polamalubeast
06-12-2014, 08:12 PM
The six-year, $48 million extension Maurkice Pouncey signed Thursday might well represent the biggest move the Steelers make all summer. That's terrific and troubling.
Don't misunderstand. I like the contract.
Provided the front office did due diligence on Pouncey's right knee that was carved up after eight snaps last season, and given that Pouncey was a full participant in all three weeks of the organized team activities that wrapped up Thursday, there's no good reason to think he won't again be one of the NFL's finest centers. He's been that in the past, and he's only 24.
If anything, the Steelers would have paid far more by waiting to see a healthy 2014, then risking losing him through free agency.
But hey, let's check off the primary concerns, anyway:
• He can't stay on the field.
Quickly, without looking it up, how many games would you say Pouncey missed in his first three regular seasons?
Try four. Out of 52.
Part of the reason his absences stand out is that he's missed playoff games. As a rookie in 2010, he was out of the AFC championship game after one quarter with an ankle injury, then was held out of the Super Bowl. In 2011, he was out of the AFC wild card game for a recurrence of that ankle injury.
But that ankle never flared again. The only game missed in 2012 was to a minor knee sprain. And there's nothing to be analyzed about missing all of 2013 beyond David DeCastro rolling up on the back of his knee on a terribly ill-advised try at a cut block. DeCastro is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds. If he'd rolled up on Ray Mansfield, Mike Webster or Dermontti Dawson, they'd have been carted off, too.
And now?
“There are no problems,” Pouncey said Thursday. “I'm completely fine.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/6253539-74/pouncey-game-steelers#ixzz34TeyGO6C
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
Don't misunderstand. I like the contract.
Provided the front office did due diligence on Pouncey's right knee that was carved up after eight snaps last season, and given that Pouncey was a full participant in all three weeks of the organized team activities that wrapped up Thursday, there's no good reason to think he won't again be one of the NFL's finest centers. He's been that in the past, and he's only 24.
If anything, the Steelers would have paid far more by waiting to see a healthy 2014, then risking losing him through free agency.
But hey, let's check off the primary concerns, anyway:
• He can't stay on the field.
Quickly, without looking it up, how many games would you say Pouncey missed in his first three regular seasons?
Try four. Out of 52.
Part of the reason his absences stand out is that he's missed playoff games. As a rookie in 2010, he was out of the AFC championship game after one quarter with an ankle injury, then was held out of the Super Bowl. In 2011, he was out of the AFC wild card game for a recurrence of that ankle injury.
But that ankle never flared again. The only game missed in 2012 was to a minor knee sprain. And there's nothing to be analyzed about missing all of 2013 beyond David DeCastro rolling up on the back of his knee on a terribly ill-advised try at a cut block. DeCastro is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds. If he'd rolled up on Ray Mansfield, Mike Webster or Dermontti Dawson, they'd have been carted off, too.
And now?
“There are no problems,” Pouncey said Thursday. “I'm completely fine.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/6253539-74/pouncey-game-steelers#ixzz34TeyGO6C
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook