Steelers To Play Musical Chairs With Running Backs

espn.com

With their second round pick this year the Steelers drafted Running Back Le’Veon Bell. He is a larger running back (6’1, 230 pounds) but is pretty quick on his feet and could be good in goal line situations. With that said I do not think that is all he will be used for. The fact is Pittsburgh finished the year 26^th in their run game and if they want a shot at anything post regular season they will need to get a more physical back to add depth on a shaky offensive roster.

Bell ran for a total of 3,346 career yards at Michigan, 1,793 of them coming in 2012 alone, setting a school record. Bell has a lot of promising qualities and is almost sure to get some chances during his rookie season. This begs the question though of whose spot would he be taking if it came down to it?

The Pittsburgh Penguins: Who's in and Who's Out for the Playoffs

Having only 48 games due to the lockout, The Pittsburgh Penguins had a near perfect season. They finished 36-12-0 with 72 points, which was good for a division title, first in the Eastern Conference, and second in the NHL.

The depth of the organization was truly tested. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Paul Martin, Kris Letang, and Matt Niskanen all missed time due to injuries. Players were called up, such as rookie first round picks Beau Bennett and Simon Despres who both stepped up big. New additions to the team: Brendon Morrow, Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen, and Douglas Murray have exceeded expectations.

With the playoffs just days away, Dan Bylsma is going to have to make some tough decisions on who plays. Here is what I think are the best line combinations for the playoffs.

Dupuis - Crosby - Iginla

Yes this breaks up what was the best line in the NHL, but I think its the best way to even out the top two lines. Iginla wants to play with Crosby, and I think that was Shero's plan when he made the move.

Kunitz - Malkin - Neal

Easily the best line in hockey last year. All three players fit perfectly with each other. Kunitz does work in front of the net while Geno and Neal do their thing. Looking at the players in the top six its hard to go wrong, all of them are All-Stars.

Cooke - Sutter - Morrow

The third line Bylsma has always wanted, but could never keep because of injuries. Should provide great defense, grit, and some scoring in the playoffs.

Adams - Vitale - Bennett

No Glass or TK? I know that is highly unlikely, but I love Joe Vitale. All the dude does is work his ass off. Bennett for Tyler Kennedy is more of the no brainer. Beau Bennett is who TK wants to be but sadly cannot. Beau can play good defense, has a scoring touch, and can make some sick passes. Look at the stats this year for Beau and TK:

Beau has 20 less games played and has three more points and is a +7 while TK is -6. Bylsma has some sort of blood pact with Tyler Kennedy so he will most likely play, and if the Pens lose, its Kennedy's fault. 

Lets go to the defense:

Orpik - Martin

Bylsma has already called this his "shutdown pair" so I expect them to be paired come playoff time.

Niskanen - Murray

Murray has been paired with Niskanen since his arrival, and that will not change.

Letang - Despres/Eaton

This is a hard one. Eaton has played so well since signing with the Pens mid season, and he is a good fit to play with Letang. But Despres makes it so hard to sit him. He is young and is going to be an absolute beast. When it comes down to it I thnk Bylsma goes with Eaton just because of experience, although Despres should play some games. 

Goalie is the easiest decision:

Marc-Andre Fleury

All he does is win. Fleury will prove that last years playoffs were a fluke. Look for big performances from the Flower.

Playoffs start Tuesday, and The Penguins look to be set for a big run. Time to bring home the cup! #cupordie

Please follow me on Twitter: @JakeMcBee_

Rest of the Steelers Draft Outlook

Most of you already know that I'm not a fan of drafting Jarvis Jones. The Steelers had much bigger needs than Jones but whatever, I'll write about that pick another day.

Here's my list of Steelers biggest needs:


Biggest needs:

1. Running back: The Steelers need a primary running back. They need a running back that can play all three downs and produce in a quality manner. Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer are decent backups but they are not good enough to be your primary starting back.

2. Safety: Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark are both over 30 and Polamalu is one of the most injury-prone players in the NFL. The Steelers also lost both of their backup safeties. They honestly should draft two safeties in this draft.

3. Wide Receiver: The Steelers lost Wallace and will probably lose Emmanuel Sanders after this year to free agency. They failed to sign anyone to help ease the loss of Wallace.

4. Tight end: Heath Miller is over 30 years old and just had knee surgery. He will most likely be out for at least the first six weeks of the season.

5. Cornerback: Ike Taylor is getting older, the Steelers lost their most promising corner in Keenan Lewis and decided to replace him with William Gay of all people. Cortez Allen is decent but they are lacking quality depth.

6. Inside linebacker: This is a tricky one. If Sean Spence can play they might not need to take one this year. If Spence can't play then they have almost have to draft an inside backer.

I think the Steelers need to go safety-running back in whatever order in rounds two, three, and four.


Best available running backs: 

1. Eddie Lacey-Alabama
2. Montee Ball- Wisconsin
3. Johnathan Franklin- UCLA
4. Marcus Lattimore- South Carolina
5. Giovanni Bernard - North Carolina
6. Joseph Randle - Oklahoma State
7. Andre Ellington - Clemson


Best available safeties: 

1. Jonathan Cyprien, Florida International
2. Phillip Thomas , Fresno State
3. D.J. Swearinger , South Carolina
4. Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse
5. Duke Williams, Nevada
6. Shawn Williams,  Georgia

Best available wide receivers :

1. Keenan Allen, WR, California
2. Robert Woods, USC
3. Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee
4. Ryan Swope, WR, Texas A&M
5. Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech
6. Stedmon Bailey, WR West Virginia

Steelers First Round Outlook

sportsmockery.com

The NFL draft is tonight. The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a transition year after going 8-8 last season, following that up with a off-season in which they've lost tons of depth and production.

 Mike Wallace, James Harrison, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Mundy, Rashard Mendenhall, Max Starks, Casey Hampton, Willie Colon, and Will Allen are all gone.

Are the Pittsburgh Steelers Just Going to Give Up on Jason Worilds?

The Pittsburgh Steelers haven't had much success in the second round of the draft in recent history. Sure there are some exceptions, but for the most part it's been a huge hit or miss round. Personally, think second round picks are too valuable to waiver and I would like to assume that a second round pick would eventually turn into an impact player on the team. 

In the 2010 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Jason Worilds in the second round out of Virginia Tech. I disagreed with the pick at the time, mostly because I thought that it was too early to draft Worilds, and because I thought the Steelers had more important needs.