Mahan Experiment Over

Wow. That was fast. One year. In my opinion, it was about 10 starts too long as well at seventeen. Listen, when you have Ray Mansfield, Mike Webster, Dermonti Dawson and Jeff Hartings starting exclusively at center since the late 60's, if you play center for this team, you've got Paul Bunyan type shoes to fill, you feel me? The offensive line is the heart and soul of the Stillers and it always has been. Is Sean Mahan a scapegoat? Possibly. Maybe Grimmy bolting to be with his lover The Whiz is the real reason for the poor line play. Maybe the new coach doesn't know dick about OL play. Maybe Colon, Kemo Eat You, Starks and Essex were all just bad picks and now we;re stuck for a few years with them....or, maybe.....just maybe.....the center is the most integral offensive position on our team and Mahan just wasn't up to the task. How many times did Ben take the snap and take off running? Too many to remember. That pressure wasn't normally coming from the sides - it was too fast. It was coming right up the gut. Either Mahan was blocking the wrong guy or not blocking at all. I'm not a coach, I don't know what his assignments are, but I know that Ben leaving pocket before he can say "Oh Shit!" is not how it is supposed to go. I thought Mahan had enough experience to challenge for a guard spot or at minimum add depth to the line as a backup, but I guess not. I'm guessing he just didn't take his demotion well so we cut our losses. I'll tell you one thing, there have been more suspect personnel moves in Tomlin's first year and a half than Cowher's last five years combined.

I Called This One

Steelers Sign Hartwig. Interesting. I like it. I like the price. Not sure if I like the hair. Ben has to be getting tired of learning the nuances of everyone's snap. I forget what Mahan is getting paid. Not sure they'll keep him around for guard duty - we'll see. At least he's a body for camp. Maybe he'll be better at guard, who knows. At least they don't have to draft a center now. Who did we draft the year Mangold came out? I can't remember drafts too well. Was that just last year?

Should We Be Looking At This Guy?

Panthers center Justin Hartwig was released this week after being injured in 2006 giving way to his heir apparent who was drafted in the second round of 2007 as a hedge against Hartwig still being injured. Hartwig started 15 of 16 games last year but the Panthers are going with the youngster after giving Hartwig a $17 million dollar deal for 5 years following the 2005 season. I'm just sayin'. I hope our scouts are currently looking at him to see if we could maybe get a few years out of him at a decent price. Christ, he has to be better than Sean Mahan.

Larry Zierlein's Take

If the above name isn't familiar to you, he's the Steelers new Offensive Line Coach - you know, the one that e-mailed porn to all of the NFL suits. Well, after reading an interview with him this week, something else he said troubles me far worse. He was asked about the competition for center now that Jeff Hartings is gone. Sean Mahan was signed away from the Bucs and I thought he would be the front runner over career backup Chuki Okobi. Zierlein has reported that out of all the mini-camps, the job is still up for grabs stating that neither "has stepped out" or "taken the job". Great. What does that say about both of them? I'd say it says we now have two number twos. The team is built around the center and nose tackle. We've only had 4 centers since the mid 60's in Ray Mansfield, Mike Webster, Dermonti Dawson and Hartings. In my mind, Mahan was brought here to start. Heck, hartings probably gimped out one more year because everyone knew Okobi wasn;t this team's starting center. He's overpaid as a backup as well. Here's my take: Mahan hasn't stood out yet because he's still learning the books. He's been here a few months and already pulled even with Okobi who has been here since 1986 (or so it seems). Mahan will start and I'm predicting Okobi and his 2 million dollar contract for this year will be shown the door. You heard it here first.

Mahan Inked, Okobi Career Backup?

The Steelers finally joined the fray that is the free agency period in the NFL by signing Bucs center Sean Mahan. Mahan received $17 million for 5 years with $4 million coming as a signing bonus. Mahan signing leaves question marks for Okobi, who has been a backup here for....well, forever. Mahan can play multiple positions, but I'm betting he will be the opening day center. Even mentioning Kendall Simmons switching to center must have peeved Okobi. I have nothing against him, but let's face it, the fact that he hasn't played yet as an every down player does not speak too well for him. Coach Tomlin must have watched all the tape on him and made a decision. Okobi's contract isn't so large that he can't hang around and be used as a backup since he knows the system - and camp will be a good gut-check for him to see if he still has any "heart" after this signing.