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Steelers Position Battle No. 2: Keenan Lewis vs. Joe Burnett vs. Keiwan Ratliff

Published: June 30, 2009

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Position battles are normally battles for one spot between two players. But teams, even ones that are talented from top to bottom, can have two or more spots open at a certain position during an offseason.

This is the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive unit, where both the dime and quarter-package cornerbacks are undecided.

While many might view these holes as insignificant, depth in the defensive backfield has become increasingly important each year ever since the development of offenses such as the run-and-shoot and the West Coast offense.

Modern teams like to spread defenses out, which means more receiving threats on the field. For the Steelers to repeat their Super Bowl victory and maintain their top-rated defense, they must find the right men for the job of covering these extra pass-catchers.

The leading candidates for the last two cornerback spots are rookies Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett, and veteran journeyman Keiwan Ratliff. There are a few other defensive backs on the roster who could potentially earn a spot, but Fernando Bryant’s retirement puts Burnett, Lewis, and Ratliff in the driver’s seat.

Here’s the skinny how things just might shake out at camp.

Lewis and Joe, being rookies, are unknowns. But the Steelers are hoping at least one of them can eventually be a solid nickel or starting back. There will be an intense scouting process to see who is most worth a roster spot.

Most fans, as well as players and coaches, expect Lewis to be the most promising of the bunch—if not the best in camp already.

Lewis was the Steelers’ second third-round selection in the 2009 draft, and the six-foot, 208 pound cornerback out of Oregon State plays the physical kind of defense Mike Tomlin loves.

While the higher pick always gets more attention, lower picks can often surprise—especially when they have a chip on their shoulder and a fellow rookie to compete with.

That chance to compete will be given to Burnett, who will try to prove that he should’ve been the third round pick instead of going in the fifth round.

Burnett not only offers great ball-hawking skills—16 interceptions at Central Florida—but also gives the Steelers a potentially dangerous return-man. The Steelers have not had good return-man since Antwaan Randle El.

So if Burnett can show the potential to fill this hole, he will find himself among the final 53 men at the end of camp.

The final possible piece of the puzzle is Ratliff. Ratliff played in 13 games for the Indianapolis Colts last season, starting four of them and ending the year with two interceptions and one defensive TD.

It would be hard to imagine that a player talented and experienced enough to start for a playoff team wouldn’t make the final roster cut—especially with so many unknowns in the defensive backfield for Pittsburgh.

Lewis is too talented and has too much upside to cut.

Burnett is too valuable a return-man to cut.

Ratliff is too solid a veteran to cut.

While this is a preferable conundrum to be in, the wrong decision could create a weakness in a Steelers team that must be better than last year in order to repeat their Super Bowl win.

While it appears all three candidates are worth keeping there, just isn’t enough room on the roster for them all to make final cuts. Look for Lewis and Ratliff to make the 53-man roster, with Burnett heading to the practice squad.

Mike Wallace, Mewelde Moore, or Santonio Holmes will take the return job from Burnett—if not based on mere talent, then on their value at their primary positions.

And while Tomlin and Colbert will look for Burnett to develop and make the team next year, he will wait in the wings, hoping for injuries to get him some playing time.

Steelers Position Battle No. 1: William Gay vs. Deshea Townsend

Published: June 3, 2009

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The defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers will enter training camp this year with only two starting positions even relatively open to more than one player.

The more open of the two, and I say that comparatively, is the right Cornerback position recently vacated by Bryant McFadden. Last year McFadden surpassed Townsend as the second best Cornerback on the team and proved that he could excel as a starter rather than just as a nickel-back.

This season William Gay, a third year player out of Rutgers, is hoping to mimic McFadden in 2009. While Steelers fans, coaches, and players all expect, and hope, that Gay will follow in McFadden’s footsteps it isn’t a guaranteed.

Gay has shown a lot of promise but not every promising back-up can provide solid play on an every-down basis. Playing defensive back for the Steelers is a much more demanding position than it is for most teams.

Dick LeBeau likes his Cornerbacks to play more like safeties, being physical in coverage and providing solid help in run support. Not only must Gay prove that he can cover starting receivers but he also must show the ability tackle, get off blocks, and blitz effectively.

While Townsend seems to have lost his ability to properly cover starting receivers, he can perform at a starting level in all the other aspects of the position. If Gay can’t do those things than he is no longer a start worthy player and Townsend will become, once again, a potential starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This all being said, it is true that Mike Tomlin, Gay, Townsend, and all other parties involved believe Gay will be the starter for the beginning, middle and end of the 2009 season. And while Tomlin hopes Gay will make positions battle talks, and this article itself, completely irrelevant it is still not guaranteed the Gay will be able to hold down the fort.

As a personal prediction, I think that William Gay has consistently outperformed expectations and will continue to do so. He isn’t quite as physically impressive and McFadden or Ike Taylor but he can play football and will play like Townsend in his younger years.

The position battle for the starting right Cornerback spot isn’t really a one vs. one battle. It’s more William Gay’s performance vs. his expectations. If he lives up to expectations there is no position battle but if he shows in training camp and later in the preseason he could lose his starting role to Townsend.

Five Players that Must Step-up for the Steelers to Repeat

Published: May 21, 2009

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During the past two off-seasons the Pittsburgh Steelers have seen the departure, for one reason or another, of a large list of seemingly important players such as; Clark Haggans, Cedrick Wilson, Alan Fanaca, Joey Porter, Dan Kreider and Jeff Hartings. Despite these departures the Steelers have maintained, and actually improved their standards of excellence.

The key to this constant improvement lies, as any good Steelers fan knows, in the constant replacement of elite NFL talent. Every year Kevin Colbert, and the rest of Pittsburgh’s staff find players to step up and fill the holes in their roster. While on occasion the holes are filled through free agency, Ryan Clark and Justin Hartwig for example, most of these replacements come from spots further back on depth chart.

These the top five free agents, rookies, and former backups who must step-up to keep the Steelers from taking a step back.

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Steelers Position Battle No. 2: Keenan Lewis vs. Joe Burnett vs. Keiwan Ratliff

Steelers Position Battle No. 1: William Gay vs. Deshea Townsend

Five Players that Must Step-up for the Steelers to Repeat

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