SB Nation - Tony Hills

Pittsburgh Steelers Defeat Arizona Cardinals, 20-10. Some Initial Observations From Preseason Week No. 1

Blitzburgh — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:04:19 -0000

Mike Tomlin improved to 3-0 in preseason openers as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers when his team surged late to defeat the Arizona Cardinals 20-10 in a rematch of last year's Super Bowl. It's always nice to win, no two ways about it. If nothing else, it gives lots of the younger players, many of whom we'll mention below, a chance to get in a live-game situation where they must deal with and overcome pressure. They did just that. That said, I think we all also realize that the victory means very little.

Let's still talk about a few of the notes from last night's victory.

Let's start with one of the more glaring positives - the return of punter Daniel Sepulveda. The 2007 4th round draft pick looked very solid last night, booming 6 punts for an average of 49.5 yards. He had two downed inside the 20 yard line and had a long of 53. If the Steelers can get consistently solid play from Sepulveda, particularly if the offense takes a bit of time to gel, I very much like the team's chances to avoid any big slip-ups. The defense, if healthy, should be able to hold down the fort if they're not compromised by bad field position, even if it takes a bit of time for the offense to hit its stride. Congratulations to Sepulveda on all the hard work he's put in to get himself back to this point. Fingers crossed he remains injury-free for the remainder of this year and for years to come.
Dennis Dixon also deserves kudos for his performance last night, particularly on the touchdown drive early in the 4th quarter that gave the Steelers an insurmountable 17-3 lead. The drive began at the Steelers own 20-yard line and it featured 6 pass attempts by Dixon - all completions - for 60 yards, Yes, the Cards were down to at least their 3rd string defenders. But Dixon also looked poised and confident when the team needed him to settle down, be less skittish in the pocket and lead his team down the field for points. Dixon wasn't perfect, particularly early on. He underthrew a deep ball that would have likely gone for a touchdown. And it took him a few snaps to calm down and trust his progressions ad instincts in the pocket. But that's to be expected and not at all alarming. Just so long as he made the necessary adjustments sooner rather than later. Which he did. Charlie Batch also looked just fine out there in limited action, but one has to really wonder now if Dixon might not be the better choice for the Steelers were they forced to play without Ben Roethlisberger for more than just a few series or quarters.
LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison are good at football. Good goodness. If they stay healthy all year, it will alleviate so much of the pressure off the rest of the defense and might even allow Dick LeBeau's unit to sustain an injury or two to a key player. But these two are the anchor of everything that the Steelers defense wants to do and if they're terrorizing opposing quarterbacks like they did last year, look out National Football League.
It doesn't surprise me that Lawrence Timmons was a bit hesitant and seemingly a half-step too slow on a number of plays last night. He'll be just fine. Let's just keep him healthy until when we're playing for real marbles.
Let's leave discussion(s) about the offensive line for a separate post, but I will say that nobody was really impressive last night. Certainly not Max Starks or the regular cast of characters that we should see lining up as the first unit come the regular season. But the two centers, Doug Legursky and A.Q. Shipley looked pretty decent. So did Tony Hills. This is one area where I wasn't able to get a complete grasp on, as I was tending to a few other things while watching and have not had a chance to re-watch the game. Anything in particular you saw in this department?
Was it not exciting to see Limas Sweed play with an emphatic sense of purpose last night? Wow, great stuff from the 2nd year wide receiver out of Texas, who Steelers fans all know struggled mightily during his rookie campaign. Mike Wallace also looked like stage fright won't be an issue. All of a sudden, it's possible that the Steelers wide receiving corps could be awfully dangerous if those two continue to develop nicely. Then there's Shaun McDonald, who proved to be sure-handed and reliable in the slot. The Steeers weren't great on offense last night by any means, but little of that had to do with the play of the wide receivers. Color me excited to watch this offense this year, even if the running game continues to sputter more often than not.
Finally, to close, a tip of the cap to undrafted free agent rookie Isaac Redman, who scored two touchdowns in last night's victory. The rookie out of little-known Bowie State runs like a bull in a china shop and could find himself assuming more of the redzone and short yardage duties than we ever imagined just a few weeks ago. Is it possible that the Steelers keep six or even seven running backs on their roster? I'm not sure just yet, but Redman sure does seem to be making it tough on the coaching staff to ignore his presence and ability two weeks in to the 2009 preseason.

Thoughts?

Go Steelers!

BTSC Steelers Daily Six Pack- Tony Hills Edition

drinkyourmilkshake — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:36:33 -0000

IX- Tony Hills is ready to compete this year after struggling to make an impact in his rookie season. He says he has added between five and ten pounds of muscle and is eager to learn how to play four positions on the line to become as valuable as Trai Essex. Make sure to check out the quote about Bruce Davis and Tony Hills from Mike Tomlin, it's another great one that could be entered in next years version of the Tomlinism tournament.

