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Ricardo Colclough: Not So Special
By Dagger | October 31, 2007
Yesterday the Steelers cut former 2nd round draft choice Ricardo Colclough. Besides being subpar in coverage and in the return game, on Sunday Ricardo showed the Steelers coaching staff that he can’t be trusted on the kick coverage team either. According to the media in Pittsburgh, the straw that broke the camel’s back and lead to Colclough’s release was his special teams play against the Bengals. Pittsburgh has Baltimore this weekend and their return game is excellent so we have signed special teams ace Anthony Madison from the practice squad.
Check out the two plays in question:
PLAY 1:
Steelers are up 14-3. 7:42 left in the 2nd QTR. Bengals run a kickoff back 42 yards to midfield and eventually get a field goal.
In the first frame we see Ricardo lined up on the top of your screen. Everyone who has played football knows you’re supposed to STAY IN YOUR LANE! I mean, as we all grew up all we could hear as we ran down the sidelines was coaches and parents screaming at us, “stay in your lane!! stay in your lanes! don’t let him get outside! contain!” Well, maybe nobody was yelling at Colclough this past Sunday, because he drifted into no-man’s-land and paid the price. With his job.
Things look OK right now but you can see Colclough is wandering into uncharted waters. He got down the field quickly and he can’t really “backpedal” or “stand still” or “chill” where he is. He has to go somewhere and make something happen but unfortunately he comes inside a bit too much and he cant catch Holt when he bounces to the sideline. The arrows on your screen are supposed to give you a rough idea of where each guy is responsible for being/covering. The outside gunners are supposed to contain and force the ball carrier inside, that’s one of the number 1 rules of football. If you’re a gunner, a DE an OLB a CB, whatever, you contain and force the play inside. I have vivid memories of when I was younger….getting yanked out of games on occasion for losing containment as an OLB/DE on RB sweeps and toss plays. Ugh. Hey, I got yanked for a few minutes and went back into the game. Colclough got FIRED. Ouch.
Again, you see Ricardo trying to fill the hole but he has some help and he’s out of his lane already. If he stuffs Holt on the “20″ marker then all is right with the world, but unfortunately that doesn’t happen.
All you kids out there pay attention to this frame below. This is exactly why you force everything to the inside. Look how many Steelers are “inside” to help Ricardo….anywhere from 5 to 7 guys. Now look at how many Steelers are there to help if the runner gets outside up the sideline…..NONE.
If Ricardo catches Holt and drags him down at the 25 yard line he’s ALL GOOD.
Unfortunately William Gay tackles Colclough from behind and sabotage’s his entire career. Joking.
Thoughts of Ace Ventura and “DIE DAN DIE!!” “THE LACES WERE IN!” are flashing through my mind. If the Steelers make it to the Super Bowl here is my prediction: Ricardo Colclough turns himself into a female detective aka Lt. Lois Einhorn, goes on a revenge-filled rampage by kidnapping SnowFlake the Dolphin Steeley McBeam a few days before the game, kidnapping Dan Marino William Gay a few hours before kickoff and calamity ensues. Tone-Loc will make a cameo.
So I’ve seen Ace Ventura: Pet Detective too many times. On to the next frame.
Holt is finally brought down at the 48 yard line after a 42 yard gain. When you’re dominating a team you can’t give them a spark like this and allow them to get into a position where 2 or 3 pass completions will result in 3 points. That’s just too easy.
Play 2:
Four seconds left in the half and the Steelers have just scored to go up 21-6.
The Steelers give up a 34 yard gain on this Holt kickoff return right before halftime. Steeler fans everywhere look at their neighbors and say “didn’t they stress special teams this preseason?”
Sorry for the sudden drop in quality. Not sure what’s up with these frames. We went from Hi-Def 70 inch Widescreen to rabbit ears and a tin foil antenna in record time. Oh well.
Once again Coke has the outside lane and his teammates are filling their respective holes.
Ricardo almost comes too far inside again but quickly shuffles for the sideline. Let’s watch him shed a block and make the play.
Or not. Ricardo gets shoved aside and Holt is free once again.
So there you have it. Ricardo Colclough is no longer a Pittsburgh Steeler. These two plays I broke down “helped” get him cut but he has been on the chopping block for a while now.
Topics: NFL, Sports, Steelers | 5 Comments »
October 31st, 2007 at 7:43 am
Oh…I disagree with the title of this article. Retardo Colclough is very “special”. We’ve known that for years now.
October 31st, 2007 at 9:01 am
Yeah, he was special alright. less ’special once in a generation talent’ and more ’special like Corky from Life Goes On’ but special none the less.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:26 am
it’s gay, not harrison, that takes out colclough.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:41 am
Good eye. I changed that. 92 and 22.
October 31st, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Great stuff as always. Hopefully this sends a message to the entire special teams unit.