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28 Jun 2010

Willie Colon Likely Out For Season

Steelers tackle Willie Colon has suffered a knee injury while working out. Jason LaCanfora of NFL Network reports that Colon has a torn Achilles, which would keep Colon out for the season.

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 28 Jun 2010

35 comments, Last at 01 Jul 2010, 11:03am by chemical burn

Comments

1
by chemical burn :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 3:45pm

Cue the optimistic Steelers fans weighing in on how this won't matter...

10
by Theo :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 6:06pm

You are so funny. He's pretty good, but it's easy to just point at someone.

2
by Israel P. (not verified) :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 3:46pm

Can Tunch Ilkin be signed or do the Packers have to release him?

3
by Israel P. (not verified) :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 3:46pm

I never thought I'd miss hearing "false start #74."

4
by Anonymous 3 (not verified) :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 3:51pm

And the hits just keep on coming....I thought Pittsburgh offensive DVOA would regress to the mean, not mediocrity. It's going to be tougher for Leftwich & Mendenhall.

5
by bingo762 :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 4:01pm

Since when is a torn achilles a knee injury?

7
by Mike B. In Va :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 4:30pm

Uh, it's a REAR knee injury. Yeah, that's it...

6
by JasonK :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 4:18pm

I'm shocked that we have 5 posts without a single rectal pun.

12
by Temo :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 8:10pm

I'm just a little backed up, trying to figure out how to work Najeh Davenport into this story.

13
by Jimmy :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 8:49pm

Sphincter.....that is all.

14
by JasonK :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 9:25pm

FWIW, my offering: "The Steelers' offense is going to be able to do shit without Colon in there."

16
by Arson55 :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 9:48pm

Alright, this one was pretty good.

8
by Rocco :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 4:34pm

The gaping hole at RT just closed itself.

9
by Big Johnson :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 5:01pm

Steelers colon out for the year, shitty news for hole organization.

11
by Temo :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 8:07pm

I'm not completely sure that should be as funny as I found it, but regardless +1.

15
by Raiderjoe :: Mon, 06/28/2010 - 9:44pm

Colon blown out for season. Maybe rest of piitsburgh team need to lay off mexican food and raIsin bran.

17
by Ruben (not verified) :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 8:36am

Raiderjoe just won the Internets.

18
by drobviousso :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 10:26am

This is really bad news for the short term, and potentially good news in the long term*, for the organization. The facts of the matter are that Colon turned a corner last year in a pretty huge way. Penalties were way down, and serviceable in pass blocking (he's always been above average in run blocking).

However, this was probably going to be his last year in the Black and Gold, because his reasonable contract demands would probably be too high for the Steelers. With this injury, his market value may go down, and he may end up back with the Steelers.

*From a financial and on the field point of view only. Obviously, I don't wish injury or pain on anyone, especially not someone who seems like a really good guy.

19
by tgt2 (not verified) :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 11:47am

So, losing a great player for the year, after which we will not be under contract, is good for the team. Impressive.

21
by drobviousso :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 1:33pm

Way to summarize. Good job.

22
by chemical burn :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 5:30pm

Seriously, at this point I can't even tell who is being sarcastic - is this a bad thing or not? What would have to happen on the offensive side of the ball for Steelers fans to start getting pessimistic? They've already lost their starting, Pro-Bowl, SB-winning QB (for a good amount of time), probably their best receiver (certainly, the WR with the best balance of productivity and youth) and now one of the above average linemen on a weak unit. Factor in Hines Ward's age and the stagnation of the running game last year - this is a bad offense folks and a 6-10 team taking shape...

23
by Raiderjoe :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 6:05pm

Factor in Hines Ward's age and the stagnation of the running game last year - this is a bad offense folks and a 6-10 team taking shape...

reply

last week somewhder a t Fo made afc nrth picks and wrote pitt going to be 5-11 and get laughed at for that pick.
at least chemical burn not laughoing

24
by Jerry :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 6:39pm

Let's see: Five years ago, Willie Parker was the starting running back (-1.5 DVOA) and Antwaan Randle El was a starting receiver. Two years ago, Willie Parker was the starting running back (-2.9 DVOA) and you would read posts here about how the offensive line was the worst in the league. The offensive sky has been falling for a while now. If, unlike last year, the defense stays healthy, the Steelers will have their usual puncher's chance, probably without having to win more 3-0 games.

