Steelers Position Battle Review: RB Jason Ford, S Robert Golden Giving Reasons to Stay

by Neal Coolong on Aug 20, 2012 11:00 AM EDT in Steelers Roster

With two games left, and cuts coming after both of them, the position battles the Steelers have this preseason are intensifying.

Pittsburgh's 26-24 win over Indianapolis Sunday answered a few questions, posed a few more and put to rest none of them. A few spots are still anyone's to win and could come down to performances in the final two preseason games.

The tape of Sunday's game is going to show RB Chris Rainey's stock drop a little bit and RB Baron Batch's increased. WR David Gilreath took possession of the front-runner spot for the 5WR position with authority while the challengers continue to languish. OT Mike Adams fell further away from the necessary standard of protecting the life of the quarterback behind him, and OG Kelvin Beachum is all but cut at this point.

A few quiet chargers are starting to make more legitimate claims for inclusion in the final 53-man roster.



Safety - While there clearly is no battle for the starting positions - Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu had those spots locked up years ago - the depth at both positions has been in question. And it may not be as dire as some previously thought.

Veteran Will Allen is competing, there's no doubt about it, but with each snap, Robert Golden is proving himself to be an aggressive player with a nose for the ball. He was in on a pass break-up last night after playing very well in run support in the preseason opener.

The main issue is the fact Clark will not play in the team's opener at Denver due to the medical condition he has that is aggravated by the high altitude of the Mile High city. That likely thrusts Ryan Mundy into the starting role, and requires a back-up to be able to play if/when needed. Is that Golden, or will the Steelers stick with the veteran due to his sizable advantage in experience?

Myron Rolle, a fan favorite, doesn't seem to be showing enough on the field to dust the luster off Golden, and may be out of the running sooner rather than later.

Running back - Out of nowhere, a new candidate emerges. On a night where Rainey fumbled and Batch averaged 2.4 yards per carry, Jason Ford and his Bus-sized butt ran with power and grace. He produced enough - 42 yards on eight carries - to make people notice. While this can be viewed as a testament to the growing concern of run blocking depth on the Steelers' preseason roster, his size and ability to continue moving after contact make him a legitimate darkhorse candidate.

It's more likely he wouldn't have been wearing a black and gold jersey last night had RB Isaac Redman not sat this game out, you have to give him credit; he made the most of his opportunities.

Jonathan Dwyer erased any shred of doubt of his inclusion on the 53-man roster with another solid performance. While Batch looked much better, and was the guy offensive coordinator Todd Haley called upon in the team's hurry-up offense early in the game, barring the unlikely scenario of the Steelers keeping six running backs, Batch still appears to be the odd-man out.

read more...
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2012/8/20/3254963/pittsburgh-steelers-preseason-position-battle-running-backs-jonathan-dwyer-baron-batch-chris-rainey

Golden looked pretty good out there and was hitting hard. He definitely caught my eye more than Will Allen ever has. Another guy who should be getting a long look in the next 2 games.

Dwyer is looking like a beast out there. He's definitely a keeper for the roster this year and should see much more carries. He seems to actually be taking this whole professional football thing seriously now.

B. Batch has looked good but, as the article points out, he could be the odd man out. Too bad because I think he may get claimed if we try to stick him on the PS. You know at some point this season a RB will get hurt and it would be really nice to know we have him waiting in the wings.

I'm glad i'm not the one who has to make the final decision on our running backs. Jason Ford and John Clay are HUGE running backs at roughly 250 pounds a piece, and they put me in the mindset of Jerome Bettis. I'd like to see one of them make the squad, but with Dwyer at around 235, I wouldn't be too upset if it didn't play out that way.

I think Baron Batch is similar to Mendenhall in a lot of ways, and he'll put on a show in the coming preseason games. It's going to be a hell of a decision on who to keep, but I don't think Rainey is a good NFL running back. I think he'll find his way on the roster in some way this year, but I don't think the running game will be his strong point.

John Clay was waived recently, so he's gone. Dwyer I had always liked since we drafted him in the sixth round (right?) a couple years back..suppose to be a second round pick but dropped. Dwyer was the only running back that caught my attention and so did Batch..Batch is likely the odd one out. However, Ford didn't really do much for me..I just didn't see much that would impress me other than his ability to run being a bigger guy.

I know a lot of you guys love Batch, but I'm just not seeing it...hell I've seen Chris Rainey hit the hole harder than Batch, maybe it's situational football and the only plays he's getting are the hard 3-4 yard type plays, but I"m not convinced he's our 3rd running back yet. I hope he proves me wrong and becomes the next Earl Campbell, but as of right now I don't know. However, I am getting really excited about Dwyer, he is running with power and speed, something he lacked last year. I'm not gonna say much about adams, except he had another "bad" game, but the more I watch DeCastro, the more I like this kid, very excited about his future.

Every time I have seen Golden...his consistency has caught my attention.

Nothing flashy. Just steady. Seems to always be around the ball. He has "flashed on tape" by closing well on ball carriers in the preseason games. Tackled well for the most part. Not a ton of tackling went on this year in Latrobe, but he always played fast on Chuck Noll Field.

Seems like he's got some "savvy" to his game.

So, I could see Golden making this roster. At least to start the season.

Ryan Clark not playing week 1 is reason enough to keep Golden IMO...I want four Safety's on game day.

Also....Dude

Mundy should not play ST's wk 1.

The Dude wrote:

Every time I have seen Golden...his consistency has caught my attention.

Nothing flashy. Just steady. Seems to always be around the ball. He has "flashed on tape" by closing well on ball carriers in the preseason games. Tackled well for the most part. Not a ton of tackling went on this year in Latrobe, but he always played fast on Chuck Noll Field.

Seems like he's got some "savvy" to his game.

So, I could see Golden making this roster. At least to start the season.

Ryan Clark not playing week 1 is reason enough to keep Golden IMO...I want four Safety's on game day.

Also....Dude

Mundy should not play ST's wk 1.

Agreed on Golden. He could be a player.

Nice call on keeping him around for the first game at least and on not letting Mundy play special teams. I'd be very surprised if Mundy played any special teams at all week 1 considering Clark's unavailability. We don't want to find ourselves down to 3rd and 4th string safeties because of an unnecessary ST injury. We can man his spot there with a body for one week (Golden?).