X-The Steelers will be going bowling this afternoon instead of participating in some of the last sessions of this O.T.A. This evening they will also be presented with their 2008 Super Bowl Championship rings, you can check out the rings before and get a description of all the elements before anyone else over at the Steelers Official Website. On a somewhat un-related not, did you know that Jerome Bettis is one hell of a bowler? He has an average over 200 and has posted a perfect game in his past, so perhaps with his recent unemployment he can go on tour with the P.B.A.

XIII- Debra Miller and her three grandsons will have a Champions House built by Habitat for Humanity. But on Monday afternoon a group of Steeler players attempted to help out. From some of the quotes from the WTAE report, I'm not sure her house will be standing long enough for her to pay off the 30 year mortgage. Here's a few of my favorites from their report:

"We got Deshea Townsend in there using a nail gun like he's in a western or something,"

"Somebody needs to get Willie P [Parker]. He's just painting too fast. He wants to do everything fast. He's not on the football field -- somebody needs to tell him,"

XIV- Mondessi's House has two good posts, one about Steelers fan and rock-star Brett Michael's near decapitation at the Tony Awards on Sunday, and they other is about the Hines Wards' all star softball event. They event raised over $7000 dollars for the fallen heroes foundation. Besides Rush Limbaugh, and Brett Michael's can anyone else think of famous celebrities that also happen to be Steeler fans?

XL- It's now or never for the Pittsburgh Penguins who are playing elimination game tonight in Pittsburgh. For some motivation to root for them during this make or break game check out D.C. Steeler nation's thoughts. Also check out Pensburgh for the live blog tonight at 8pm.

XLIII- Former Steelers Coach Bill Cowher along with current Raven's head coach John Harbaugh will be visiting troops for several days in the inaugural NFL-USO Coaches Tour. The event which will send the two coaches along with Tom Coughlin, John Gruden, and Jeff Fisher in a tour around the Persian Gulf Region to meet and greet with soldiers to boost moral.

Overtime-: Thanks to the BTSC Twitter Feed for pointing this one out. Quite possibly the best headline in the history of time; " Tom Brady Fell Out of a Boat." Perhaps he was too busy jamming along to the video below to stay in the boat. Sing it T-Pain!

BTSC Checks In With Jim Wexell

Blitzburgh — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:41:58 -0000

If you've been around the site long enough, you know how much I like Jim Wexell's reporting and writing. I honestly don't get to as much as his stuff as I'd like to. As the publisher of SSteelCityInsider.com, there's always good stuff from either him or his well-respected and regarded roster. He's also, as you know since I've mentioned it at least 6 times, the author of Steeler Nation: A Pittsburgh Team, An American Phenomenon. I know we all love Dick LeBeau, so it's worth mentioning that the paperback re-release will have new material in it, including a lengthy candid talk with Coach Dad. If you've waited this long to read it, don't wait any longer once the paperback comes out. Anyway, Mr. Wexell was kind enough to take a few minutes to answer some questions I had as we enter the doldrums of the offseason leading up to the draft.

BTSC: So the latest news of course is the signing of CB Bryant McFadden out in Arizona. Could the Steelers really not afford to match a 2-year deal with just a paltry $5 million in guarantees? I have a hard time figuring out the logic of drafting a guy like McFadden in the 2nd round, letting him get some seasoning on two Super Bowl runs, then letting him walk at age 27. Seems like chasing one's tail, but as we usually say around the site, 'hard to second guess the organization's track record in this regard.'

Wexell: Let me just give you two quick reasons:

1.) Cap number. That may only have been a $10M contract, but at 2 years that's an immediate cap hit of $5M per. The Cardinals knew what they were doing. It acted as a poison pill for the Steelers, who are having cash flow problems and who want to get a deal done with James Harrison Superstar. And, 2.) We in the media have been expecting Bryant McFadden to ascend to the starting role ever since he was drafted, and just haven't been able to understand what's holding him back. Any time we go fishing (is it phishing?) with an assistant coach, and mention McFadden, we never hear what we expect: "Oh, he's on the verge. He just needs to ..." or "The guy in front of him does x better."

Someone mentioned to Mike Tomlin in a quiet moment that he liked the way McFadden plays the ball when it's in the air. Tomlin replied, "You'd rather have a cornerback who doesn't have to play the ball at all," meaning QBs throw on him. Sure, you'd rather have that, but that was a funny answer, and really one of the only telling ones to a media that's been phishing and never really getting any inside info. Hope that kind of helps answer your question.

