My Hines Ward Blog

Steelers football is back! Looking to pickup where they left off, the Pittsburgh Steelers begin their 2009 campaign with the preseason set to launch the second week of August. These tickets are going fast! If you have plans to go to a game this year, get your tickets before the season gets under way or you might be left watching it on TV. The reigning Super Bowl champs will be looking to make a run at a repeat performance.

Having locked up Hines Ward with a contract extension, the Steelers will look pretty similar to last years team on the field, but only if you have your Steeler tickets. Ward will get some help down field from deep threat Mike Wallace and newly signed Shaun McDonald. Big Ben will lead the offense and Willie Parker, assuming he stays healthy, should get most of the touches out of the backfield. Parker will be spelled by second-year back Rashard Mendenhall who received more work than expected due to the ailing Steelers backfield.

On the defensive side of the ball, James Harrison will be returning at outside line backer and, like many teams, the Steelers will be shuffling the deck in the defensive backfield positions. Several players will be competing for starting and reserve roles at corner back including William Gay, Keenan Lewis, Keiwan Ratliff, and Joe Burnett.

You need to get your Steeler tickets as soon as possible for the 2009 season. If you don't have access to season tickets and can't find good tickets at the Steelers' ticket office, buying tickets from the secondary market may be your best option. In the past, I've used StubSearch. The selection is always excellent and at fair prices. Something that sets this site apart is the outstanding customer support. There's a 800 number listed at the top of the site if you're leery about making on online purchase. Also, you can save $5 by mentioning to the sales rep or entering the coupon code '5off'. There doesn't appear to be an expiration date on the coupon as I've seen it work for several months now.

To see what tickets are available for your team, visit http://www.stubsearch.com. Don't forget to get your discount using coupon code 5off.

It was brisk sunny autumn day along the banks of the Ohio river on Sunday afternoon. What a beautiful day for football at Paul Brown stadium in Cincinnati. Unless you were rooting for the Bengals that is. Or worse yet if you are employed by the Bengals.

Coming off of their bye week, the Steelers were happy to have this dress rehearsal in order to get their legs back under them and get ready to return to their NFL season. Clearly the Bengals are not an NFL team at present.

The Pittsburgh defense took advantage of the lying dog called the Bengals by pounding them all day. They held the Bengal offense to a total of 212 yards. The Michigan "twins", LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons I think thought they were back at school playing Ohio State. Each of them ended a great afternoon with spirited play and 2 sacks each. Lawrence Timmons had 10 tackles, 7 of which were solo. James Farrior also had double digit tackles with 11, 6 of which were solo. James Harrison continues to prove he is the gas pedal of the Pittsburgh defense by introducing himself to the Cincinnati QB Ryan Fitzpatrick all day. By half time Ryan Fitzpatrick was rumored to have asked his head coach Marvin Lewis if he could go back to carrying the clip board. In response Lewis said "heck you can have my job!"

The offense got some reps in with Ben Roethlisberger having a productive afternoon. His 17 for 28 for 216 yards with 2 touchdowns looked very efficient. The big boy got some serious contributions from Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Nate Washington. Ward once again demonstrates that he is a premier wide out in this league. Holmes for his part showed exceptional balance touching the turf a few times to stay on his feet. Washington has solidified his role as a deep threat.

The even bigger story though for the Pittsburgh offense was Mewelde Moore. Moore showed signs while in Minnesota that he can carry the load in the backfield if called upon. Now with the Steelers he is proving it again. On Sunday his 120 yards from 20 carries was very impressive. He added 5 receptions for 14 yards. Mewelde scored twice running and once catching the ball giving him 3 TD's on the day. Moore has 238 yards this season on 46 carries. That compares quite well to Willie Parker's 263 yards on 66 carries. Bringing Moore to Pittsburgh was a result of the Vikings drafting Adrian Peterson and keeping Chester Taylor as his back-up. That left Moore as the odd man out. Head coach Mike Tomlin had a personal relationship with Moore when he was a defensive coordinator in Minnesota. So when Mewelde was looking for work Tomlin said "come on over here." Now with the injuries to Willie Parker and rookie Rashard Mendenhall out for the year, Moore is going to get the bulk of the workload out of the backfield. This is his time to shine. And so far he is taking the opportunity to, well, "run" with it.

