Steelers hire Todd Haley as OC

[NinerSickness]

This is not good news for the AFC. I don't see any reason why the Steelers shouldn't be the AFC favourites now with a healthy Ben & the Ravens getting long in the tooth at a few positions (and some key players are FAs).

Report: Todd Haley will be Pittsburgh Steelers' next offensive coordinator - NFL News | FOX Sports on MSN

 

[NinerSickness]

Steelers starters & key contributors who will be over 30 next year:

Hines Ward: 35
Heath Miller: 30
Ben: 30 (not old for a QB)
Max Starks: 31
Bret Keisel: 34
Casey Hampton: 35 (and he tore his ACL)
James Farrior: 38
Lames Harrison: 34
Ike Taylor: 32
Ryan Clark: 33
Troy Polamalu: 31

Ravens starters & key contributors who will be over 30 next year:

Vonta Leach: 32
Ricky Williams: 35
Matt Birk: 36
Andre Gurode: 33
Bryant McKinnie: 33
Lee Evans: 31
Anquan Boldin: 32
Ben Grubbs -----NOT OVER 30, but he will be a FA.
Correy Reding: 32 (and he's a FA whom I'd love the Niners to consider).
Jarret Johnson: 31
Ray Lewis: 37
Terrell Suggs: 30
Ed Reed: 34

Time to start re-building for the Ravens. Steelers may need a NT, but they look pretty solid still.

 

[SoonerDO]

Whoa.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

Farrior's 38?!? wow grandpa

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Steelers starters & key contributors who will be over 30 next year:

Hines Ward: 35
Heath Miller: 30
Ben: 30 (not old for a QB)
Max Starks: 31
Bret Keisel: 34
Casey Hampton: 35 (and he tore his ACL)
James Farrior: 38
Lames Harrison: 34
Ike Taylor: 32
Ryan Clark: 33
Troy Polamalu: 31

Ravens starters & key contributors who will be over 30 next year:

Vonta Leach: 32
Ricky Williams: 35
Matt Birk: 36
Andre Gurode: 33
Bryant McKinnie: 33
Lee Evans: 31
Anquan Boldin: 32
Ben Grubbs -----NOT OVER 30, but he will be a FA.
Correy Reding: 32 (and he's a FA whom I'd love the Niners to consider).
Jarret Johnson: 31
Ray Lewis: 37
Terrell Suggs: 30
Ed Reed: 34

Time to start re-building for the Ravens. Steelers may need a NT, but they look pretty solid still.

Hood, Heyward, Worilds, Brown, Sanders all ready to go for the Steelers too. Very nice depth.

 

[NinerSickness]

Farrior's 38?!? wow grandpa

Not 'til January; but yeah, he's getting up there. Amazing he's lasted this long.

 

[BINGO]

The Todd Haley offense
3:40PM ET
Pittsburgh Steelers

UPDATE: ESPN the Magazine senior writer Peter Keating examined the reasons why the Steelers must let Ben Roethlisberger air it out in a column published Tuesday. The full post is worth a read, but you can find an excerpt below.

Though one prominent Pittsburgh Steelers reporter panned the idea that the team would hire Todd Haley as its next offensive coordinator, the team is set to make the move, according to what a source has told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.

Interestingly enough, the rumors this offseason indicated that the Steelers were making a move away from former OC Bruce Arians in order to re-establish their blue collar, run-heavy offensive style. As ESPN AFC North blogger Jamison Hensley explains, the Haley hire is unlikely to have that effect:

- Tim Kavanagh​

Jamison Hensley
Haley will actually enhance the passing game

"Before becoming the Chiefs head coach, Haley was the offensive coordinator in Arizona, where the Cardinals had one of the most dangerous and innovative passing games. In Haley's two seasons as Arizona's coordinator (2007 and 2008), the Cardinals passing attack ranked fifth in the NFL in 2007 and second in 2008. Haley, a longtime wide receivers coach, had Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in Arizona. He now can duplicate that success with the likes of Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown. ... Haley's expertise wasn't running the ball in Arizona. The Cardinals ranked in the bottom three in the NFL in rushing during his two seasons there."

Peter Keating
Time to air it out with Ben

"Roethlisberger had a QBR of 63.3 this year, but he was in on only 654 action plays. That might sound like a lot, but it ranked just 13th in the league -- and the 10 most active QBs had an average of 732 action plays in 2011, up from 677 in just the past two seasons. It's pretty clear the Steelers aren't getting as much as they could out of Roethlisberger. Todd Haley, the soon-to-be new offensive coordinator, has run some amazing offenses dominated by wideouts, topped by the 2008 Arizona Cardinals, who had three 1,000-yard receivers. His most important job now isn't to get Wallace straightened out or involve the Steelers running backs more in the passing game. It's to convince Rooney and everyone else who still sees the Steelers as hardhats that it's time to take the cuffs off Big Ben. Maybe if Roethlisberger gets to air the ball out early, he won't have to scramble to win so many games late, reducing the punishment he takes. Or maybe he'll have a lot of fun doing both -- like Eli Manning."

 

[NinerSickness]

I'd suspect the Steelers to be the best team in the AFC next year. Maybe the Texans; individually they're loaded with talent. Can they put it all together? They might've beaten the Ravens with Shaub.

Dark Horse: Titans?