25
by chemical burn :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 6:54pm

Hmmm, who was the starting QB those years? And Hines Ward was (let me see if I can do the math here) 5 years younger.

But at least the Superbowl MVP from 2 years ago is still on the team...

27
by Jerry :: Wed, 06/30/2010 - 1:54am

Ben started 12 games in 2005, which is the same number he's likely to start this year. (He did start 16 in 2008.) Leftwich and Batch are both competent as short-term replacements.

In the last decade, this team has won playoff games with Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox at QB.

Could it all fall apart this year? Of course.* Is such a collapse any more likely this year than it was in the past several? I don't think so. You disagree, which is fine.

* You can say the same for 31 other teams.

28
by chemical burn :: Wed, 06/30/2010 - 11:56am

Seriously, what would have to happen to make an offensive collapse "more likely this year?" I honestly mean that...

Also, Leftwich might have been competent in 2005, but he's gone from ok to terrible in the past five seasons... (5 years is a huge amount of time in football)

29
by Jerry :: Wed, 06/30/2010 - 6:15pm

Leftwich was a competent fill-in for Pittsburgh, albeit just for a couple of halves, two years ago.

To your larger question: It's like asking when the Pirates will have a winning team. You can predict it every year, but I'll believe it when it happens. And, as I said above, the Steeler defense is the more important question.

30
by tuluse :: Wed, 06/30/2010 - 6:21pm

Leftwich's DVOA with the Bucs was actually decent.

I would be he surprises some people this year. That said, they've really gutted the offense of talent.

31
by chemical burn :: Wed, 06/30/2010 - 7:46pm

Yep - I was indeed surprised when I looked it up - especially since he just looked tanked out there at times.

Anyway, this is a 9-7 team that's only downgraded across the board - and now they need to rely on above average defensive health to be competitive? Also, the Steelers have fielded losing teams this decade, so it's not like the Pirates at all... (also, the NFL seems to have more fluidity in regards to the strength of individual teams, but I know folks debate that...)

32
by Rocco :: Thu, 07/01/2010 - 8:45am

They don't need above-average defensive health. They need Polamalu to stay healthy. He's played a full season twice in the last 5 seasons- 2005 and 2008. In a related story, the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2005 and 2008.

33
by tuluse :: Thu, 07/01/2010 - 8:54am

Well if he's only played a full season twice in 5 years, staying healthy for a full season would be above average wouldn't it?

Also, Aaron Smith seems pretty important to you defense, and he's had trouble staying healthy recently too.

34
by Rocco :: Thu, 07/01/2010 - 9:09am

They can better survive an injury to Smith than they can to Troy. Ziggy Hood can at least do a competent impression of a DE if Smith goes down(if not better than competent). They have nothing at safety to back up Troy. The 2008 defense had a fair number of injuries (at one point Fernando Bryant was involved in the secondary) yet still finished atop the league mainly because Polamalu played the entire year.

35
by chemical burn :: Thu, 07/01/2010 - 11:03am

I mainly meant above average health because they were exactly in the middle of the league in AGL last year and most fans blame injuries on their 9-7 record. I'll grant you that Polamalu is very important (currently the best safety in the league and a bona fide game-changer), but Pittsburgh had completely average health last year, so they need MORE LUCK with health this year, theoretically, to make up for the losses on offense (and then, on top of that, improve to playoff caliber.) Realistically, with the problems on offense, they need not only Polamalu healthy, but also Smith and Woodley and Harrison to make it through the season as well... and two of those guys have had health issues for a while now...

26
by drobviousso :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 11:24pm

I was already fairly pessimistic about the Steelers O this year, and this will make it that much worse, but i'm not going to go burning my jersey. A 500 season and a shot at the play offs is never out of the picture.

But Colon was going to be gone after this year if he played like he did last year. His contract demands would be too high for the Steelers, and justifiably so from his side.

This injury is going to suppress his market value. Maybe low enough that he will remain in Pittsburgh.

The 'good summary' was the only sarcasm.

20
by TTP (not verified) :: Tue, 06/29/2010 - 1:04pm

Good news for the Steelers: Willie Colon is not very good.

Bad news for the Steelers: Willie Colon just might be their best offensive lineman.

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