Change is a good thing. F ESPN

According to ESPN "experts", the Pittsburgh Steelers have had too many changes on their roster and team this year. Which is a lot different than last year when they all said that the Steelers were too old. Maybe ESPN just hates the Steelers? 

This is from ESPN.com:

The Baltimore Ravens were selected by Herm Edwards and Marcellus Wiley to repeat as division champions, and all three analysts have the Steelers finishing third. In the 10-year history of the AFC North, Pittsburgh has ended the season in third place only three times (2003, 2006 and 2009). 

Here's a recap of the predictions: 

Herm Edwards: Ravens, Bengals, Steelers and Browns. "There's a lot of change in Pittsburgh right now and I'm sorry, Cleveland, that's where you sit." 

Bill Polian: Bengals, Ravens, Steelers and Browns. "I believe the Bengals, because they've had such a great offseason, will win the division. The Ravens will be a close second and be reckoned with in the playoffs." 

Marcellus Wiley: Ravens, Bengals, Steelers and Browns. "[The Bengals] will have the same record as the Steelers but they win the tiebreaker because it sounds like heresy to say the Steelers are third in their division. [They're] followed by an improved Cleveland Browns team."- ESPN.com 

For one the Steelers haven't had too many changes. Once Rashard Menenhall is healthy the Steelers will have 8 returning starters back on offense and 9 on defense. That is not a whole lot of change to a team that went 12-4 last year. 

The Steelers will still have a defense that should be top five in all categories. If anything the defense and offense got younger and faster. James Farrior, Aaron Smith, and William Gay are all gone from last year. Farrior and Smith are done with football. Too old and too slow, it happens. Larry Foote will be the starter going into training camp as the starter to replace Farrior. 

However, watch out for young linebackers Sean Spence and Steven Sylvestor. Both might be able to contribute in certain situations this year because of their speed and tackling ability. Also, they should both definitely help out on special teams. 

As for William Gay, well F him. No seriously he blocks me on Twitter because he couldn't take criticism. Gay was one of the worst players on the team. The Steelers will upgrade their conerback position by subtracting his talent, or lack there of. As for now Keenan Lewis is slated as the starter with Cortez Allen as the nickel. 

Again these changes are not a bad thing. More talent, more youth, more depth, and more SPEED. 

Same goes for the offense. No more Mewelde Moore, Hines Ward, and Chris Kemoeatu on the offensive side of the ball. 

Again no real loss there. Ward was done before last season got started. Moore is old and Chris Rainey should be able to provide much more production as the 3rd down back this year. Kemoeatu sucks and is extremely big and stupid. The Steelers drafted David Decastro and moved Willie Colon to guard giving them a huge upgrade at the position. The offensive line as a whole had a change at three of the positions total, all of which look to be upgrades. 

The Steelers also changed offensive coordinators. They fired Bruce Arians and hired Todd Haley. Again this is an upgrade. Haley is a better coordinator than Arians. Haley helped make Matt Cassell look like a damn Pro Bowl qb. Haley and Kurt Warner created a great passing offense in Arizona. Look for much of the same when he teams up with Big Ben. 

The Steelers still have the same GM, same head coach, same owners, and most of all same elite-franchise-superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. With Roethlisberger and a revamped offense, and a defense that should still be top 5 in almost everything, the Steelers will once again contend for the Super Bowl. 

I don't mind ESPN saying the Steelers will finish third but at least back up your claims. The Ravens had a bunch of changes and they just lost Terrell Suggs for the season. Change isn't always bad, most of the time it's good. In the Steelers case it's good. It's true it's true, it's DAMN TRUE. WOOOOO!