2012 NFL season: Pittsburgh Steelers bet future on young horses – NFL feature
Pittsburgh Steelers was probably the only side in the National Football League (NFL) that had come of an age in talent at a majority positions in 2011. Not anymore. The compelling salary cap issue has forced the management to part ways
with a majority of their veterans who have been part of the team during its ups and downs for many past seasons.
Hines Ward, for example, spent his entire 14-year NFL career at the WR position in the team. He even resisted his departure this year. It was down to the concern of their over-the-cap-level players’ salary expense that the Steelers did
not give a second thought to their decision to send him packing.
He was joined by many other senior players released by the team to consolidate their pay roster. This has left the team exposed at certain positions, except for the quarterback’s, to young and raw talent. Ben Roethlisberger is still their
offence leader but under a redone deal. Rest it is all about youth, who do not have much experience of the pro career. Yet they have energy, fierce force and fighting spirit, and most importantly the team is willing to bet its future on them.
It poses a challenge for coach Mike Tomlin: how quickly he helps these players to adapt to the changed environment and its demands. The coach is confident about their potential and talent, hoping they will timely respond to the team's
need.
The problem is that almost all young players are exposed too soon to the pro challenges, and while the situation presents itself as an opportunity to them it risks the team’s prospects as well.
Mike has admitted that the departure of veterans has created voids in the squad, which youngsters are expected to fill. The coach does not sound to be confident if he is successful in timely grooming of the aspiring young talent.
Nevertheless, the team’s future is very much dependent on these young horses. A plus for the Steelers is that all new players are upbeat about the opportunity and look ready to put in maximum efforts in training and development of their
skills.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ last year’s run was not that impressive. They could not get past the first round of the playoffs and lost miserably to QB Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos.
The particular disappointing point was their loss to the Baltimore Ravens twice in the regular season that also pushed them out of the AFC North title race, and took away tiebreaker advantage from them. All chances slipped out of their
hands then.
The youngsters are certainly to face the pressure of doing better than last season. So, altogether the situation remains challenging for the emerging stars, and only a systematic approach can help them.
Realistically, the Steelers do not have alternative to hopes that these players perform up to their potential, if not up to the team's expectations. Even if there was no cap issue, the team would have gone through the transitional phase
in the near future given a majority of their players had almost hit maturity of their careers. Since both sides – the players and Steelers – are pushed into the situation that prevails at present, the team can use the forthcoming transition phase for the future
build-up.
If all goes well between their QB Big Ben and the new offensive coach Todd Haley, it should come as a great boost to their squad, making up for the lower quality of talent at some other positions.
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