Tim Benz of 105 The X had Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert on for an interview this morning to discuss several current Steelers topics. Mid way through the interview Benz asked Colbert about the recent interest in free agent wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Jerricho Cotchery and if the interest in those two players was because the organization had concerns with the foot injury of Emmanuel Sanders. Benz followed up with a question on the depth of the cornerback position and if there are enough numbers to get the job done at that position as well.
Below is the transcript of those two questions and answers and you can listen to the full interview here.
Benz: As far as wide receiver goes, you guys I know were talking to Jerricho Cotchery. Where do things stand there and as you look at the depth of the wide receiver position, obviously it looks like you guys want to shore it up having talked to Plex before too. Is that a concern about Emmanuel Sanders foot or what direction are you going in that context?
Colbert: No, Emmanuel continues to progress with the healing on his foot and that seems to be on schedule, but when you look at our receiving core beyond Hines we don\’t have a lot of veteran depth. Arnaz Battle is there and Arnaz was great for us on special teams last year and he is definitely is a capable receiver, although he didn’t put up a lot of catches in recent years, he\’s been more of a special teams specialist. Not that he can’t, just that he hasn’t been that type of receiver recently. So you’re always looking at guys on the outside. When Plex was available, of course we entertained that, when Jerricho Cotchery became available we entertained him and if we can add a guy into the mix, it’s only going to strengthen the position. Its not like we have to add a person or add a player at that position and its not like we’ve lost somebody for the season with an injury, but you want to stock up as much as you can, because you never know. The old adage in scouting is you never have enough good players at any position, because it can change in an instant. You have to be prepared and that’s just what we\’re trying to do with the wide receiver position. If there\’s a guy available that has interest, let\’s talk and see if we can bring him to a contract. If he does, great, if not, then we\’ll move on.
Benz: Does that theory apply to cornerback as well too, because it seems you have a lot of numbers at corner and I think Steeler fans are concerned how much quality or high end you have there beyond Ike. Are you concerned about that too, or do you think you have enough in terms of numbers to get the job done at corner.
Colbert: Yea we\’ll find out. In Bryant McFadden and William Gay we have experience to go along with Ike Taylor and then really the young guys behind them we\’ve yet to see everything they can do in camp. You know with Crezdon Butler, who we took in the 5th round last year, and of course Curtis Brown this year and Cortez Allen, and Keenan Lewis is going into his third year. There\’s four young guys that I think will show up in some form or fashion in the preseason. So then we can figure out we might be able to help us, but there you have a little more veteran depth with the three guys. The argument is always going to be made, are we good enough in the secondary and I can never answer that until we play and we\’ll find out. That\’s the beauty of this thing, there\’s no debating once it starts to unravel, because you either win or you lose.
