One of my colleagues at SteelersWire.com is Neal Coolong. He posed a great question on Twitter recently.
Bring back one former #Steelers player (played at least one season with the team) to play just for the 2019 season. You're paying him up to the cap ceiling. Who is it?
— Neal Coolong (@NealCoolong) July 15, 2019
My answer is Chuck Noll.
Unfortunately, the question specifically said “player.” So, I’ll adjust. Here’s my top-5 list.
5. Gary Anderson: Who would you rather have kicking on this team? Chris Boswell? Or Anderson and his 538 field goals? Anderson was 60-62 on place kicks in 1993.
4. Antonio Brown: Not the temperamental jerk of the past few years. Give me the Antonio Brown of 2015. That A.B. had 136 catches for a career-high 1,834 yards.
3. Troy Polamalu: Polamalu was the best safety in Steelers history. Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert think they have two young players with potential at the position this year in Sean Davis and Terrell Edmunds. But they aren’t sure.
I am sure, however, that Polamalu is a Hall of Famer. He was an impact player who created nine turnovers in 2010. Last year’s Steelers team totaled just 15.
2. “Mean” Joe Greene: If “Mean Joe” played today, he’d be a taller Aaron Donald. Would you play him as an end in a 3-4 or would you play him inside as part of the 4-3?
The answer to that question is … yes.
Who cares? Either way works. Play with 10 men on the field. And give the opposing offense 12. Play a 3-3-4 if you want. If one of the three upfront is Greene, you are better than the other team.
God bless Cam Heyward, Javon Hargrave, and Stephon Tuitt. They are all good players. But someone sits for “Mean Joe,” or the scheme changes on his behalf.
1. Mel Blount: Or Rod Woodson, as a 1-A option.
Despite Greene’s greatness, I’m going to go with Blount or Woodson here because the question is who are you bringing back “for 2019?”
The position where the Steelers need the most help is the non-Joe Haden cornerback. And few played that position better than those two.
That’s my list. What’s yours? Listen to Neal and me discuss and respond on the comments section below.
