but with the versatility that Stapleton brings. Because he can play guard and center, he was the perfect swing man on game days even if he lost his starting job to Essex, who can play guard and tackle.

Read more: [url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09218/988987-66.stm#ixzz0NPSn5rMj"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09218/98 ... z0NPSn5rMj[/url]

This is somewhat surprising, considering we don't know what's wrong with Stapleton. I guess Essex brings a bigger body to the OL. What are your thoughts fellas?

[SteelTorch]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

....as Ed Bouchette and Chuck Finder report this morning in the Post-Gazette.

Steelers Notebook: Tomlin offering little information about Stapleton
Thursday, August 06, 2009
By Ed Bouchette and Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


It appears Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex (No. 79) will take over as the starter at right guard regardless of Darnell Stapleton's (No. 72) health.

Offensive lineman Darnell Stapleton continues to watch practices and coach Mike Tomlin continues to shed little light about what is wrong with his second-year starter.

Stapleton has a left knee injury that has kept him from practicing since Sunday. He had at least one MRI (Monday), but Tomlin remains mum about what might be wrong with him.

"No new news with Stapleton," Tomlin said, and, when asked about him a second time, said, "Again, when I'm ready to talk, we'll talk about it."

Stapleton, who started 15 games at right guard through the Super Bowl last season, opened training camp at center for injured Justin Hartwig. Veteran backup tackle/guard Trai Essex has been at right guard and is likely to stay there, no matter what happens with Stapleton.

The problem for the Steelers is not at right guard, but with the versatility that Stapleton brings. Because he can play guard and center, he was the perfect swing man on game days even if he lost his starting job to Essex, who can play guard and tackle.

Read more: [url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09218/988987-66.stm#ixzz0NPSn5rMj"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09218/98 ... z0NPSn5rMj[/url]

This is somewhat surprising, considering we don't know what's wrong with Stapleton. I guess Essex brings a bigger body to the OL. What are your thoughts fellas?

Eh, I don't know. Bigger doesn't mean better.

[frankthetank1]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

isnt it a little early to say essex is a lock at RG? what about Urbik?

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

If Stapleton is (knock on wood) lost for the year with a knee injury, and Essex takes over at the starter at RG, that hurts our overall depth, because those two guys provide the most versatility (Stapleton at guard or center and Essex at guard or tackle).

My best case scenario would have been for Urbik to impress during the pre-season enough to start at RG, then you could have the utility lineman Essex and Stapleton available as game-day back-up with all of the rest of the o-lineman inactive, giving us an opportunity to suit up an extra special teams demon by virtue of only needing 7 active o-linemen on gameday.

Now, we will likely need 8 active o-lineman (our starting 5 and a backup tackle, backup guard, and backup center), because no one else on the roster provides the versatility that Essex and Stapleton did as backup options (they are trying to give tackles Capizzi and Foster reps at guard to develop this, and Legursky could play center or guard in a pinch, but they are not as naturally versatile as Essex or Stapleton).

[papillon]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

If Stapleton is (knock on wood) lost for the year with a knee injury, and Essex takes over at the starter at RG, that hurts our overall depth, because those two guys provide the most versatility (Stapleton at guard or center and Essex at guard or tackle).

My best case scenario would have been for Urbik to impress during the pre-season enough to start at RG, then you could have the utility lineman Essex and Stapleton available as game-day back-up with all of the rest of the o-lineman inactive, giving us an opportunity to suit up an extra special teams demon by virtue of only needing 7 active o-linemen on gameday.

Now, we will likely need 8 active o-lineman (our starting 5 and a backup tackle, backup guard, and backup center), because no one else on the roster provides the versatility that Essex and Stapleton did as backup options (they are trying to give tackles Capizzi and Foster reps at guard to develop this, and Legursky could play center or guard in a pinch, but they are not as naturally versatile as Essex or Stapleton).

I'd rather the Steelers plan on putting their 5 best offensive linemen on the field to start each game. Then make adjustments if someone gets hurt. I'd hate to weaken the starting 5 to have versatility "if" someone gets hurt. But, hey, that's just me.

Pappy

[phillyesq]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

I'm really not enthusiastic about Essex taking over at RG. He has never really seemed to be a power player, nor is he very mobile. I know that he supposedly looks good in camp this year, but I feel like I've heard that about him before.

I highly doubt that Urbick will win the starting RG job out of the gate, but as I've been saying all along, I hope that he develops and takes over the RG position by midseason.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

I'm really not enthusiastic about Essex taking over at RG. He has never really seemed to be a power player, nor is he very mobile. I know that he supposedly looks good in camp this year, but I feel like I've heard that about him before.

I highly doubt that Urbick will win the starting RG job out of the gate, but as I've been saying all along, I hope that he develops and takes over the RG position by midseason.

I hope that Urbik either wins it outright from the start on the basis of his performance of the preseason games or doesn't get to start at all as a rookie. The only way you would insert a new o-lineman at mid-season is due to injury (which I obviously would never root for) or if the RG who was playing throughout the first half of the season completely stinks the joint out (which is certainly not a favorable outcome either). There would be no other reason to disrupt the continuity of the o-line halfway through the year, so I hope we don't have to have anyone take over one of the o-line positions at midseason.

[pfelix73]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

It is no great surprise to see Essex in there at RG. Last year, he was awarded the opportunity to play LG until Kemo returned from his injury, and while he was there at LG, he impressed the coaches.