All in all it is important to factor in, these are the Bengals. Playing without their starting QB at that. The team is in total dysfunction and from the ownership on down to the coaching staff they are rendering themselves incompetent. Chad Johnson at this point should be Ocho Stinko!

The Steelers can digest their effort on film over the next day or so and consider this a dress rehearsal for the upcoming games against actual NFL caliber teams run by quality ownership and management. So they should take this game with a grain of salt and get to work on locking down a plan to face the New York Giants as big blue rolls into Heinz Field this week. (Oct 27)

In the meantime the Steelers are a solid 5 and 1 and are a serious contender.

Andy is a blogger for http://www.Steelermaniacs.com which is a Pittsburgh Steeler's fansite where fans can read Steeler's news, join discussions, play in our flash arcade, shop, and much more.

#18 - Trent Williams - Oklahoma

When people talk about the Steelers, they will talk about Ben Roethlisberger getting hit too much and the poor running attack. Expect the Steelers to take the best offensive lineman available with their 18th pick of the draft. Roethlisberger's off the field issues have been well documented, so I'll pass over those here.

The team needs to upgrade their o-line. The defense will be fine if Polamalu can come back healthy and play the entire season. The 2009 season showed how important he is to the defense/team. The team resigned Ryan Clark and brought back Antwaan Randle El, who never should have left. Larry Foote also came back and will provide great LB depth to the team. If William Gay resigns with the team, the defense will be set for 2010.

The offense playmakers are set with the WR group and Rashard Mendenhall at RB. A backup RB can easily be plugged in from either what the team already has or off the street. Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward, and Mike Wallace are a great WR trio. Ward should still have a year or two left as Wallace grows into the #2 receiver role. Heath Miller provides the big end zone threat, so they are set at all of the skill positions.

The only spot left is offensive line players so the team can get back to 'Steeler Football' of running all the time. They might have trouble going back to that running style because their WRs are so good. This team is better suited for a 50-50 running vs passing attack.

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It seems the trendy statistic in the NFL is the number of targets a player receives. Quite simply, it's the number of times the ball is thrown to a player. Obviously it's important that a player gets thrown to in order to put up numbers, but is it being over-hyped?

Here are the top 12 targeted WRs (Statistics as of 10/16/09):
Andre Johnson - 52
Nate Burleson - 49
Steve Smith (NYG) - 49
Randy Moss - 48
Reggie Wayne - 48
Chad Ochocinco - 46
T.J. Houshmandzadeh - 45
Steve Smith (CAR) - 43
Santonio Holmes - 41
Calvin Johnson - 41
Wes Welker - 41
Hines Ward - 40

Now here are the top 12 fantasy WRs (non-PPR leagues):
Steve Smith (NYG) - 72.1
Reggie Wayne - 69.9
Andre Johnson - 67.7
Brandon Marshall - 54.8
Chad Ochocinco - 53.0
Nate Burleson - 53.0
Mario Manningham - 52.2
Miles Austin - 51.1
Roddy White - 50.9
Larry Fitzgerald - 50.0
Vincent Jackson - 49.3
Hines Ward - 49.0

Notice that five of the top targeted WRs don't show up.

The next four highest scoring WRs are DeSean Jackson, Mike Sims-Walker, Santana Moss, and Percy Harvin, which makes them the 13th-16th ranked fantasy WRs.

Jackson, Sims-Walker, and Harvin don't rank among the top 30 targeted WRs. Santana Moss is 22nd.

Steve Smith (CAR), Wes Welker, Torry Holt, Anquan Boldin, Justin Gage, Eddie Royal, Mark Clayton, Mushin Muhammad, Bryant Johnson, Bernard Berrian, Louis Murphy, and Patrick Crayton are among the top 30 targeted WRs yet they aren't among the top 30 fantasy scoring WRs. That's a staggering 40%.

