The Pittsburgh Steelers may be the first team to move on from this type
of talent all in one offseason.
Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell – say these names to any
Steeler’s fan two-years ago and undoubtedly the conversations would be about
being the best at their position, their dominance, how they change the game,
their talent.
Say these names to any Steeler’s fan now and you will get
hot takes on where they will be traded and what the Steelers should get for
them.
This offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in uncharted
waters. Not only because of the aforementioned players more than likely moving
on or because of how quickly the opinions have changed of those players, but
because there has never been a team in history that faced this type dilemma of
having to get rid of their top two offensive players at the same time.
Sure, teams have had to move on from players at the top of
their position for one thing or another, but for a team to have to move on from
two players that are at or near the top of their position, in the peak of their
careers, concurrently? That’s never happened. Ever.
It’s even hard to think of when a given team had the top
three running back at the same time they had a top three wide receiver.
Honestly, who comes to mind?
Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin from the ’90’s Cowboys were
the first ones that came to my mind. Those two were historically good as
evidenced by them both being in the Hall of Fame. Dallas was never forced to
even think about shipping either one of those players out, especially not in
their prime. They were too busy winning Super Bowls.
Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison in any given year during
those late ’90’s and early 2000’s Colts teams could be considered. During those
years, James and Harrison both went to at least four Pro Bowls while dominating
with Peyton Manning. James ended up leaving in free agency after the 2005
season and Harrison retired after the 2009 season. Most would agree that
neither were still in their primes when they left.
Marshall Faulk and either Isaac Bruce or Tory Holt on the
greatest show on turf Rams team in 1999 might qualify. However, Bruce or Holt
wouldn’t have been considered top wide receivers at that time with Randy Moss,
Chris Carter, Marvin Harrison, Keyshawn Johnson and Jimmy Smith having better
years then. Even so, Faulk and Bruce/Holt were not shipped out of town during
their prime years. They won a Super Bowl and went to another.
I then looked back at the past decade to see if there were
any recent RB/WR combos that both were top 3-5 stat wise in any given year and
there are a lot of recent examples. In 2017, Melvin Gordon was third in rushing
and Keenan Allen was fourth in receiving. In 2016, Larry Fitzgerald was first
in receiving and David Johnson was third in rushing. I could keep doing this
through the 2011 season with different examples, however, only one player,
Demarco Murray after the 2014 season, was on a different team the following
year.
And yes, I know Bell wasn’t in the top five for stats last
year, given he didn’t play, but when he did last play he was first in rushing
attempts, third in yards, and third in touchdowns.
What the Steelers decide to do with these two will shape the
next five to ten years for this franchise. Will they be contending in Ben’s
final years or is this the beginning of the end for this team’s championship
window? The Pittsburgh Steelers are in uncharted waters. What will they do?
No comments:
Post a Comment