BTSC: On a related note, any thoughts about whether or not the organization will be looking at a CB in either Round 1 or 2 in this year's draft? Or might they look for another William Gay type of talent in the 4th or 5th round to play some special teams, perhaps return kicks and eventually get phased in as Deshea Townsend winds down his career in the coming years?

Wexell: Kevin Colbert likes the depth at the position and has scheduled a visit with Joe Burnett and had a formal interview with Sherrod Martin. It looks like they're aiming for the middle rounds, but then again, if a guy like Darius Butler (UConn) falls to them in the first, I'd be stunned if they pass.

BTSC: I wrote quite a bit about Tony Hills just a few weeks ago, and how his development, or lack there of, might be one of the more important yet ignored topics of this offseason. I'll spare the gist of my argument, though it wasn't much of an argument for Hills so much as an attempt to argue that maybe the organization has some sort of plan/perspective on Hills and his development that we as fans are not at all privy to. We did all agree on this though - there's no way to know until we see him in pads going up against Deebo and Woodley this summer. Anything else you maybe have on him?

Wexell: I just see him down there working out. At the end of the season you could tell he had much more muscle definition in his body. Right now, no one wants to say anything about him, and they shouldn't. He's just another cog in the competition machine. You won't see much preseason probing of Jason Capizzi for that matter either. It's time to just let these guys compete.

BTSC: Do you think the Steelers flirtation with Joey Galloway was more a luxury they'd enjoy at the right price, or do they feel Limas Sweed isn't ready yet to be the team's No. 3 WR?Is getting a veteran WR still a priority?

Wexell: How can they feel Limas Sweed is ready? I mean, the Steelers are a bottom-line organization and they saw what we all saw. Yeah, we're all happy he gets off the line and can run and is big and strong, but the one drop, the one with the eyes wide open, left me feeling that he's scared and might never make it. Again, as with Hills, the guy has to prove it first. The Steelers will say all the right things if they don't come out of this draft with a WR, but it's a prove-it-to-me organization. Look how long it took Nate Washington to secure faith, and he showed a lot more as a rookie than Sweed did. Oh, to answer your question, they'll try to get a veteran No. 3 WR, but, again, with Mike Thomas coming in March 30-31, it appears they're targeting a WR for the upper middle rounds.

BTSC: Do you like WR Hakeem Nicks, and is he an option for Pittsburgh at No. 32?

Wexell: I would love to think so. He's my favorite. He's a guy who explains why later-round draftors have so much success. They don't have to answer to themselves about combine times and that nonsense. Sometimes they just get stuck with really good players, and Nicks is one of them. The problem will be -- and the reason I like guys like Thomas and Mike Wallace -- is that Nicks isn't a kick returner. But I'd be willing to take the chance. Make it real funny and use Darnell Stapleton to return kicks this year. What would be the difference at this point?

BTSC: Have you had much contact or at least seen much of Coach Tomlin in action since the beginning of the offseason? If so, any impressions about how he's handling things.

Wexell: Yes, I've said hello to him. I really enjoy running into him. He lifts your spirits just by remembering your name and asking about your kids. I loved his interview today (March 24) with Ed Bouchette in which he said he understands the need to make himself known to the public, but that after a certain point they don't need to know any more and that he'll begin withdrawing from the public eye. It made me remember Chuck Noll and how much I admired his lack of commercialism and need to be loved. I always thought Noll was a genius and see the same qualities in Tomlin. Before the combine, he was overheard telling his PR guy "But I don't want to get to know the national guys," meaning the national media. Local guys love hearing that stuff after a Super Bowl.

BTSC: So rumor has it James Harrison was back in the weight room just a few days after the SB win. To me, this tells me this guy needs football (physically and mentally) to be 'right'. I couldn't ever see him holding out for a few extra dollars if it meant not getting to scratch that necessary itch. I'm of course projecting bigtime from afar here, but how much does a player's personality and what the organization knows about how and what makes them tick - how much of that stuff might you say factors in to these negotiation processes?

Wexell: Yes, I reported that. He was actually in the weight room complaining that the rest of the team wasn't in there with him. I spoke with Lawrence Timmons during Super Bowl week and asked him about James's legendary regimen. Timmons, who's in great shape himself, said he tried to keep up with James but couldn't, said the guy just keeps coming back to the room all day long, said he puts in 10 hours a day. Yes, that's all James wants to do: Football and preparing for football. He will watch cartoons with his son the other couple of hours during the day. To answer your question, that means a lot to the Steelers, whose biggest draft-day measurement is a prospect's passion for the game. That work ethic got James Farrior a nice contract for his old age last year. It means a lot to them in their negotiations with Harrison this year.

