2013 Steelers: Who's In and Who's Out

Happy New Year, PF readers.  I'd like to ring in the new year by continuing MP's discussion of "The 2013 Steelers: The Reconstruction".  Let me weigh in with my two cents worth on who stays, and who goes.

RETURNING FOR 2013:

1. Keenan Lewis.  Although nickel back Cortez Allen showed us a lot in late December, I still think the Steelers' brass will make every attempt to bring Lewis back.  Considering that he led the NFL in passes defended per game, Lewis will be an extremely attractive figure to both the Steelers and other NFL teams looking for a starting corner.  Should the deal not get done, look for the Steelers to pencil in Allen opposite Ike Taylor and potentially snare a corner in the early rounds of the draft, or possibly a veteran in free agency.
2. Larry Foote.  The Steelers want to get younger on defense, but Foote can still contribute and isn't looking to leave Pittsburgh for a second time.  I look for Foote to take a considerable pay cut and split time on the field with youngster Sean Spence.
3. James Harrison.  I'm stuck on the fence with this one.  The Steelers must soon make critical decisions on both Harrison and his primary backup, Jason Worilds.  Clearly, Worilds on his best day will never perform at the level of Harrison in his prime years,...but those prime years are behind us now, and it may be time to jettison the silverback.  I think the team would be selling themselves short if Worilds was not given a full season as a true evaluation period.  Harrison's rebirth in December is probably weighing on the minds of Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert, as they may wonder what one last hurrah with a healthy 92 could mean.
4. Ramon Foster.  Although starting guard Foster will never be mistaken for Alan Faneca, he did manage to play all of 2012 injury free, a nearly impossible feat for a Steeler offensive lineman.  Considering that converted guard Willie Colon has finished the last three seasons on the IR, I like Foster as a returnee to provide stability to a corps that seems to be forever locked in flux mode.
5. Casey Hampton, Charlie Batch, Max Starks.  I lumped these three together.  See #2 - Foote, Larry.  These guys have no desire to go elsewhere.  Restructures, less money, etc.  2013 should be the last season for Hampton, with much less playing time as inside guy Steve McClendon is more than capable.  For Starks, you might as well keep riding the pony until it ends up at the glue factory.  One can argue that Mad Max was the most solid lineman in 2012.  For Batch, another season at the league minimum as the #3 won't be hurting anyone.

SO LONG, FAREWELL, SEE YA AT THE REUNION PICNIC:

1. Rashard Mendenhall.  Is it just me, or does Tomlin waffle back and forth on the value of the marquis runner?  At mid-season after the big victory in NYC, the team seemed content with the tailback by committee idea.  By season's end, as the offense stunk and the team limped to an 8-8 finish, we then heard Tomlin pining for a go-to guy.  Mendenhall was that go-to guy, the franchise runner like Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker before him.  Unlike Bettis and Parker, Mendenhall never truly entrenched himself as that game changer kind of guy.  His off the field tweets, comments, and shenanigans didn't help his cause either.  The Steelers could use a featured back once again, but #34 ain't that guy.
2. Mike Wallace.  What?  Give up on the fleet of foot, Larry Fitzgerald-East guy?  This entry is the most troubling of all, as Mike Wallace is clearly the best player listed in today's post, but also the most unrealistic in terms of his actual worth.  I've said it ad nauseum, Mike Wallace isn't worth $11 million a season.  In fact, after watching his drops and gaffes during the 2012 campaign, I will now suggest that Wallace isn't worth what he could have signed for last summer.  Setting all this aside, Wallace has blazing, scary, downfield speed, and he will shape any offense that he lines up in. The Steelers know that, and worse, he knows that.  Someone will overpay for Wallace in 2013, but it probably won't be a Rooney.
3. Byron Leftwich.  Despite his hulking frame, Leftwich has once again displayed an inability to remain healthy when called upon.  The fact that he broke his own ribs falling down, untouched, in the end zone, should sum it all up.  With Big Ben Roethlisberger now north of 30, the Steelers need a 2nd string QB who can make two to four starts a year and keep the team competitive in the process.  Look for the Steelers to snare a former starter in free agency.  Considering that a Ben replacement will most likely be pursued with a high draft pick in the 2016-2018 time frame, I don't think that supplanting Leftwich with a mid or late round rookie makes a lot of sense here.

SYNOPSIS: I only show two starters leaving, but factor in the reduced roles of guys like Foote and Hampton, and I think you'll see that 2013 will be a much different team.  2012 was a season of frustration for Steeler Nation.  With the veteran leadership that was jettisoned a year ago, coupled with the Wallace contract drama, as well as the pre-training camp health status of Mendenhall, Hampton, Harrison, and Brett Keisel, one can make a serious argument that the season was doomed from the get go. In the end, a handful of close games swung the Steelers' season from good to mediocre.  This is not a team in decline, but it will need better performances from it's stars if 2013 is to be any different.  One note of promise: the last three Steeler teams to not make the playoffs were followed by teams that won the AFC North the next year!

Unleash Hell, Volume 2 ???

Let's just start by saying that it ain't a good day to be an agent for former Steeler offensive starters Mike Wallace or Rashard Mendenall.  Yes, I did say former as head coach Mike Tomlin demoted both highly skilled players in a new found level of testiness yesterday. Tomlin evoked memories of 2009 when he delivered the ill fated Unleash Hell promise along with his 'some heads are gonna roll/the standard is the standard' type jargon.  In '09, the only unleashing was that of the fury of Steeler Nation as the team staggered to a 6 win, 7 loss mark before finally finding it's pulse.  Along the way, practically no heads rolled, or even turned for that matter, as Tomlin's benchings were notional at best.

2012 may smack a bit differently, as Tomlin has reasonably proven commodities, such as Emmanuel Sanders and Jon Dwyer, to help him his hold line.  One take home message that can be derived from Tomlin's newly sculpted depth chart as that time is now officially running out on Mendenhall, a former first round pick.  His demotion to third string, his questionable health, his renewed willingness to put the ball on the ground, coupled with his zany and inexplicable social media gaffes, all work together to build a reasonably sound case that #34 ain't in the Steeler for Life category. 

As far as Wallace, well, as this blog delights in pointing out, that fat contract is on the Atkins Diet right now, and shrinking with each game.  I have to believe that Wallace would have to muster up an epic December/January for the Steelers to even consider either:  1) offering a contract that he finds remotely suitable, or 2)  ponying up the $10 mill + for the franchise tag.  Both scenarios seem far off at this point.  The cold reality for Wallace fans is that the game of musical quarterbacks that the Steelers are playing at the moment has been dramatized by the absence of Antonio Brown, the true #1 receiver, the true go-to guy.  Wallace could have stepped up over the last few weeks to help carry the load, the fact is that he didn't.  Don't think for a moment that the Steeler top brass will forget these past few games when negotiation time draws near.

We were assured in the summer that Wallace's holdout was strictly NFL business, and that since he was such a true professional, it would never be a distraction to the team or even to him personally.  Perhaps it's a focus issue,or perhaps Wallace simply doesn't want to risk injury on the eve of big money, but the man is playing at a level beneath him and the proverbial standard.  Time will tell on this one, as well as with Mendenhall, but methinks that some #17 and #34 jerseys will be available on the discount racks very soon.