If you have followed this site religiously for a while you know that I have been a strong proponent of tackle Willie Colon kicking inside to guard for some time now. Several naysayers over the years have stated that it would never happen and they included Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, who stated just last May, “The move is not going to happen. Cheerleaders on the sideline at Heinz Field will occur before Colon is moved to guard in this offense.”
Well it seems that Colon will now indeed kick inside and play left guard according to Mike Prisuta of DVE radio on Twitter. Prisuta reported today that Colon made it official today as he was quoted as saying, “I\’ve made the transition to left guard. I like it. It\’s just a matter of learning the verbiage.” Prisuta reports that Colon said the Steelers called him right after draft to tell him about a possible switch to left guard. Colon reportedly told the Steelers at that time, “My only issue would have been \’don\’t move me midway through camp.”
With first round draft pick David DeCastro slated to start at right guard now, Colon told Prisuta that both he and DeCastro will be pulling quite a bit as he said, “You should expect both of us pulling. I think we\’re going to be a lot more balanced.”
Glory, glory, halleluiah!
Colon has struggled to stay healthy the last two seasons after tearing his Achilles prior to training camp in 2010 and tearing his triceps in the week one game against the Baltimore Ravens just last year. He has played a total of just one game the last two seasons after being a picture of health the years prior. His move now inside means that there is a vacancy at right tackle. Marcus Gilbert started there last season after Colon went down, but was told heading into the offseason he should be prepared to move to left tackle in 2012. This of course was way before the Steelers drafted Mike Adams in the second round of the draft last month. Adams looks to be the long term solution at left tackle for the Steelers, but the big questions is whether or not he can be NFL ready by week 1 to protect the blindside of one Ben Roethlisberger.
The Steelers could very well still have plans to bring back veteran Max Starks prior to training camp to start the year at left tackle. This assumes that Starks will be 100% recovered from his ACL injury that he suffered in the AFC Wild Card against the Denver Broncos by then. Starks says he is ahead of schedule in his recovery, but time will tell. The Steelers also still have Jonathan Scott and his $2 million plus salary on the roster in addition. While Scott surely should not be considered at left tackle again like last year, he might be able to keep the right tackle spot warm until Adams is ready to start at either spot.
Gilbert is best suited for the right tackle spot, but he just might have to hold the left side down if Starks is not brought back. We will surely get a better idea of how the first team might stack up next week when the Steelers report for their first OTA session.
I guess the new Steelers cheerleaders will be on the sidelines at the OTA session as well. Right Gerry?
