Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Mike Wallace have been outstanding this season for the Steelers.  Hines Ward is having the best season of his NFL career by far this season as he has caught 41 passes for 599 yards (14.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  It appears that Ben Roethlisberger has finally warmed up to the idea of getting the ball to Hines Ward down the field which was a job reserved for only Santonio Holmes coming into this year.  Santonio Holmes has caught 28 passes for 438 yards (15.6 avg) with 1 TD grab this season.  He has been very solid again this season but he has not turned into a dominant receiver yet in the NFL.  Still, he is very good.  Rookie Mike Wallace jumped right past Limas Sweed on the depth chart but that’s not saying much.  Wallace has caught 18 passes for 296 yards (16.4 avg) with 1 TD grab this season.  He has the potential to move into the starting lineup down the road when it comes time for Hines Ward to hang up the cleats.  Until then though the Steelers are more than happy to have him as the #3 WR for the near future.

Ben Roethlisberger has already won 2 Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers and there’s no reason to think he can’t do it again provided that the pass blocking improves.  It was a weakness last season for the Steelers as Roethlisberger got jacked up quite a few times.  He holds the ball too long sometimes and that’s part of the reason he gets hit so many times, but, it’s also the reason that he makes a ton of big throws.  Roethlisberger is not the kind of player that will ever likely throw for 4,000+ yards but he’s a winner in the mold of ex-Steeler great Terry Bradshaw.  With Byron Leftwich off to Tampa, the Steelers have retained Charlie Batch to back up Roethlisberger.  Batch has been great whenever called into action for the Steelers.  He doesn’t have a great arm but he makes whatever throw the Steelers need him to.  2nd year man Dennis Dixon will battle undrafted rookie Mike Reilly for the #3 QB job on the Steelers.  The likely scenario is that Dixon winds up being the #3 QB and Reilly makes the practice squad.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  A

29-year old kicker Jeff Reed had a career year last season for the Steelers as he only missed 2 kicks all season long.  It was an incredible feat as Reed has had big time issues kicking at Heinz Field in the past.  That makes me think that last season was a fluke for him.  Reed played in all 16 games for the Steelers last season and he made 23 of 25 field goals (92%).  Reed also nailed all 44 of his extra points last season.  Still, Reed has never been close to as good as he was last season and I have a hard time believing that he has found the light.  Reed has now played in 86 NFL games and he has made 135 of 165 field goals (81.8%).  Reed has also made 211 of 213 extra points (99.1%) in his career.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C+

The Steelers have two solid TEs and they should start using them more in the offense.  25-year old Heath Miller has excellent hands and the speed to get down the seam and make big plays.  But, the Steelers don’t use him enough.  With the line troubles the Steelers will likely have this season it would be smart to target Miller on the short stuff.  Miller played in 16 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 47 passes for 566 yards (12.0 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Look for Miller to have about the same numbers this season for the Steelers.  Miller has now played in 48 games in his NFL career and he has caught 120 passes for 1,418 yards (11.8 avg) with 18 TD grabs.

6′7″, 270 pound Matt Spaeth is a good blocker and the Steelers look for him when they get near the goal line because of his size.  Spaeth played in 14 games as a rookie last season and he caught 5 passes for 34 yards (6.8 avg) with an amazing 3 TD grabs.  Look for him to at least double his catches this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  A-

There might be a changing of the guard at WR for the Steelers’ as Santonio Holmes might be the go to guy instead of Hines Ward.  The 24-year old Holmes has blazing speed which is something the Steelers’ don’t have a lot of in the WR corps.  Holmes played in 13 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 52 passes for 942 yards (18.1 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He also carried the football 5 times for 17 yards (3.4 ypc) last season.  Look for Holmes to have a great season if he can just stay healthy.  Holmes has now played in 29 games in his NFL career and he has caught 101 passes for 1,766 yards (17.5 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  He has also carried the football 6 times for 30 yards (5.0 ypc) in his career.

32-year old Hines Ward appears to be slowing down with age and he’s having a hard time staying healthy.  Still, he’s one of the toughest players in the NFL almost crossing the line into dirty play.  But, he makes big plays whenever the Steelers’ need them.  Ward played in 13 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 71 passes for 732 yards (10.3 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 11 yards (3.7 ypc) last season.  Look for the Steelers’ to lessen Ward’s workload in 2008 with the idea of keeping him healthy.  Ward has now played in 154 games in his NFL career and he has caught 719 passes for 8,737 yards (12.2 avg) with 65 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 55 times for 426 yards (7.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.

24-year old Nate Washington will likely be the #3 WR on the Steelers when the season starts but it’s up to him to keep the job.  He played in 16 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 29 passes for 450 yards (15.5 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  Look for him to have numbers like he did last season if he can hold off rookie Limas Sweed for the #3 job on the Steelers.  Washington has now played in 33 games in his NFL career and he has caught 64 passes for 1,074 yards (16.8 avg) with 9 TD grabs.

The Steelers were very happy to see 6′4″, 212 pound Limas Sweed slide to them in the NFL Draft.  He was injured last season and that caused his draft stock to fall but no one questions his ability.  Sweed played in only 6 games (all starts) at Texas last season and he caught 19 passes for 306 yards (16.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Look for Sweed to give the Steelers the big target they have been missing since Plaxico Burress signed with the Giants.  Sweed finished up at Texas having played in 43 games (39 starts) and he caught 124 passes for 1,915 yards (15.4 avg) with 20 TD grabs.

5′10″, 186 pound Willie Ried has never turned into the player the Steelers hoped he would and he will likely have a hard time making the team.  He played in 6 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 4 passes for 54 yards (13.5 avg).  He will have to make the team with special teams play or his time could be up in Pittsburgh.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR 2008 SEASON:  A