Alan Faneca or Jacob Bell?

O-line can usually last longer, so maybe he has another 4-5 good years left. But has he shown any signs of dropping off? How much of an upgrade is he really? I've never watched him much.

I have watched Bell much. I don't know what he thinks about himself (but who would be suprised if he has an elevated veiw of himself with that agent), but I think he's average, maybe slightly above average. If he could play with more strength, he'd be much better. I rewatched the Dallas game a few days ago and saw him get knocked on his butt a few times when going head to head with LB's....but he does pull to the LB's well :ha:

If Faneca is that much of an upgrade, and we can afford it, I don't think it's too risky given Faneca's age. But what does our FA situation lok like next year? Al and who else of importance?

 

I heard an interesting statistic on Sirius radio today:

75% of the Steelers' running plays are run behind Alan Faneca....they either run it to his side, or he pulls and acts as the lead blocker on the play.

Seventy-five percent. That's crazy.

Granted, he's not gonna be cheap. But if he thinks he's got five more years left in him, he's one guy I wouldn't mind breaking the bank for. If you can build a dominant O-line, everything else generally falls into place fairly quickly.

 

My goodness yes..

I'm one of jacob bell's biggest fans but faneca is a future hall of famer. 6 pro bowls and still only 32. Imagine having him and mawae playing together with olson. Perhaps the best interior o-line in football, certainly the most seasoned. Maybe the best 0-line in football with roos and stewart.

You would have to make that trade but it would never happen we would need to throw a draft choice in there.

I don't see bell getting better, i think he has leveled off. A good player but what you see now is probably what you are getting for the next 7 years.

 

I could see us going after Faneca but why give up Bell? I'd keep Bell as well and drop Olsen.

 

Anyone heard any sort of estimate on what it would take to get Faneca from the Steelers? They might reasonably swap him for a younger player like Bell, maybe with a low pick thrown in, but I don't know what we'd have to give up just in term of picks. He'd be a big upgrade to the line, even though he's pretty old. Since we've got some development behind him, I'd be all for it if we could figure out a way to do it.

 

I checked the salary CAP numbers and noticed Olson is signed through 2009 and cutting him would not save us anything on the CAP. Trading him would save 2.4 mil which is his salary but we wuld lose most of that as prorated bonus. Also, Olson is only two years older than Faneca.