Our good buddy and NFL Network analyst Warren Sapp is already at it again as he called out the Pittsburgh Steelers defense on the Wednesday airing of NFL Total Access.
When Sapp was asked if he still considers the 2013 version of the Steelers defense old and slow like it seems he has for several years now, the soon-to-be inducted Hall of Famer couldn\’t wait to give his answer.
“Old and slow? Yes, I would,” Sapp said. “Because seven of the 11 starters are 28 years or older, and that\’s around the time, in this league, they go to questioning, you know, \’Where\’s his legs? Should we look for the backup?\’
“And Brett Keisel, bless his soul, No. 99 in your program, No. 1 in your heart, he turns 35 the first month of the year. And three of the four secondary guys there are 32 years old or older.”
As usual, Sapp has his facts wrong as the Steelers will only have 6 starters 28 years or older come the start of the season. It\’s obvious he doesn\’t know that Cortez Allen will be starting opposite Ike Taylor instead of William Gay. Shouldn\’t an analyst know that?
Here is another fact that Sapp wasn\’t fed from his stats department. The Baltimore Ravens starting 11 defensive players in Super Bowl XLVII included 7 that were 28 years or older.
While Keisel will indeed turn 35 in September, he is coming off of one of the best statistical seasons of his career. Did Sapp miss last season?
In addition to everything else, the Steelers defense did drop a year in average age this past offseason being as starters James Harrison, Casey Hampton and Keenan Lewis are no longer on the team.
I made sure to let Steelers linebacker Larry Foote know what Sapp said Wednesday evening via Twitter, and after he blew out the 53 candles on his birthday cake, he responded back to me.
Foote tweeted: “Old and slow defenses don\’t finish #1 in the LEAGUE. And we are going to do it again.”
I guess Sapp missed that fact as well.
I certainly hope that Sapp spends more time preparing his induction speech than he does preparing for his job as I would hate for him to embarrass himself during one of the most memorable days of his life.
2013 Steelers Projected Week 1 Starting Defense & Ages Come Week 1
LDE – Ziggy Hood (26)
NT – Steve McLendon (27)
RDE – Brett Keisel (34)
LOLB – LaMarr Woodley (28)
LILB – Lawrence Timmons (27)
RILB – Larry Foote (33)
ROLB – Jason Worilds (25)
LCB – Cortez Allen (24)
RCB – Ike Taylor (33)
FS – Ryan Clark (33)
SS – Troy Polamalu (32)
