Wallace's absence strains Steelers' depth
August 4, 2012 2:29 am
The continuing holdout of Mike Wallace goes beyond the Steelers missing one of the great deep threats in the NFL. It cuts into their depth at wide receiver, and, while that may not pose a problem at the moment with a 90-man roster, it soon could become one.
With Wallace, the Steelers would possess one of the best receiving foursomes in the league that includes team MVP Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and Jerricho Cotchery. That group is buttressed by tight end Heath Miller and whichever backs emerge as targets in the passing game.
They would seem to have good depth and versatility to go with Ben Roethlisberger, one of the best quarterbacks in the league. If Wallace continues his holdout, the depth at wide receiver, however, is reduced to three, and no one has emerged to help ease that shortage after a week of practice.
"I haven't seen any distinct separation at this point, but it's still early" coordinator Todd Haley said Friday.
It was around this time last year that Sanders had to have more surgery on a foot after having both fixed by surgeons early in the year. Sanders has said his feet are fine, but he did not practice Friday night, although coach Mike Tomlin held him out of practice the other day on artificial turf as to not court trouble. Losing Sanders, Cotchery or Brown would be certain trouble for the Steelers because there really is no one else to move in. At least, no one has shown they can yet.
"There's some ability," Haley said. "But, at that position, there is some pressure to try to get one of those guys kind of come to the surface. So we'll push them hard, and you'll see that position getting coached pretty vigilantly trying to get that to happen."
The only player with any kind of experience behind them is Derrick Williams, a 26-year-old out of Penn State who was not on an NFL roster last season. He caught nine passes in 18 games over the 2009 and '10 seasons with Detroit.
That's it. Everyone else is a first-year pro or a rookie. The only receiver drafted by the Steelers this year was Toney Clemons of Valley High School and Colorado; they took him in the seventh round.