Maybe it is just me, but this off-season has felt twice as long as off-seasons in the past. The fact that the Steelers did not make the playoffs is partially, but not totally, responsible for my feelings of detachment. But, it is more than merely time off that has me in a funk. For example, the draft had no "home run" player (i.e. no Reggie Bush). The top-rated free-agents were not all that "top-rated"...and they were all franchise tagged anyway. To be frank, it has been a dull off-season for the NFL.
Wait a second. Maybe "dull" is not the right word...because Pacman Jones and Michael Vick have assured us of at least one eye-catching headline per day.
Maybe a better way to express my mood is as follows: Imagine it is Christmas morning...and your first ten gifts are socks. Even though the last gift you will receive is a brand new bicycle, you have to wade through box after box of argyle, tube, and crewcut socks....while strippers fight over the egg nog...and pit bulls tear apart the ornaments.
Fortunately, the cure for what ails me, football, is right around the corner.
For the casual fan, preseason involves a quick scanning of the box scores. But, for anyone who knows football, statistics tell you very little during the preseason. Conversely, watching how the second string left tackle plays against the opposing team's starting defensive end provides the viewer with a plethora of information (e.g. how good a back-up/future starter really is). In other words, the pre-season is a time to watch rookies smash into veterans for the first time...and analyze how the youngsters fair.
Speaking of rookies, the Steelers have a interesting group. First off, Pittsburgh's scouts must have watched the college football award shows, because their rookies won plenty of trophies. LaMarr Woodley won the Lombardi award (for best defensive lineman); Matt Spaeth won the John Mackey award (for best tight end); and Daniel Sepulveda won the Ray Guy award...twice (for best punter).
Speaking about Sepulveda, I can not remember the last time I was so excited about a punter. Yes, I said "punter." Besides the fact that Chris Gardocki was getting as old and stale as the often quoted statistic about his "never being blocked," Sepulveda is the game-changer that Gardocki never was. If one were to search the internet, one would very easily find a video of Sepulveda punting the ball from his own seventeen yard line, to the opponent's ten yard line (73 yards)...and then running down and decleating the return man at the twenty yard-line. In other words, not only do his punts have enough hang time for him to race down to make the tackle, Sepulveda is more than willing to actually lay the hit. In other words, instead of having just ten players on coverage, the Steelers will have eleven.
I know, I know: enough about the punter. So, without further ado, I will talk about the heart and soul of the Steelers: the linebackers. The Steelers drafted two guys who could not be any more different.
Lawrence Timmons, from Florida State, only played one year as a starter...which is risky. Ernie Sims, who kept Timmons on the bench, is an amazing linebacker; so it is no surprise that Timmons did not get a chance to start until his junior year. Nay-sayers (myself included)should remember that Thurman Thomas kept Barry Sanders on the bench at Oklahoma State. Nevertheless, when a player only has one good year, it is indeed risky...no matter how good that one year was.
Conversely, LaMarr Woodley had three superb seasons at Michigan.
While both linebackers are excellent at rushing the passer, they do so in different ways. Timmons is small and fast, while Woodley is big, strong, and long-armed. Hmmm...if you just had visions of the second coming of Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene, then we are on the same wave-length.
While these two linebackers might be different in many aspects, they share one similarity: versatility. In the 3-4 defense, Timmons and Woodley will both be outside linebackers. But, when Mike Tomlin employs the 4-3 defense, Woodley would be a speed-rushing defensive end, and Timmons would stay at outside backer, but stand upright (as opposed to the three-point stance he would use in the 3-4 defense). Players who can play multiple roles are special...and these two guys are quite special indeed.
Which brings me to the aspect of the Steelers that I am most interested in watching this pre-season: the new defense. With Dick LeBeau firmly rooted in the 3-4, and Mike Tomlin equally enamored with the 4-3, I foresee a mind-meld of epic proportions. These two men will revolutionize how defense is played...equal to, or greater than, the West Coast offense's impact on the other side of the ball.
Or, maybe their new defense will flop.
But, considering that Tomlin transformed Minnesota's defensive starters from lillies into cacti, and the fact that Dick LeBeau's defenses have played at a premier level for nearly fifteen years, I would wager that these two men would succeed at any task upon which they ventured.
In short, any questions about this defense will be answered in a matter of a few weeks...tick...tick. Hopefully, they are short weeks.