Steelers’ Rooks Step Up, Offense Takes Off
Filed under: Steelers, AFC North, NFL Playoffs
When the 2010 draft arrived, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a deep, but old, wide receiver corps.
After trading away Santonio Holmes for a fifth-round pick and signing Antwaan Randle-El and Arnaz Battle as free agents, the Steelers had a speedy young receiver (Mike Wallace), an impressive, aging veteran (Hines Ward), two veteran backups in Randle-El and Battle and a maddening young receiver who combined deep speed, height and stone hands (Limas Sweed).
Little did most Steelers fans know at the time that the receiver corps would look entirely different come playoff time.
When Pittsburgh beat the Ravens on Saturday, it was in large part because rookie Antonio Brown beat Lardarius Webb deep for 58 yards on third-and-19. Brown’s three catches for 74 yards led all receivers on Saturday. Pittsburgh’s second-leading receiver was another rookie, Emmanuel Sanders.
Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/01/17/steelers-rooks-step-up-offense-takes-off/