Injuries Help Steelers Plan for 2009

The Steelers have had to survive lots of injuries this year, but if you're the type who likes to find the silver lining, it's pretty clear that the injuries have helped the Steelers' planning for 2009.

When Kendall Simmons tore his Achilles, second-year guard Darnell Stapleton stepped in and has played better than Simmons. Stapleton will almost assuredly be starting in 2009, whether in Simmons' spot or at Chris Kemoeatu's spot since Kemoeatu will be a free agent. It's hard to believe that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers front office would have been comfortable turning a job over to Stapleton in 2009 without a backup plan if not for Simmons injury, but now, that's not a problem.

Now we're seeing the same thing potentially happening at cornerback. When Bryant McFadden and Deshea Townsend both went down with injuries, the Steelers were forced to turn to second-year corner William Gay as an unexpected starter. Three games into his unexpected role, Gay has been very solid, showing that he's an extremely good tackler despite his small size and he has a decent feel for coverages. While it will be important to get McFadden back into the lineup, Gay has shown he can do the job respectably as an emerhgency fill-in.Ideally, the Steelers will figure out a way to re-sign McFadden, who has shown this year that he's a very solid No. 2 corner. But since there is always big demand for quality cornerbacks, it will surprise no one if McFadden heads elsewhere for bigger money than the Steelers will pay.

Before the last couple of weeks, that seemed like a pretty big problem for the Steelers. Deshea Townsend has shown this year that he's finally starting to age, but with Gay's emergence, Pittsburgh could go into next year with Townsend, Gay and a draft pick to battle for the No. 2-3-4 jobs and still be OK. It doesn't hurt that Dick LeBeau's defense can cover for an average or lesser cornerback--this is a team that went 15-1 with a 33-year-old Willie Williams starting at cornerback.

And at tailback, Willie Parker's injury has allowed Mewelde Moore a chance to prove he should get more than just an occasional third-down pass. While Moore isn't going to replace Parker, he does allow Pittsburgh to go into the offseason feeling comfortable that its set at running back for 2009 with Parker, Moore and Rashard Mendenhall.

The Steelers have had more injuries than they would like this year, but hopefully it should pay off in helping better build the 2009 roster.