While it is a useful statistic, do not put too much stock in it. The most important statistic for a WR is TDs. It is no coincidence that the top ten scoring WRs all have 3 or 4 TDs so far. Obviously a close second is yardage. That's where the scoring comes from.

PPR leagues add a point per reception, but I am vehemently opposed to PPR leagues. It overvalues possession receivers and short-changes deep threats. For the life of me I can not figure out why someone would agree that 3 catches for 15 yards should be more valuable than 1 30 yard catch. That's a different discussion for a different day.

The bottom line is use targets as a guide, but don't ignore the age old indicators of fantasy production.

Ryan Lester
http://lesterslegends.com

Helping you win your fantasy football, baseball, basketball, and hockey leagues.

The Pittsburg Steelers won their 6th Super Bowl title and 2nd in 4 years in 2008 by defeating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in a heartstopping classic. Ben Roethlisberger rebounded from his poor showing a couple years earlier against Seattle by completing 21-30 passes for 256 yards and the game winning TD to Santonio Holmes with just seconds left. Although the Steelers capped their impressive season by winning the Super Bowl they were an inconsistent bunch all year long in terms of fantasy performance. With pretty much the entire team returning this year will the Steelers offer fantasy owners more week to week options heading into 2009? I examine that now.

As good as the ultimate result was for Roethlisberger and the Steelers last year the QB proved to be a nightmare for owners last year with his inconsistent play. Roethlisberger finished2008 with 3314 passing yards along with 17 TD's and 15 Int's for a rating of 80.2. Not exactly the type of numbers you are looking for out of your number 1 QB. The bottom line is that Pittsburg is, was, and will always be a power running team and quite frankly when Ben is asked to throw a lot he usually gets himself into trouble. Ben is a very good QB just not a good fantasy QB. He possesses great leadership skills and has his statistical moments but do not trust him with your fantasy team because you will be greatly disappointed. Ben actually went in the 3rd round in my draft last summer and the owner who selected him won 2 games all year. Owners seem to be getting the point as Roethlisberger has been going around the 9th-10th rounds in the mock drafts I have been participating in. Treat him as a serviceable number 2 options heading into 2009 but nothing more than that. There are far better options.

When successful the meat and potatoes of the Steeler offense lies with the running game. Last year the team's backfield was hit with numerous injuries leaving Head Coach Mike Tomlin painfully thin at the position. Once again Willie Parker failed to make it through the entire season missing 5 games and finishing the season with 791 yards and 5 TD's. Parker has only played 16 games once in his career and he will turn 29 about halfway through the season. When healthy Parker is definitely a number 1 option at RB but when is he ever healthy? Furthermore, the Steelers will certainly be looking for 2nd year back Rashard Mendenhall to make much more of an impact in his sophomore season after playing in only 4 games as a rookie. The Steelers are extremely high on Mendenhall who is built more in the mode of what a typical Pittsburg back usually looks like. At 5-10 225 Mendenhall is a power runner who will inevitably steal short yardage and goal line carries from Parker who has never really been a TD machine to begin with. With both Parker and Mendenhall both out of commission the Steelers emergency plan actually stepped in and played fairly well. Mewelde Moore rushed for 589 yards and 5 TD's down the stretch run while also chipping in with 320 yards receiving and another score. The ex Minnesota Vikings castoff proved more than capable of holding the fort down while Parker was readying himself for the playoffs. In terms of fantasy potential I like Mendenhall the most out of all the Steelers RB's for the upcoming season. It will be a miracle if Parker stays healthy the entire year and even if he does Mendehall will be the goal line back at the very least. That being said treat Parker as a low end number 3 fantasy RB heading into the season. Mendenhall is far more interesting because if (when) Parker goes down he will have a real opportunity to become a stud due to his talents and the system he plays in. Mendenhall has been going between the 8th-10th rounds in the mock drafts I have been doing and spending a late round selection on him could prove to be a treasure for you as the season goes on. With Mendenhall back in the fold Moore's value goes down dramatically and he has typically not been drafted in these preliminary mock drafts.

