Scouting for Steelers: the “Either-Or” Guys, Part 3

via Steelers.com

Hopefully this post isn’t moot by the time it publishes, because this is the time of the year when the Turk is the busiest man in the organization.

I wrote that on Friday, completely forgetting that the Steelers had to cut down to 53 by yesterday late afternoon. I’m going to leave the rest of the post anyhow, because I think the information is interesting, but I’m going to insert here my 53-man prediction, with the actual results following. Results which differ from the prediction are marked in pink, because I like pink. Afterwards you can read the rest of the original article if you fancy it.

Hide the Women and Children: Steelers Roster Cuts are Coming

Dorian Brooks, Guard

In one way, I love this time of year.

It’s so full of hope. Steelers fans look at the Lombardi case, still devoid of No. 7, and wonder if this is The Year.

Fans of franchises who are perennial losers discuss among themselves the spring draft, free agents picked up, who is back from the previous unsuccessful year but perhaps poised for a breakout season, and so on. The cruel reality of the regular season has not yet reared its ugly head.

Think what must it have been like for Detroit Lions fans in 2008. The hapless Lions had made a business of disappointing their fans in the 2000s. (Actually, for a good deal longer than that.) Here is a list of their records since 2001: 2-14, 3-13; 5-11; 6-10; 5-11; 3-13; 7-9.

You can imagine the breathless wonder with which the win-starved fan base watch them beat in succession the Giants, the Bengals, the Browns, and the Bills.

The only hitch was, those were all pre-season games. As you probably recall, in the regular season they reached their nadir, going 0-16. But I expect the pre-season was thrilling while it lasted.

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