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View Full Version : On The Steelers: It's a fight to the finish for Aaron Smith



stillers4me
08-25-2011, 05:06 AM
Few retire voluntarily. Lynn Swann did. Joe Greene did. Jack Ham did. Not many others did. Center Mike Webster retired from the Steelers, joined the Kansas City coaching staff, then unretired and played for the Chiefs the next two seasons. Running back Willie Parker hasn't played a regular-season NFL game since 2009, but he is trying to return and is playing for the Virginia Destroyers of the UFL. Running back Tiki Barber tried to end four years of retirement this summer at age 36, but no one wanted him.

Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith adds a new dimension, saying he will not know when it is time to quit..............

Read more @ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11237/1169751-66-0.stm?cmpid=steelers.xml

86WARD
08-25-2011, 07:03 AM
I can tell you this Aaron...I'm no expert, but it's getting close to that time...I'll leave you with that buddy...

El-Gonzo Jackson
08-25-2011, 09:19 AM
I think he gets told this year. Probably going to start, but I bet Hood takes at least 20% of the snaps away from him.

suitanim
08-25-2011, 10:32 AM
I don't know, when he's healthy he's still pretty dominant. But I think you're both right. Play this season and, unless he's healthy and productive for all 16+, hang 'em up.

ALLD
08-25-2011, 11:26 AM
His body will tell him. It is breaking down now from his style of play unfortunately.

SteelerFanInStl
08-25-2011, 01:07 PM
Aaron's still a very good player but I really think that Ziggy should be starting this year.

Count Steeler
08-25-2011, 04:45 PM
His body will tell him, if not the coaches will.

The game definitely will.

El-Gonzo Jackson
08-25-2011, 05:12 PM
This is a great instance of succession planning bythe Steelers. They have Hood ready and Heyward just drafted, to eventually replace Smith and Keisel.

I wish they could have done better on the O line and that way there would not be the juggling around of guys like Trai Essex, Jon Scott and Tony Hills.

steelreserve
08-27-2011, 03:43 PM
This is a great instance of succession planning bythe Steelers. They have Hood ready and Heyward just drafted, to eventually replace Smith and Keisel.

I wish they could have done better on the O line and that way there would not be the juggling around of guys like Trai Essex, Jon Scott and Tony Hills.

That's not a lack-of-planning problem, it's a matter of priorities, which were forced by the salary cap. The finite amount of money to spend pretty well guarantees that you're going to have to under-address at least one or two positions. For us, the strategy was to make defense and QB the priorities, and hope we can get by with a so-so offensive line. We had plenty of chances where we COULD'VE made OL the priority if we'd chosen to, such as breaking the bank to re-sign Faneca, or signing a big-name free agent center for $7M a year after Hartings retired, or trading up to draft a blue-chip OT prospect who we'd then be paying $8M a year. It would've been perfectly possible to do. The trade-off would be that Harrison would be playing for the Falcons, Taylor would be on the Cowboys and Woodley would be on the Raiders, and we'd be relying on one-year journeyman rentals like Eason as our primary backups at DL instead of guys like Hood and Hoke. You've always got a choice, and I think it's pretty clear where we made ours; a mediocre OL is simply something we have to accept if we want to continue trying to have the #1 defense in the league. So far it seems to be working.

Godfather
08-27-2011, 10:12 PM
A few guys have said you know it's time when next Sunday comes around and you haven't recovered from this Sunday.

sactownsteeler
08-28-2011, 06:47 PM
Depends if he still wants to start or is ok coming off the bench. Ziggy should start taking over this year then be full time starter next year so will he be ok with being a backup and taking a pay cut?