Home Steelers Offseason Steelers and the Return Specialist Dilemma

Steelers and the Return Specialist Dilemma

by Carlos Azahar

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced today that they have signed Levi Norwood to a Reserve/Future contract. Not surprising at all given their current track record with return specialists.

Don’t think for a second that this signing will be one of the only ones of its kind. The Steelers are well aware of what they are lacking here, and are intent on fixing this problem.

Dri Archer was a disastrous pick. No doubt about it. I was always optimistic about how he might improve his game throughout his time in Pittsburgh but my hopes never came to fruition.

He almost never got past the 20 yard line whenever he made the mistake of trying to run it out. He couldn’t block for the life of him, and was just a terrible player all around.

Jacoby Jones sounded like a great idea at the time, until you see why he was kicked out of San Diego. It’s just crazy how a player of that caliber can plummet.

Back to Norwood, he’s just a placeholder for now. Markus Wheaton definitely isn’t a long term solution at returns. As a matter of fact, he can barely be considered a short term solution. Sure he gained a little more yardage than Archer, but then again who can’t do better than him in that regard?

One free agent that could possibly be an option is Brandon Tate. Now, I know how most of us feel about Bengals players, but just hear me out.

He is a proven returner that won’t come at a hefty price. Tate is not too old at age 28, and his size is pretty good at 6 ft 1 in., 210 lbs. Sure he’s had his ups and downs on returns, but a full offseason in Pittsburgh may do wonders.

The Steelers may also decide to pick one out in this year’s draft. I’ll wait until after the combine and some pro days before I make my selection on who I would prefer the team to take and in which round.

In whatever direction the Steelers decide to travel, I just hope they don’t spend another high round pick on an undersized prospect that kind of looks like he’d be good.

Info courtesy of NFL.com

 

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