As I said in my earlier post today, I fear Antwaan Randle El could be more of a distraction than a help to the Steelers. Read these quotes from Randle El and tell me how this guy has a grasp of reality:
In an interview with the Washington Post, Randle El said, ``It's kind of like going home, yeah, that's what it feels like. Going back to where I was drafted and where my roots started. I feel pretty good about the decision. Just want to go do some damage.
``We've talked about just playing No. 3 receiver. That's all we talked about. I'm not even sure about punt return, now that I think about it. The way I always look at it, I'm going to go in and be No. 3.’’
How in the world does Randle El think he is going to come in and be the #3 WR in Pittsburgh? I also cannot understand why Pittsburgh would communicate this to him in any capacity, if his statement is accurate. Santonio and Hines are clearly the starters, and I would assume Randle El is recognizing this by his #3 comments, and unless I am crazy Mike Wallace established himself quite nicely as the Steelers' 3rd WR and deep threat.
For comparisons sake, Wallace had 39 catches for 756 yards (a 19.4 yards per catch average) and 6 touchdowns in 2009 as he assimilated himself to the pro game. Randle El, on the other hand, had 50 catches for 530 yards (a measley 10.6 ypc) and 0 touchdowns! In case you were wondering, Randle El has never had 756 yards in a single season (728 was his career high 3 years ago), has never had more than 4 touchdowns, and his highest yards per catch in a season was 15.9 in his last season with Pittsburgh. In case you thought Randle El was some great run after catch guy, his career 3.8 YAC (yards after catch) barely outdoes what Wallace did as a rookie, 3.4 YAC.
I know Antwaan was a popular player the last time he was here, and I know some Steelers fans are excited to have him back, but I just hope that Randle El does not do more harm than good in his second stint in a Steelers uniform by failing to recognize his role on the team.
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The Rock says, "Know your role and shut your damn mouth, Randel El."
ReplyDeleteMy only guess is that the Steelers want Mike Wallace to work exclusively on the outside this season to prepare for life without HInes. But even then, Hines is the guy you'd want in the slot in 3 WR sets because of his blocking and because he doesn't get open against corners. Randle El could be the other slot in 4 WR sets but Wallace is the better option at wideout opposite Santonio when Hines is in the slot. I just don't get this signing. Randle El will have to pay dividends in the punt return game (he was one of the worst punt returners in the league last season averaging 6.0 yards per return and only had 1 return of 20+ yards) for this to make sense.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, Arnaz Battle returned punts for SF and was worse statistically than Randle El, but he was the Mewelde Moore of their team, meaning he did a lot of the pooch kick returns where he had to decide on fair catch or let it go, so his stats are skewed a bit... but he's in line for kickoff return duty anyway.
-Kil
I will not be happy if Randle el Takes over Mike Wallace's spot.... I think Wallace did enough damage last year to hold that spot. I really do not agree with us picking back up randle el....if we just picked up battle, i think we could have used money on the O line or a proven decent corner back... just like randle el is a decent receiver..
ReplyDelete-B Dego