According to Wolf man, Essex has been working out tremendously the past 2 years and has really dedicated himself. It was just a matter of time until he broke into the starting lineup. I was just thinking it may have been at RT or even LT next year if Max didn't sign long term, but now Hills will get that backup role. Hills should be improving with 1 year under his belt.

We'll see what happens with Jason Capizzi. He would be too tall as a OG, IMO, but he could be that swing man too.

Urbik will just have to wait his turn. And it may be a while until he impresses. He may need a year or 2 to improve his game under LZ. We'll see how he handles the pre season games, but he may not get in there until the 4th Q at this point.

Looks like Legursky and Shipley are impressing at camp. Good to hear.

Competition is a good thing.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

It is no great surprise to see Essex in there at RG. Last year, he was awarded the opportunity to play LG until Kemo returned from his injury, and while he was there at LG, he impressed the coaches.

According to Wolf man, Essex has been working out tremendously the past 2 years and has really dedicated himself. It was just a matter of time until he broke into the starting lineup. I was just thinking it may have been at RT or even LT next year if Max didn't sign long term, but now Hills will get that backup role. Hills should be improving with 1 year under his belt.

We'll see what happens with Jason Capizzi. He would be too tall as a OG, IMO, but he could be that swing man too.

Urbik will just have to wait his turn. And it may be a while until he impresses. He may need a year or 2 to improve his game under LZ. We'll see how he handles the pre season games, but he may not get in there until the 4th Q at this point.

Looks like Legursky and Shipley are impressing at camp. Good to hear.

Competition is a good thing.

Everything I have heard is that Hills looks awful, and Capizzi and Foster are much better than him so far. I'll wait until we seem them actually line-up against different color jerseys in the pre-season games to pass any judgment, but it does not sound like Hills improved all that much from a disappointing rookie campaign.

[aggiebones]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

Where in the article is it stated that in the coach's, management's or owner's eyes, Essex has won this battle? Maybe in the writer's opinion, which has little 'real' value. Maybe Essex takes a bit of lead due to the injury, but Stapleton could win this thing back with 1 good week of practice. I don't care which wins however and expect Tomlin to start the better player.

Also from Ruthlesburger:
"If Stapleton is (knock on wood) lost for the year with a knee injury."

Wouldn't we WANT to knock on wood to prevent this?

[Jooser]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

It's not stated anywhere from the coaches, which is why the word 'appears' is being used in this article. From the blogs and twitters that I have read, Essex has impressed so far. I just want to the best blocker on the field. Hopefully if Essex does win the battle, his bigger body will be more effective at moving the pile in the inside running game. There was a lot of speculation that out of all the OL positions, the RG was going to be the one most contested at camp. It's probably still not over unless Stapleton's injury is very bad. From early reports, Urbik has disappointed early on, so Essex is would definitely be the man there. The reports on Legursky are promising at center as well.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

Where in the article is it stated that in the coach's, management's or owner's eyes, Essex has won this battle? Maybe in the writer's opinion, which has little 'real' value. Maybe Essex takes a bit of lead due to the injury, but Stapleton could win this thing back with 1 good week of practice. I don't care which wins however and expect Tomlin to start the better player.

Also from Ruthlesburger:
"If Stapleton is (knock on wood) lost for the year with a knee injury."

Wouldn't we WANT to knock on wood to prevent this?

Yes...that is what I meant. I didn't want to write "If Stapleton is lost for the year with a knee injury" and then have it come true, so I added the "knock on wood" part. Now that you mention it and I read what I actually wrote again, it sounds like I am hoping for his injury to be severe, which was opposite of my intention there. Poor wording on my part...should have made that clearer.

[MaxAMillion]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

This hurts the depth a lot. Stapleton could step in at two positions and he had experience. Almost all the back ups now are inexperienced. We really can't afford a second injury along the OL. Hopefully the injury is not season ending.

[TD386Steel]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

It is no great surprise to see Essex in there at RG. Last year, he was awarded the opportunity to play LG until Kemo returned from his injury, and while he was there at LG, he impressed the coaches.

According to Wolf man, Essex has been working out tremendously the past 2 years and has really dedicated himself. It was just a matter of time until he broke into the starting lineup. I was just thinking it may have been at RT or even LT next year if Max didn't sign long term, but now Hills will get that backup role. Hills should be improving with 1 year under his belt.

We'll see what happens with Jason Capizzi. He would be too tall as a OG, IMO, but he could be that swing man too.

Urbik will just have to wait his turn. And it may be a while until he impresses. He may need a year or 2 to improve his game under LZ. We'll see how he handles the pre season games, but he may not get in there until the 4th Q at this point.

Looks like Legursky and Shipley are impressing at camp. Good to hear.

Competition is a good thing.

Everything I have heard is that Hills looks awful, and Capizzi and Foster are much better than him so far. I'll wait until we seem them actually line-up against different color jerseys in the pre-season games to pass any judgment, but it does not sound like Hills improved all that much from a disappointing rookie campaign.

I heard that to, until I read an article from Jim Wexell (steelcitysports). In it he says he felt the same way about Hill until he had a conversation with someone who knows something about offiensive lineman. And that Hills has trouble one on one but does well with other around him. Take it for what its worth.

[ramblinjim]

Re: It Appears Essex Locks up RG...

If I remember correctly, and I may not, someone said that Urbik also didn't look good in one on one drills but worked really well in space. Does anyone else remember this or am I making it up?