BTSC: Willie Parker will be in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform past the expiration of his current contract in 2010. True or False.

Wexell: I have to say false, just based on last year. RBs have a short shelf life and Parker's body has been breaking down. Then again, FWP has a superior work ethic as well. Prove me wrong, Fast One, prove me wrong.

BTSC: If you filled out an NCAA bracket, who you got cutting down the nets?

Wexell: I don't watch basketball at all anymore, only my daughter's games. I used to watch everything that moved, but only football now, and during the spring only college tape. In fact, I watched Brian Orakpo get killed at the point against Ohio State last night. The Browns would be making a big mistake in drafting him. I'd compare him, as a prospect, to Harrison, who wasn't even drafted, but surprised with his startling strength at the point. It would be foolish to perceive that kind of strength in Orakpo and draft him sixth. Nice pass rusher, but he didn't show he could drop and showed he won't be able to play the run in the league for a couple of years, if ever. Back to your question, I filled out Louisville just to steer clear of the mob picking Pitt. I'm in the middle of a 60-person soccer-fundraiser NCAA pool, which is led by my wife. She always wins this stuff.

The Unknown Variable In The Pittsburgh Steelers 2009 Offseason Strategy

Blitzburgh — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:10:56 -0000

Take a look at the following list of Offensive Tackles that are about to become free agents. That's 38 games worth of starts between Colon, Smith and Starks.

Pittsburgh Steelers OT Free Agents:

Willie Colon (OT) - restricted

Max Starks (OT)

Trai Essex (OT)

Marvel Smith (OT)

Here's what we know - the Steelers likely aren't re-signing Marvel Smith, unless he's willing to slide way down the pay scale. The more I think about it, it's actually possible given how much time he's missed the past two years and knowing what he knows about how the Steelers do business.

The problem for Smith though is that unlike Alan Faneca, Marvel may not garner much interest from anybody. The NFL is financially healthy, but let's face it. The current economic climate isn't one where anybody's really interested in rolling the dice on a high-price, extremely high-risk investment in any industry, even football.

So it's actually possible that the Steelers could retain him before he even hits the market with a very reasonable incentive laden contract to balance out the risk of Smith's chronic back problem. Smith knows the 'business' side of things well enough and has well into the 8 figures in the bank account. So who knows. And for the team, they're able to possiblly protect themselves from much guaranteed financial exposure with a cleverly constructed contract.

Still, there's no way that the Steelers are resting their hopes of success, not to mention protecting their $100+ million dollar QB with a 30+ year old with chronic back problems.

So that leaves us with Essex, Colon and Starks.

Ok, so that leaves us with Colon and Starks. Kidding actually, as it's possible that Essex has to be kept around as a security blanket if it so happens that Starks and Smith aren't retained.

Being that he's restricted, you can just about bet on Willie Colon being in a Steelers uniform next year. He's too durable, will be affordable, and still young enough where the Steelers will be forced to keep him from a business stand point. At least that's my feeling. That's assuming another team falls in line with what I consider rational behavior and doesn't price us out with a ridiculous offer. My guess is we'll tender Colon a qualifying offer much like we did with Nate Washington last offseason. Perhaps even for basically the same amount of money more or less (~$1.4 million).

Ok, so there's one of our Tackles most likely.

What about Starks then? Depends. Last year nobody really showed much interest in Max. I'll get into this one more in the coming weeks as well as eagerly anticipate your takes, but the uncertainty that his situation entails is precisely the point of my post.

What to do with Mr. Max?

But really, it goes a layer deeper than Max and by that I mean Tony Hills actually is the critical factor here because the organization will be potentially be forced to choose up front to make an effort to retain Starks, or head into the draft not knowing what will happen if he's yet to be acquired before free agency ends. Would we then have to potentially overspend yet again on retaining Starks by tagging him for just a year?

I have spoken about this with people before, but I personally think Tony Hills could turn out much better than most think. First of all, don't lose sight of the fact that he was extremely highly rated to begin with before he broke his leg deep into his junior year. And even more importantly, there really should be no denying his size, particularly his arm length which is vital for the T position.We can all joke OL Coach Larry Zierlein, but here was his first reaction last spring when Hills was drafted when asked about his attributes:

I’ll tell you one thing – he’s really big. When I went down to work him out, and I’ve seen him, and watched him on tape, I really was surprised at how big he was. He has long arms. As a former tight end, he’s a pretty good athlete. His strength probably needs to develop a little bit, but he is athletic, he’s big, and if you have those two things that’s a good start.

