As an average Steelers Fan; I have been remiss. Here we are in the slowest period of the football season and nothing to offer. Yet there is always something, no matter how meager, to offer for those starving for any Black & Gold material. So here is my humble offering for Steelers Depot:
Matthew Marczi is extracting the Pittsburgh Steelers mentioned by Gil Brandt’s list of all-time NFL players by position. He has already covered linebackers and defensive tackles. Matt is also writing some interesting “where are they now” articles on former Steelers. Meanwhile, Alex Kozora is busy writing up the all-time underrated Steelers by position. Peppered in the comments section, I opine about where some of these players rank all-time as Steelers. Several people have asked how I compare players from the various eras especially those who were playing before games were routinely filmed. Here is my article about the top-500 all-time Steelers that includes my methodology from this past January.
If you have read it; then you know my list will fluctuate over time as Steelers records are broken and new players continue to contribute. Right now, I have 1,468 players listed who have played at least one regular season game for the Steelers on it. That number will of course increase once the Steelers play the Cleveland Browns to open the 2017 season. Players like Lawrence Timmons who is no longer with the team will likely have peaked at # 41 on my all-time Steelers list. The two highest ranked Steelers still on the roster are James Harrison at # 14 and Ben Roethlisberger at # 15. If Ben plays another 2-3 seasons he will likely surpass Harrison on my matrix and maybe even crack the top ten IF the Steelers acquire their 7th Lombardi Trophy with Ben behind center.
Antonio Brown is already at # 20 in his short career while talented Le’Veon Bell lags at # 62 – mainly due to missing games due to suspension and injuries. How much further up will they climb? Meanwhile, Bud Dupree comes in at # 495. If Bud has a break out year; how far will he go up the ladder? Then we have this year’s rookie class who technically come in tied for # 1,469th as all-time Steelers. In 3-4 years, it will not only be interesting to see who is still on the roster but who will be leading the pack as contributors. T.J. Watt or JuJu Smith-Schuster; perhaps someone drafted lower or even a currently unknown undrafted free agent. What do you think? Following this season; I will revise my all-time list to include the 2017 contributions. We will see what players drop out of the top 500; while who continues climbing up the ladder.
I can’t wait until training camp starts. That is when we will be able to see who really does have the potential to be big contributors this year.
Always like closing out with some music; here is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds performing Red Right Hand
