Ben Roethlisberger is tired of throwing to smurfs.It's nothing against Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward and Nate Washington, but it's clear that Roethlisberger still misses throwing to the 6-foot-5 Plaxico Burress. So he has one big request for the offseason: please get me a big target.
"But to have a big guy who can create mismatches -- the same thing happened when Plax was here. So much presence went to Plax's side just because he's a big, good receiver, that Hines was always open or Antwaan [Randle El]. I just think it would open stuff up for us a lot more.I don't know why Roethlisberger's ability to throw a wide receiver that's his height would change the plane that he throws to Ward (and therefore keep Ward from being killed). It's true that Roethlisberger hasn't had a whole lot of height to throw to with the exception of Heath Miller, but there's a question of whether the Steelers will spend an early pick to make Roethlisberger happy. With Holmes emerging as a true No. 1 receiver while Ward is still a very solid No. 2, it's hard to argue that wide receiver is one of the Steelers biggest needs.
"I'm 6-5," Roethlisberger noted. "I throw down to a lot of these guys. You see so many times Hines reaching up and I'm getting him killed because he's reaching up for balls and I'm just throwing it on my plane. To have someone on the same plane as me would just make my job ... I wouldn't get Hines killed going across the middle all the time."
So instead of getting a shiny new big receiver, Roethlisberger might have to settle for the bargain retread. The team's 2007 seventh-round draft pick, Dallas Baker, spent the season on the practice squad, he's not particularly fast, and he didn't do much in his limited chances in the preseason, but Roethlisberger seems to think he has a chance.
"As soon as he gets out of that wide receiver funk of just running routes on a card, he has the potential to be pretty good," Roethlisberger said.It's hard to see Baker being more than a No. 4 receiver, but that doesn't seem to be exactly what Roethlisberger's talking about. If not, there's always 6-foot-4 Walter Young ready and waiting for the Steelers call.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I wouldn't read too much into Ben's comments re Dallas Baker . . . he is ever the diplomat when talking about his guys on the team - doesn't want to upset anyone who is on the team . . . He'd probably even be talking up Lee Mays if he was still on the roster . . .
Posted at 3:09PM on Jan 17th 2008 by alistair.pitt
2. Considering it's safe to say that today's NFL is all about the passing game I don't know how the Steelers could not spend a high pick on a wr. Teams must be laughing at us when we try to spread them out with Nate Washington and Cedrick Wilson. In fact drafting a wr would allow us to cut Wilson and his ridiculous cap number.
Plus it generally takes 3 years for a wr to develop, obviously Holmes has been a bit of an exception. I'm not sure Hines has 3 years left. It's definitely in the teams best interest to draft a wr early.
Posted at 5:18PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Gina
3. Ocho Cinco!....he's got a big mouth ,like joey porter...he'll probably cost too much though,...there got to be some 6'6" guy with speed that can catch a frickin' football...for a million bucks a year......
Posted at 9:23PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Darryl
4. Unless the Steelers rebuild that offensive line, I would suggest drafting 2 or 3 midgets to play WR, as Ben will be throwing off his back most games and therefore will be at their level. One can usually draft midgets in the later rounds, allowing the Steelers to choose a Florida State disappointment in the first or second round.
Posted at 9:31PM on Jan 17th 2008 by Dave