Steelers Armchair GM – The Big Unthinkable

The Big Unthinkable – The Draft

With the NFL draft less then a month away Pittsburgh Blitz correspondent, Jeffrey Burton, takes a look at a few possibilities for the upcoming shopping spree the Pittsburgh Steelers will soon go on on. The NFL Football Odds of who will still be on the board at pick 18, when the Steelers make their first selection, are vast and too numerous to list.

Burton’s take on the upcoming NFL draft has a twist though, as he adds something extra, his back up plan for the Steelers if Ben Roethlisberger has to miss anytime due to his recent legal troubles. Below is a look at the Little Big Board and much more, so enjoy guys.

Little Big Board 2010

This is my Little Big Board as it stood without The Big Unthinkable.

As glad as I am that Ryan Clark was re-signed and Antwan Randel-El and Larry Foote have come back home, I have been filled with a nagging feeling of yucky-ness. And after seeing the look in Coach Tomlin’s eyes last Saturday night as he delivered the lines below I think that the Rooney’s may be more committed to the Big Unthinkable than opposed to it. Coach Tomlin’s words:

“My concerns are many, but I think at this time it’s kind of appropriate to watch these things and let these things run their course,” Tomlin said after arriving in Orlando, Fla., for the NFL Annual Meeting, which starts Sunday. “I think it would be inappropriate for me to have strong feelings one way or another with the investigation being ongoing and so forth. Like everyone else, you watch these things unfold.”

Art Rooney’s II words:

“I mean, look, that’s one of the things, we do have a little bit of luxury of time,” Rooney said. “If we were at a different point in the year, we may have to be thinking and doing something different. But at the moment, I think we’re in a situation we’re going to let this investigation play out and then go from there.”

Now some things have changed since then. The girl in question has stopped cooperating with the local police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (the G.B.I., Wow!), and the police have said they do not require Ben’s DNA.

This doesn’t excuse Ben. What is a 28-year-old man doing with a 20-year-old girl that was probably drinking illegally in a college bar restroom in the middle of the night? I remember when I was 28 I felt like Methuselah in a college bar. That part of my life ended as soon as I graduated college. He needs to grow up and get a girlfriend and have a non-rapey cook out at your house with friends. That’s worked for most of us regardless whether we have been the Super Bowl winning QB twice or not.

Is ‘The Big Unthinkable’ a strongly worded reprimand from the NFL and the Steeelers and a 2-Day suspension or is it much more?

What this could mean could change the Steelers chemistry in a nuclear way. To back track a little I want to post my Little Big Board as it was prior to The Big Unthinkable.

This is my Little Big Board with The Big Unthinkable

The reason that I didn’t move up the second O-line pick from the 5^th Rd is that I think Ramone Foster has got the goods. He didn’t get beat once in pass protection in place of Chris K. last year and knocked more than one defender on his ass. Justin Hartwig compared Foster’s contribution to Mike Wallace’s. High praise indeed. I think he could well be the solution at either LG or RT. This is also a deep draft for the O-line at Tackle no matter what Mike Mayock says. He is one of the dumbest smart guys on the NFL Network. I’ve never heard someone that I agree and disagree with so much in a single segment. I’ll get to Willie Colon later.

My number one priority was to find Ben protection. It should be his number one priority as well. He needs protection from himself.

7th Round

Yeah, I know how does this impossible draft come about?

The Big Unthinkable.

Ben Rothlisburger, who I always saw as a lifetime Steeler, retiring after he had won 5 to 7 Super Bowls and never going to another Pro Bowl game for the rest of his career and giving a Terry Bradshaw like acceptance speech 5 years after retiring will now be a Washington Redskin.

I know, WTF.

With Ben’s serial bad judgement (at best) off the field is he really the future of the Steelers? Could we get a 1^st Rd, 2^nd Rd, & 2011 2^nd Rd and QB Jason Campbell (as a stopgap) out for Ben from Dan Snyder, the Al Davis of the East Coast? You bet your sweet ass we could. Would it be a safe place to Rip Him and Ship Him to the Redskins with their serial bad judgement? See the ‘you bet’ comment above.

I can’t believe these words are coming out of my fingers. When I look at the effect it would have on our draft, it seems more seductive than I ever thought. The addition of Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford brings a new Franchise QB any way you look at it.

I hope the Rams like Bradford.

The 2^nd Rd brings a solid number 1 corner where we are bleeding. All the rest of the draft stands pat, but will Bradford or Clausen be available at the 1^st Rd pick 4? Yes, one of them will be gone to the Rams, but Detroit and Tampa both have their guys with Stafford an Freeman and have pressing needs elsewhere.

Do I want this to happen? Hell no. In Coach Tomlin’s words, “I think it would be inappropriate for me to have strong feelings one way or another with the investigation being ongoing and so forth. Like everyone else, you watch these things unfold.”

Oh, Willie Colon failed to protect Ben again, and Ben got knocked on his ass as usual.

Sorry no jokes this time.

Go Stillers!

About the Author Jim McMillen

The Editor & Chief, the brains so to say, behind Pittsburgh Blitz. Jim is a rabid sports fan who just loves his Stillers, Pens and Buccos. Feel free to contact us at steelerguy26[@]yahoo.com if you have any questions or comments or would like to join our staff and write for Pittsburgh Blitz.

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