He's big. At least in the areas that matter most for a T (6'6", long enough arms) rather than just a sheer big weight number like the shorter (6'3") more stumpy Colon. He was fairly raw and hadn't had much regular contact last camp in quite some time. Give him a year with the Steelers strength and conditioning coach and let's see what happens to a 24 year old 'underdeveloped' 300 pounder.Strength may be an issue for the time being and more than likely still in 2009, but the unteachable gifts like long arms and a huge frame are there. Period.

He was well on his way to being a 1st or 2nd round draft pick. It's accurate that scouts dinged him for his strength as a right tackle and for his foot speed as a left tackle. But that shouldn't fool you from the fact that talent wise, he was rated near the top of his class as a junior and was named a 1st Team All American despite missing the final few games of the 2006 season.

Bottom line is we won't know until we see him back in pads going up against Deebo and Wood in the spring and summer. No point in speculating endlessly until we hear who the Steelers have selected with their draft picks come April. Instead, let me just ask some basic questions:

1) How easy or hard is it to fall from a Day 1 pick in the National Football League to a 4th or 5th rounder? I'll answer. Very easy. The trend I've been seeing in the last couple of years is teams going the Bill Parcells route - i.e. building from the inside out; from offensive line out to the perimeter. Teams have been reaching BIGtime for offensive linemen in Round 1 as a result of strict adherence to this mindset.

Once more. Eight tackles in Round 1 last year? Are you freakin' kidding me?

Then, the T position seems to get abandoned for a round or two as teams decide that the elite crop is long gone. And as a consequence of all these early picks used on Tackles, there were all these great players from varied positions available in Rounds 2 and 3. Don't believe me? Check out Round 2 and Round 3 of last year's Draft. Notice anything?

Only a small handful of Tackles taken between pick #26 and #130 in the fourth round when Hills finally came off the board.

2) So given that there's this very hard to explain gap between when pick #26 and the next Tackle was taken, is it possible that the 'talent' gap between Duane Brown, Sam Baker, Jeff Otah et al is not nearly as big as their divergent draft statuses might suggest?

3) And is it possible that some of that separation in the first place is an artificial byproduct of NFL teams trying to minimize a dynamic volatile variable like injury concerns in an already unscientific and unformulaic endeavor like the NFL draft?

4) Do the Rooneys and the Steelers army of scouts feast on finding value where others do not?

5) Is Dan Rooney, Kevin Colbert and the other top personnel brass of the organization short sighted?

6) Obviously not so then would it be fair to say that they were 110% aware that Smith, Essex, Starks, and Colon would all be FAs after the 2008 season?

7) Of course. Is is then also possible that Hills got every bit of extra attention that was realistically possible to help him learn the complexities of the game without actually shoving him into the fold on a SB winning team? In other words, was Hills given more attention than say a Trai Essex in preparation for 2009 and beyond perhaps?

To me, the team's decision with regards to Max Starks should tell the story. Free Agency begins on February 27th. Will we even take our chances and just re-sign him, like I suggested could be the case with Marvel in the earlier paragraphs? Is there any animosity between Starks and the organization after what went down last year? Will Starks be willing to seek middle ground before testing the waters? He did after all get to prove himself much more in 2008 and than in 2007 when he only was inserted into the lineup around the Mud Bowl Game half way or so through the season.

If we do not or if Starks refuses to re-sign, will teams jump out of the gate right away and make an offer to him? Or will interest be minimal like last year? If so, the Steelers will have tougher decisions to make in the Draft. If other teams are smart, they'll hold tight and force the Steelers move. We'll get into all the scenarios soon enough, but there's absolutely everything possible in play with Starks, including even the off chance of him being slapped with the franchise tag, something the organization has stayed away from historically.

Anyway, it's a complicated situation that we'll do our best to sift through from the sidelines. But let it be known that Tony Hills, our 4th round selection from the University of Texas in last year's draft, is my sub-plot of the offseason and my surprise guy for the team if not this coming year, 2010 for sure. Even if it's just some part-time contributions, good and bad, I think he will be a much bigger part of our immediate future in 2009 than one might think. By the way, before I conclude, UT is not kiddy 'project' land for OL talent in the NFL. I could provide a laundry list of guys who have been churned out of that program along the offensive line. And Hills was highly regarded within that accomplished Longhorns fraternity.

If his leg's healed even more this past year and he's ready to go physically (the knee hasn't bothered him one lick since arriving in Pittsburgh), don't be shocked if the Steelers head into 2009 having Hills be a big part of their either their primary or contingency plans along the offensive line.

PS. He's been around Champions for the past year. And Mike Tomlin. He's good at his job.