It Can Always Be “Next Man Up” Along Pittsburgh’s Offensive Line
Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
"That’s a wake-up call for everybody on our roster. Just because you’re out here and you may be on the show team right now (in practice), you could be playing in front of a lot of people pretty quick.-Todd Haley (via Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com)"
As Haley alluded to above, what transpired during last weekend’s game was truly a “wake-up call” for Pittsburgh’s offensive line. It honestly shouldn’t have been a “wake-up call” when one considers how many injuries that members of the much-maligned unit have suffered already this season.Unfortunately for the Steelers, a “wake-up call” is exactly what took place in Oakland last Sunday.
Pittsburgh had to insert backups Mike Adams, Cody Wallace, and Guy Whimper into their lineup after Ramon Foster and David DeCastro both left the game, and Whimper exited with a knee injury somewhere in between as well.
Had another injury occurred to one of their guys in the offensive trenches, the Steelers’ coaching staff likely would have had to finish the game with one of their tight ends or defensive linemen at an offensive line spot.
Although Pittsburgh will enter this weekend’s game with Whimper (knee) and Foster (concussion) healthy enough to play, DeCastro was not able to practice on Wednesday and Thursday. While Whimper will take over at right guard for the former Stanford star if he is unable to suit up against the Patriots, I hope that Adams and Wallace are ready to step in if any of their teammates have to exit the game.
At least to me, it might serve the Steelers well to promote one of their offensive linemen from their practice squad onto their 53-man roster for the rest of the regular season as an insurance-policy. Whether it is Joe Long or Chris Hubbard, I personally do not care. Yet it might be wise for Pittsburgh’s coaching staff to guard against an ultimate “disaster scenario” with some added depth in the offensive trenches during their final nine games of the 2013 campaign.
Even if Long or Hubbard aren’t promoted by the end of the regular season, it will be of the utmost importance that the Steelers’ current backups along their offensive line are ready to step in and play on Sundays. Although they might have been buried on the depth chart at certain points this fall, they have to be prepared to participate during this “Murphy’s Law” type of season.
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