Bires: Saunders gets his chance with Steelers

[stillers4me]

One day last week after practice, Weslye Saunders was asked how he felt about the way his preseason was going. He promptly smiled and answered.

"It's going well," he said. "I'm still here."

Today as the Steelers begin preparations for next Sunday's opener in Baltimore, Saunders is still here. He survived the final cut.

On Saturday when the Steelers whacked five more players to reach the mandatory 53-man limit, Saunders wasn't called, wasn't told to turn in his playbook. An undrafted rookie, Saunders beat out 10-year veteran John Gilmore for the job as the Steelers' No. 3 tight end..............

read more @ http://www.timesonline.com/sports/st...932e7666c.html

[Count Steeler]

Nice keep. I think he will contribute through the year. Those 3 tight end sets near the goal line could be his trademark. Sneak into the end zone and be a good target for Ben.

[The Duke]

Gilmore was far ahead of him on his blocking, so they're definitely giving the kid a chance with his upside

I like him, so I hope he takes this chance and runs with it

[Galax Steeler]

Gilmore was far ahead of him on his blocking, so they're definitely giving the kid a chance with his upside

I like him, so I hope he takes this chance and runs with it

Agree I would love to see him do well with the Steelers sounds to me like he wants to do well with the chance he has with the team.

[Austin87]

Saunders has a lot of upside. I'm glad we kept him.

[Vis]

We Gamecocks are worth having around.

[KeiselPower99]

Hopefully he is better then Spaeth

[Chidi29]

Even though it improved, I have to think that his blocking is very raw. And he's going to be used only in TE heavy sets I'd imagine where defenses expect you to run. They'll key in on playaction whenever Saunders is in the game.