Similarly to Roethlisberger the Steelers receiving corps has it's moments but in my estimation provides fantasy owners with nothing more than stop gap/match-up options on a very limited basis. Although showing definite signs of slowing down Hines Ward continues to be the Steelers number 1 option through the air. Ward remains a cagey veteran who is almost as well known for his blocking skills as he is at catching the ball. Ward had a really nice '08 statistically accounting for 82 catches for 1047 yards and 7 TD's. The 1047 yards represents his best yardage total since he went for 1163 in 2003. Ward will continue to be the receiver that Roethlisberger will look for when he is in a pinch or when the Steelers need a clutch catch. After you grab your first 3 receivers Ward is a nice option for you to have on your bench who is worthy of playing time depending upon who Pittsburg is playing. Super Bowl hero Holmes will be the Steelers number 2 option come opening day. Holmes caught 55 balls for 821 yards and 5 TD's in 2008 and with Nate Washington leaving for Tennessee should see more balls thrown his way. Holmes has much more big play ability than Ward does at this stage of their careers and thus Holmes is more valuable in fantasy terms especially if your league awards bonuses for long TD's as mine does. Treat Holmes as a nice number 3 WR or Flex option come draft day this August. The only other Steeler receiver that is worth a look is 2nd year pro Limas Sweed. Sweed had a rather forgettable rookie campaign catching only 6 balls for 64 yards and failed to reach the end zone. Pittsburg has big plans for Sweed and he is the big target the team has been yearning for since the departure of Plaxico Burress. Sweed has some real sleeper potential heading into '09 and is worthy of a late round pick. If he happens to not get drafted in your league be sure to snag him off the waiver wire if you get a chance and let the chips fall where they may. Keep and eye on him. TE Heath Miller is really not a number 1 option and although at times Ben will look for him in the Red Zone he is not really utilized enough to be anything more than a backup used only in emergency purposes.

The Steelers DST is always a solid unit and if you play in a league like mine that rewards DST's with enormous point totals that can greatly assist your chances of winning a championship. I know full well what a good DST can do as I rode the Eagles DST to a title last year. With Troy Polamalu and James Harrison continuing to anchor down the defence treat the Steelers DST as an elite unit and one of the top 3 DST's on the board this summer. Well, that is it for the champs. Next up: The Cincinnati Bengals.

Chris Limburg is the fanatical purveyor of gothicfootball.com: A Oakland Raider and fantasy football blog that provides commentary on everything that is the NFL and fantasy football. Sign up for my free newsletter at: [http://www.gothicfootball.com]

Hines Ward was born on March 8, 1976 in Seoul, South Korea. But although Ward was born in South Korea, he soon enough made his way to the United States. He has never been the biggest, fastest or strongest player on the football field, but it is safe to say that his will to win is like none other. For this reason Ward has been able to overcome many obstacles on his way to becoming one of the best players in the NFL.

Ward started his football career at Forest Park High School in Georgia. During his high school days he displayed great athleticism from his quarterback position which led him to being named the Offensive Player of the Year in Clay County for both his junior and senior seasons. He also excelled in the classroom where he managed to receive a 3.81 GPA.

After high school Ward decided to take his game to the University of Georgia. Although he played many positions in college, Ward was primarily used as a wide receiver. He finished his career with 1,965 yards on 144 receptions. Being that he also played running back and quarterback he ended up amassing 3,870 total yards of offense.

Despite a solid college career, many NFL teams passed him by in the 1998 Draft. But with the 92nd overall pick the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to choose Ward. This ended up being one of the greatest selections that the Steelers have ever made on draft day.

During his time with the Steelers Ward has been named to four Pro Bowl Teams, and was also named the team's Most Valuable Player on three occasions. To go along with this he was named Super Bowl MVP in 2005 after he led the Steelers to victory.

Up to this point Hines Ward has had a great NFL career, and it is safe to say that this is going to continue for many years to come.

Bob writes for DraftDayPicks.com and 2GoAllOut.com. Where you can purchase a Hines Ward Jersey or get info on a Calvin Johnson Jersey [http://www.fanfrenzyzone.com/nfl/calvin_johnson_bio.html]