They Will be Honest With DeAngelo Williams

Good morning on another Friday the 13th,

Some stuff:

--- People want to know if DeAngelo Williams is the answer. I’m not sure what the question should be. Can he back up Le’Veon Bell and start for a few games if he’s suspended? Yes, most assuredly, if he’s healthy. He wasn’t healthy for much of last season, but they weren’t debilitating injuries. One was to his hand. Was LeGarrette Blount the answer last season? Yes, right up until that game he walked off the field and forced his release. Then he became the wrong answer.

--- You can be assured the Steelers will be up-front with Williams, that he will not get much share of the carries unless Bell is suspended or hurt. I’m not so sure they were that honest with Blount last year, maybe even gave him some idea that he would get more carries while they were recruiting him.

--- It is a bit strange the Steelers have not pursued another outside linebacker in free agency, but perhaps they know they cannot afford what these guys are asking right now and once all the cream is taken off the top, they can come up with another Arthur Moats type who might fit in. One thing is for certain, though, the Steelers will not go into the 2015 season with a proven, seasoned pass rushing outside linebacker – not unless they sign James Harrison again.

--- It makes you wonder how they were able to find and sign Kevin Greene back in 1993. They were upset at the time that San Diego had signed Jerrol Williams in free agency because Williams had settled in as a good outside linebacker on the left side of their defense. He had nine sacks in just four starts in ’91 and 4.5 sacks as a regular in 1992. Then the Chargers signed him to a one-year contract and the Steelers felt there was something fishy there. However, Williams never regained his touch. He had no sacks in six games for the Chargers in ’93, 0.5 for the Chiefs in ’94 and 3 sacks in nine games with Baltimore in ’96 and that was the end.

The Steelers turned around and signed Greene, who was being miscast in the Rams’ defense. Greene thrived in the position vacated by Williams. He had 12.5 sacks in ’93, 14 in ’94 and 9 in ’95. He would become the third-leading sacker in NFL history (they only counted officially since ’82) with 160, more by any other linebacker and he’s knocking on the door of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

So, you never know in free agency.

--- One more tale/lesson from free agency: In 1994, the Steelers wanted to sign John L. Williams, a running/pass-catching fullback back in the day when they would give those people the ball. He had played eight seasons for Seattle and wanted way too much money as a free agent. I can’t remember how much, but back then it was a lot for a 30-year-old back. The Steelers waited, and waited, and waited. Practically on the eve of the 1994 draft, Williams signed with them for a pittance of what his first demands were. He had two good seasons with the Steelers and caught 51 passes in 1994, which was a team record for a back that stood until Le’Veon Bell obliterated it last season.

The lesson: Patience can pay off, even if your fans have none.

--- Walter Football, which has become one of my favorite sites bedfore the draft, has picked the first five rounds for the Steelers. It’s tough enough picking one round, but if these five indeed were their selections, it would be a home run.

--- You can see what Hines Ward had to say about the possibility that Troy Polamalu might play elsewhere in a story I have in today’s Post-Gazette.

And now some Ask Ed questions:

--- YOU: I read your Twitter about B.McCain, if he isn't worth a 2 year contract (Money couldn't be that bad), than who is? We have Gay, a lack of confidence C.Allen & A.Blake. We're going to add 2 rookies, & what? We need another veteran CB.

ED: I was a bit surprised that Brice McCain left, but Miami is paying him almost $3 million annually and they believe they can do better with that money. See my points above.

--- YOU: What is going on in the NFL with several younger guys (Worilds, Willis, and Locker) retiring early/mid-career?

ED: The money is so good now that a player can be set for life before he turns 30, and with all the news and evidence about concussions – not to mention the effects of other injuries – maybe they just figure it’s not worth it. Each was a different case and it’s not the first time this has happened.

Lynn Swann called it quits at age 30. The greatest back of them all, Jim Brown, stopped playing at 29 after he rushed for 1,544 yards in the 14-game season of 1965, his second-best. Brown rushed for 17 touchdowns that season. He probably broke every little kid’s heart in Cleveland and many adults’. Why? He wanted to act. He was better at playing football, but maybe Brown is still walking around these days because he did call it quits early.

Detroit’s great Barry Sanders did the same thing, although for no apparent reason, at age 30 after rushing for 1,491 yards in 1998 and one year removed from his 2,053-yard performance.

In his prime, Terry Bradshaw thought of quitting to get into acting as well. In that case, he came to his senses, although I thought he did OK in his 2006 movie, Failure to Launch.

Ray Fittipaldo wrote an excellent story on the subject in today’s Post-Gazette.