Sports on Nerdstein

LeVeon Bell and Saquon Barkley

Fri, 02 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I am a huge fan of both Penn State Football and the Pittsburgh Steelers teams. The Steelers have shown favoritism to early-round Big Ten players (e.g. Shazier, Cam Heyward, Artie Burns) but they don’t seem to routinely select Penn State players based on what I believe to be differences in systems and/or philosophies (Jesse James being one recent counter-example to this). Saquon Barkley is a generational talent that all teams should be vying for. The Steelers recently announced they were putting talks on-hold with LeVeon Bell so their staff could focus on the upcoming draft. Is there a chance the Steelers have eyes for Barkley? Let’s look at the not-so-far-fetched reality of Barkley to the Steelers.

2016 Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The annual winter meetings have passed. A lot of GMs have been aggressive in spending or prioritizing their team’s urgent needs. As usual, the Pirates were not big spenders nor would I consider them aggressive. This fits into their typical patient and cost-effective operations. So, what is there to write about? The Pirates made some recent moves and seem to be staging something. Let’s predict what.

2015 Steelers Draft Predictions

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I’ll try to stay focused on the picks in the first two rounds, as it’s very difficult for a novice like me to be an expert after that.

Background

There are two philosophies the Steelers never deviate from. They certainly will not this year:

Should the Pens trade Orpik?

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Much focus has been paid to Matt Niskanen or Simon Depres finding new towns. This is the most likely scenario, as Niskanen’s youth and recent good play has surely garnered focus. His trade may be more likely, as Depres came to camp over weight. Although young defense talent is a major asset in this league. Letang is locked up, Martin played well (after a rough previous year), and the defensive depth is stacked (see: Maata, Pouliot, Ruopp, and Dumoulin). Further, Engelland provides an adequate substitute/backup.