-B- TribeLive Radio had a good 30 minute interview with Ike Taylor, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent once the lockout ends. The interview was pretty wide ranging and covered a lot of topics. Some of the more interesting ones:
– Taylor only took a week off after the Super Bowl before he started working out again. His daily workout looks something like this:
1.5 mile trail run (warmup)
Run through 40-yard sand pit
2 sets of resistance training
More cardio stuff
7 position-specific drills
– Taylor said he is specifically working on his hands this offseason. He’s playing lots of ping-pong and doing a bunch of “small things” to improve his hand-eye coordination.
– He “strongly” believed that the NFL would have a season. He said a season-long lockout would hurt the economy and the fans.
– Taylor said James Farrior is the most underrated linebacker in the league. “If you put his tape on…I like James Farrior over any linebacker in the year.”
– On which team he will be playing for in 2011: “Wherever I land, I land.”
– Taylor said he wants to be in Pittsburgh, but was very non-commital and said he’ll play wherever and that “both sides need to agree.” You could read into this as him readying for a big payday (and maybe he is), but it would be a bad negotiation move for him to say Pittsburgh is the only place he will play. We’ll just have to wait and see. If Taylor doesn’t come back, though, the Steelers secondary is going to be a disaster next season.
-B- Our brothers-in-arms at The Steelers n’at posted their own version of NFL realignment. They went with four, 8-team divisions and paired the Steelers with the Ravens, Bills, Patriots, Giants, Jets, Eagles and Redskins. A loaded division with lots of big market teams. Would be fun as well. Check out his full realignment plan over at their blog.
-B- Pro Football Focus, which is a must read these days, ranked the NFL quarterbacks from 2008-2010. Ben Roethlisberger ended up in fifth behind Manning, Rodgers, Brees and Rivers. Brady wasn’t in the list as he missed nearly the entire 2008 season.
-B- In a bizarre quote, Willie Colon’s agent said that the Steelers haven’t been in touch with him in three years and says “that is how they do business.” I wouldn’t expect Colon to be back.
