The Pittsburgh Steelers are to deal with another big blow this summer?
Willie Colon an offensive tackle injured his Achilles tendon this Monday and will be on bed rest for at least 5 months from now.
This year people had their doubts anyway regarding the Steelers and whether would they even make it to the playoffs? Now with Willie falling out of the roster makes things even worse for the team.
The main questions is what will the Pittsburgh Steelers do? Who will replace Willie Colon?
Here is the list of the few possible replacements:
Ramon Foster is a 24 year old who is just in his rookie year and as a guard for the Steelers. He played quite well last year, but giving him Willies position just wouldn’t make sense right now would it? It’s a simple fact; tackler is suppose to be faster than the guard so it could stop the rushing opponents, therefore putting a guard who is already slow, in a tacklers position just wouldn’t do justice.
Chris Scott recently joined the Steelers let alone he hasn’t even played a match yet. Considering him as an option would just be despicable. He was drafted by the Steelers in the 5th round in the 2010 NFL Drafts. The idea of Scott even being considered for taking over Willies position would be childish.
Jonathan Scott is a former player for the Buffalo Bills he came to the Steelers this year under a one year contract. Will he be given a chance? Most likely no, it’s simple if Buffalo thought of him as a great player they wouldn’t have traded him in the first place.
Logan Mankins is one h**l of an amazing guard and has been selected for Pro Bowl twice and once for All-Pro selection. Mankins could be great for the Steelers on the offensive line but Mankins is restricted as a free agent, which would be a major problem because if the Steelers were to trade him he would have to be paid quite highly. The thought of him could be taken under consideration by the Steelers, but by drafting such an expensive player who does not perform well; would be a big risk which the Pittsburgh Steelers can’t take.
Trai Essex could be considered as a prospect for the team because he also plays as an offensive lineman and his huge size could help out. The heavy player has played 47 professional games and won the Super Bowl twice in his career. However if the Steelers do decide on giving him Colons position, it could really cost them and that is something they can’t afford at the moment, so I guess even the thought of Trai Essex to take over Willies position would just not workout.
Jared Gaither, the graduate from Maryland who plays for the Ravens and could be a great player for a trade off between the two teams. Ravens’ has been trying to set Gaither free since the past year, finally this year their dream would come true as he will become an unrestricted agent. Gaither might not be the top most performer in NFL but has room for improvement and the fact that he plays the same position as Willie Colon could really help out. So for the time he sounds to be the perfect option for the Steelers out of the lot.
Kraig Urbik who is an offensive guard/tackle for the Steelers was 79th pick for the 2009 NHL DRAFTS, although he has remained inactive throughout last year after losing his position to a fellow rookie Ramon Foster, his previous college awards and honours show he can definitely play for the position.
So now the question is who is mostly likely to be selected from the ones mentioned above, it’s hard to say but it would definitely be tough competition between, Jared and Urbik. The two can be considered, because of their experience playing as offensive tackler in college.
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