Steelers’ Kemoeatu ready to maul defenders

By Robert Rousseau  |   Wednesday, June 25, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Pittsburgh Steelers
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When perennial Pro Bowl left guard Alan Faneca departed in the offseason for literally greener pastures in New York to play for the Jets, a lot of Pittsburgh Steelers fans panicked. After all, their tackles had difficulty pass blocking for much of the 2007 season, so it was somewhat comforting to know that run blocking was being taken care of by one of the best in the business at left guard. During his 10-year Steelers career, Faneca was the kind of player who regularly pulled and destroyed defenders.

But the Steelers let Faneca go, just as they had over the years with Greg Lloyd, Levon Kirkland and Joey Porter. Let's face it, the Steelers haven't retained many aging veterans in the past, but they haven't exactly regretted that policy. Sure, Rod Woodson had some very good years after he left the club, but the aforementioned three players never did or likely will (in Porter’s case) play as well as they did for the Steelers.

Regardless of how Faneca performs for the rest of his career, it's certain that Pittsburgh replacement Chris Kemoeatu is more than capable of filling the longtime Steeler's void.

Though he has only started two games since coming to Pittsburgh in 2005, the 6-foot-3, 344-pound Kemoeatu's aggressiveness and sheer power have Steelers’ coaches excited. No, he’s not the athlete Faneca is, and fans won’t see him pulling all over the place; of course, that means the team's offensive running schemes are going to have to change some.

“(Chris) was ready to play last year, (but) Kendall [Simmons] kind of won the thing. But it was close,” Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein said earlier this year. “When we came out of training camp and the preseason games, the grades were close. But this kid is ready to play. I like him, I really do like him. I think he’s going to be a good player.”

So Steelers fans should have confidence. After all, if Zierlein is confident in Kemoeatu, fans ought to be as well.

In the end, the Steelers have always been about tough offensive linemen who revel in smash-mouth football. Though he probably won't be Faneca, Kemoeatu should fit in well.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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