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NFL > Pittsburgh Steelers > Three Super Underrated Pittsburgh Steelers

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July 12, 2011, 11:45 PM

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This list is in no particular order, except for last player on the list. He's number one.

James Farrior.
He's definitely one of the most productive and consistent middle linebackers for his age group. Farrior is playing like he always has .. He recorded 109 tackles last year and 6 sacks .. that's a half a sack lower then his career best. He played just as good statistically as Raw Lewis and Brian Urlacher, two premier middlelinebacks over the age of 30 (Urlacher, 33, Ray Lewis, 36) ... He actually recorded just as many sacks as both of them combined.
Timmons, Harrison, and Woodely all get the credit they deserve, but I never hear anyone mention James Farrior. The Steelers would definitely miss the guy if he were to retire.

Rashard Mendenhall

Give this guy some credit .. take away his bad, injury ridden offensive line and the awful play calling by Steelers' offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and you got a 1,500+ runner here. If you watch the tape, you'll see that every time Mendenhall touches the ball, he's fighting for yards. He's fighting to get out of the backfield. Fighting off defenders and squeezing out of the tightest holes. He's just a great physical inside runner ... and if he manages to get through the line, he's an explosive runner too. He ran his 40 just as fast as Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles. Not to mention, Mendenhall takes care of the football. Way better then most of the backs in this league.
What really sucks is Mendenhall is actually good at catching the ball out of the backfield but Arians hardly ever uses checkdowns in his scheme for whatever reason .. sometimes I feel like a lot of Mendenhall's talent is just going to waste.
Let's not forget that without Mendenhall, the Steelers may not have started 3-1 without Ben Roethlisberger. (And in turn could have lost the division to the Ravens and changed the entire play off picture for the AFC) He had 411 yards and 5 touchdowns in those four games, one of which was a 50+ touchdown in overtime against Atlanta in Week 1.
I think Mendenhall is one of the best in the game. Very, very underrated.

Heath Miller.
Tight ends are underrated players as it is. When they are good at catching the football they usually get the credit they're deserved. The blocking tight ends hardly ever get their credit. Heath Miller is both a great catching tight end and a fantastic blocker and he gets no credit. The only people that seem to realize, are Steelers fans. Heath is the definition of an underrated player. It seems like nobody even knows this guy .. he's by far the most underrated Pittsburgh Steeler and one of the most underrated players in this league.
He's got some of the best hands ever on a tight end. You hardly ever see this guy drop a pass. Sadly, Arians hardly uses tight ends in the passing game so Heath is usually blocking. But at least this talent isn't going to waste .. Heath is such a great blocker. If he was bigger I seriously think he could be an offensive lineman. I won't go as far as saying he's the best catching tight end in the league because Miller isn't the fastest guy (but he is great after the catch) but he's definitely one of the best all around blocking tight ends in the NFL. I'd put him in the top 3.

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July 13, 2011 11:40 AM ET

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after the interview that James Harrison just gave Men's Health magazine, I think he would probably disagree with your choice of Mendenhall

Really??

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July 13, 2011 01:23 PM ET

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QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 11:40 AM ET 07.13 by Really??

after the interview that James Harrison just gave Men's Health magazine, I think he would probably disagree with your choice of Mendenhall

I think you mean Fumble Machine.

U. Wrex

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July 13, 2011 03:48 PM ET

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QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 11:40 AM ET 07.13 by Really??

after the interview that James Harrison just gave Men's Health magazine, I think he would probably disagree with your choice of Mendenhall

I would be more concerned with what he said about Ben.

MattUSA

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July 13, 2011 05:25 PM ET

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QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 06:18 AM ET 07.13 by JackStraw~

Miller isn't so much underrated as he is not flashy. Same for Farrior.

Yeah, this was what I was going to say. Farrior gets a ton of respect but he just stays out of the limelight.

LoveItHateIt

Portland, OR

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July 13, 2011 05:25 PM ET

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QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 03:48 PM ET 07.13 by MattUSA

I would be more concerned with what he said about Ben.

LoveItHateIt

Portland, OR

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July 13, 2011 05:54 PM ET

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QUOTE(#12):

Originally posted 05:25 PM ET 07.13 by LoveItHateIt

<runs off to read article>

???Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again,??? Harrison said. ???Or hand the ball off and stop trying to act like Peyton Manning. You ain???t that and you know it, man; you just get paid like he does.???

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/7651808.html#ixz z1S17UA22G

MattUSA

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July 13, 2011 05:57 PM ET

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QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 02:10 PM ET 07.13 by JackStraw~

Five in two years. Yeah, a regular turnover machine.

That's what Harrison called him.

U. Wrex

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July 13, 2011 06:01 PM ET

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QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 05:54 PM ET 07.13 by MattUSA

???Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again,??? Harrison said. ???Or hand the ball off and stop trying to act like Peyton Manning. You ain???t that and you know it, man; you just get paid like he does.???Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/7651808.html#ixz z1S17UA22G

Brutal. I really liked this quote:

On Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu:
"He???s the one guy in football I respect absolutely, 'cause he's spiritual and lives it like he talks it. You know, he gets more flags than anyone on our team but never gets fined for nothin'. He???s so polite and talks so softly that he could tell he could tell Goodell to kiss his ass, and Goodell would smile and say thank you."

He really didn't mince any words in that article...

LoveItHateIt

Portland, OR

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July 13, 2011 06:18 PM ET

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QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 06:13 PM ET 07.13 by JackStraw~

I respect James Harrison as a football player, but he has:--Hit his son's mother;--Embarrassed the team owner;--Popped off about his teammates;--Kept up a running feud with the commissioner that can only hurt his team.James, you have a right to your opinion. I'm not entirely sure what has made you so seemingly angry about so many things, but man, you should know that the people of Pittsburgh will only put up with so much of this stuff. And Art Rooney and Kevin Colbert are from Pittsburgh.

His quotes on Goodell were brutal as well. He can't be fined now, but when the lockout ends, I'm sure he'll get the fine before the CBA's ink is dry.

LoveItHateIt

Portland, OR

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July 13, 2011 06:19 PM ET

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QUOTE(#18):

Originally posted 06:15 PM ET 07.13 by JackStraw~

A lot of the respect that Farrior has earned is because he stays out of the limelight.

He's one of my favorite linebackers. Except when we're playing against each other :-)