First round draft pick Maurkice Pouncey has been named in one of the many NCAA investigations going on this summer. There aren't any Reggie Bush-like allegations but Pouncey is alleged to have received $100,000 prior to playing in the Sugar Bowl this past January.

This will not effect his status with the Steelers and the NFL can't hand down any punishment here. The only thing that could potentially happen is sanctions being placed on the Gators.

For what it's worth, Pouncey vehemently denied the allegations and flat out said he didn't accept any money. Even if it is proven that he did take some cash, it won't really change the way I view him. There aren't many kids that age, including me, who wouldn't take that kind of cash from some agent-like dude pretending he's looking out for your best interest. There are tons of guys playing in the NFL who have done a lot worse, that's for sure.

But still, this isn't the best type of news to hear. We've been over and over how terrible this offseason is and it is kind of side that we are just shrugging this off like it is no big deal. But compared to everything else that has happened this offseason, I'm just not too concerned about it.

Let's hope we make it to training camp without any more blown out tendons or off-the-field transgressions.

If you follow baseball more than casually, you’ve probably heard of “sabermetrics”, the use of statistics to analyze some of baseball’s long-held questions. Well, it’s taken hold in football, too, with all its acronym-ridden glory. One of the pioneers of the new brand of football statistics is Football Outsiders, whose numbers I will be using for most of my articles. A summary and explanation of their best statistics follows. They explain it (probably better) here, but I’ll be breaking it down as simply as I can.

Believe it or not, training camp is only a few weeks away. It has been the summer of suck between all of the off-the-field troubles for the Steelers and the simple fact that there is no football to watch. After a mediocre 9-7 season, I think I'm even more pumped for the Steelers to hopefully get back to form and make the playoffs. I'm guessing the players feel the same way. It should be a fun fall either way.

I decided to lay out my version of the Steelers depth chart going in to training camp. After (or during) training camp we'll go back and reevaluate things and compare them to where the Steelers are at now. There are a few positions were things are pretty murky right now because of injuries and the like. I'll just be putting up my best guesses in that case. Obviously I don't know all the little details like a Tomlin or Colbert would.

Anyway, here it goes. Again, predictions are for day one of training camp.

Quarterback

Ben Roethlisberger
Byron Leftwich
Dennis Dixon
Charlie Batch

Obviously Big Ben is out for several weeks, but he is still the number one quarterback when healthy/not suspended. The only real interesting debate here is for the backup job.  Leftwich got most of the number two reps during OTAs and seems to be Tomlin's guy. As good as Dixon was last year, it was a really small sample size and things might look a lot differently over four games. In short, I don't expect either to be as good as Roethlisberger but Leftwich should suck less. I'll definitely be upset if Dixon doesn't see a half-decent amount of snaps during Big Ben's absence though.

Running Back

Rashard Mendenhall
Mewelde Moore
Jonathan Dwyer
Isaac Redman

Mendenhall is the clear number one and it will be interesting to see how much better he'll be knowing that he is THE GUY from the first practice in training camp. It'll be time for him to be a leader. Injury prone as he was, the running back group still looks a little thin without Willie Parker.  Nothing against Mewelde Moore, but he's not an every down running back in the event that Mendenhall goes down. Moore is still the clear number two ahead of the inexperienced Dwyer and Redman though.  If Dwyer is impressive in camp, he should get a fair amount of carries right away as the Steelers don't have a true power back outside of Redman, who has a chance to make the team this year if a few things fall in to place. Jump it to see the rest of the roster...

The Post Gazette plus 300 other blogs are reporting that Mike Tomlin has signed a 3-year extension through the 2014 season.

Finally, some good news this summer. The fact that he wasn't immediately re-signed at the conclusion of the 2009 season led to speculation that the Rooneys would be letting him walk after 2010. This speculation was, of course, by people who don't know what they're talking about, and ownership decided that an intense head coach with passion and fire that shares a close connection with each of his players seems to be an advantage to the team, especially in the wake of a recent Superbowl championship.

It's been a turbulent year so far. Perhaps this is the first sign of coming stability? I certainly hope so.

I have been asking myself the question, “What am I excited to see this season?”  I seem to ask myself the same question each year, but I will be honest, it has been difficult this year. We all know about the off-field issues/trades/injuries the Steelers organization has had to go through this off-season, and that has made it difficult for some fans to look forward to this upcoming season. I am here to show other fans (and try to convince myself) that there are a few things to look forward to this upcoming season.

Here are my top 5:

This has been the worst offseason in recent memory for the Steelers. 2009 left a bad taste in our collective mouth, and we've had one problem after another piling up in the offseason. And I think it's a good thing for us all in the long run. Yeah, you heard me.

This is what we needed. Jump.

Jason La Canfora reports.

It obviously goes without saying, but this is very, very bad news for the 2010 Steelers. With Roethlisberger out for the first four-to-six games, there will be an even bigger on the offensive line's run blocking and pass protection this season.

In case you are wondering, the other tackles on the roster besides starter Max Starks are Jonathan Scott, Tony Hills, Chris Scott, Ramon Foster, and Kyle Jolly. In other words, NOT GOOD. I'd probably bet on Jonathan Scott being the odds-on favorite to become a starter out of the above guys. He started 8 games for Buffalo last year and is probably the most experienced option. Guard Trai Essex has played some games at tackle too.

The other route the Steelers could go is through free agency. There are a handful of old, troubled, or otherwise unsigned tackles out there including Flozell Adams, Mike Gandy, and Levi Jones. Going the free agency route isn't a typical Steeler move, but they might not feel confident in any of their other options.

Either way, the loss of Colon severely jumbles up the offensive line outlook.

I don't want to look too much into this, but this is just another incident in what has been an offseason from hell for the Steelers. Big Ben's suspension. The dumping of Santonio Holmes. All of the bad PR surrounding the team. And now this.

It's only June, but the chips are stacking up against the Pittsburgh Steelers and it just seems like it will be an uphill battle to have a great season.