2 DAYS

Two days to go before the beginning of the football season. From the looks of the team in the preseason they are primed and ready to go. I think there were 2 problems the Steelers encountered in their final cuts.
1. The Steelers found a player that they could develop and possibly provide backup depth on the defensive line. They drafted Ziggy, but they need some fresh young studs in that position. Sonny Harris was that player. He was a 6th round draft pick and performed well in camp and looked to be a player. Apparently Carolina thought so also and signed him to their 53 man roster. The Steelers tried to get him through waivers to put him on the practice squad but Carolina got to him first. Once a player is put on waivers any team can claim him and he cannot go back to the team that put him on waivers unless he is unclaimed.

2. The other surprise was that the Steelers will go with a rookie blocking back in their first preseason game. Frank Summers somehow beat out training camp sensation Isaac Redman for one of the Running Back positions. Frank will be a blocking back and I think he will end up with the short yardage duties eventually. David Johnson is the other blocking back. He performed well in training camp and impressed the coaches with his blocking skills. But, for a team with one of the most sacked QBs you would think they would want some stability blocking for him.

3. The third surprise is that Bruce Davis was cut outright and there didn't seem to be any effort to sign him to the practice squad. It actually is not that big of a surprise because he never did seem to catch anyone's eye as a playmaker but they did spend a 3rd round draft choice in 2008 and he did not pan out. He is one of those projects where the Steelers tried to convert a pass rushing defensive end in college to an outside linebacker. Not the first time this experiment failed. Hope he doesn't turn into Mike Vrabel II with another team, because he certainly turned out to be Alonzo Jackson II with the Steelers.

The Steelers made an attempt to sign Jeff Reed before the start of the season, sounds like it was a pretty feable attempt, then the gave Justin Hartwig a contract. I'd like to have both, but I'm worried ahead of time that they're going to have to find a kicker that can figure out how to kick in Heinz Field. Jeff is a pressure kicker and has come through in the clutch many many times. Please figure out how to resign him.

BTW, former Steeler Anthony Smith, was cut by the Packers. According to sources Smith performed well in camp and was thought to have made the team. Do you think maybe he said the wrong thing to the wrong person... or maybe he hit the wrong person. Aaron Rodgers didn't turn up on the injury report recently, did he.

Tomorrow night will be the preview of the season opener. HERE WE GO STEELERS!