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Hines Ward David Maxwell/Getty Projected starting lineup Offense No. Player Pos. 80 Plaxico Burress WR 85 Jay Riemersma TE 77 Marvel Smith LT 66 Alan Faneca LG 64 Jeff Hartings C 73 Kendall Simmons RG 79 Oliver Ross RT 86 Hines Ward WR 8 Tommy Maddox QB 35 Dan Kreider FB 22 Duce Staley RB 3 Jeff Reed K Defense No. Player Pos. 91 Aaron Smith DE 98 Casey Hampton NT 67 Kimo von Oelhoffen DE 53 Clark Haggans OLB 51 James Farrior ILB 97 Kendrell Bell ILB 55 Joey Porter OLB 30 Chad Scott CB 26 Deshea Townsend CB 31 Mike Logan FS 43 Troy Polamalu SS 17 Chris Gardocki P 2004 Draft Rd. Player Pos. School 1 Ben Roethlisberger QB Miami (Ohio) 2 Ricardo Colclough CB Tusculum 3 Max Starks T Florida 5 Nathaniel Adibi DE Virginia Tech 6 Bo Lacy T Arkansas 6 Matt Kranchick TE Penn State 6 Drew Caylor C Stanford 7 Eric Taylor DT Memphis Outside the Huddle Bus climbing the charts Jerome Bettis is sixth on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 12,353 yards, passing Jim Brown. Next in sight is Tony Dorsett, just 386 yards away. Mr. Steeler Bill Cowher enters his 13th season with the Steelers, the longest consecutive tenure with one team in the NFL and the third-longest for any head coach in the major sports. A fourth for Hines? Hines Ward can become the first Steeler receiver to make four Pro Bowls this year. He's tied at three with Hall of Famers Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Attendance drops The Steelers have sold out every game since 1972, but their average attendance dipped below 60,000 in 2003 for the first time since they moved into Heinz Field in 2001. Rushing success Pittsburgh has rushed for more yards than any team in the NFL since Bill Cowher became the head coach in 1992. Last year, the Steelers rushed for a Cowher-era low 1,488 yards. Flingin' it Tommy Maddox completed more passes (298) and attempted more (519) last season than any Steeler quarterback in history. 2003 Revisited The Prophecy: "The stability of the [offensive] line on the outside will be tested after the loss of left tackle Wayne Gandy to New Orleans in free agency." The Lie: " ... they used their No. 1 draft choice to inject some speed and talent at safety." --Athlon Sports Pro Football 2003

A 6–10 record last season wasn't enough to scare the Pittsburgh Steelers into making many panic moves, or many moves at all.

They had one major free agent signing, running back Duce Staley, and had to free up salary-cap room to do it. They made more noise by those they threw overboard -- veterans Jason Gildon, Mark Bruener, Brent Alexander, Dewayne Washington and Amos Zereoue were all released.

Yet Bill Cowher thinks he has the best team in the AFC North and that last season was an anomaly after records of 13–3 and 10–5–1 the previous two years. "I don't think we're as far away from being a very, very competitive team as indicated by our season last year," says Cowher.

Cowher has five new coaches. Dick LeBeau returns as defensive coordinator. Ken Whisenhunt was promoted to offensive coordinator after Mike Mularkey was hired to coach the Bills.

Drafting Ben Roethlisberger in the first round changed the dynamics of this position greatly. Cowher would like to start Tommy Maddox for a third consecutive year and let his rookie use 2004 as a redshirt season, the way the Bengals did with Carson Palmer last year. "Do you recognize how difficult it is for a young quarterback to come in here and play?" says Cowher. "I'm certainly not going to jeopardize our football team for the sake of trying just to get someone experience."

Maddox did not perform as well in 2003 as he did during his NFL Comeback Player of the Year performance in 2002. Part of that can be attributed to the poor line play and the lack of ground support. He still managed to come within 310 yards of the Steelers' passing record of 3,724 set by Terry Bradshaw in 1979. His biggest problem was his AFC-high 17 interceptions.

Charlie Batch hardly played the past two years as a backup, and his status is unclear because of Roethlisberger.

After the Steelers plunged to the second-worst ranking in rushing in the NFL last season, Cowher and Whisenhunt vowed to re-commit to the ground game. They backed up those words by signing Staley away from the Philadelphia Eagles. Staley is a tough runner between the tackles but also can get outside and has excellent hands. "He's a three-down back, has great hands," says Cowher. "He's a player that Philadelphia's always kind of turned to in the playoffs. He's unselfish, a great blocker."

It's possible Staley could play on third downs, as well as start. Jerome Bettis agreed to return for his 12th season at a steeply reduced salary of $1 million. He will compete for the starting job, but Whisenhunt hopes the two will complement each other and allow the Steelers to get back to their power running style. Verron Haynes, an injury-prone third-year pro, remains solidly in the mix.

Dan Kreider, the only fullback on the team last season, returns after re-signing. He's strictly a blocker, but he does that well.

Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress rank among the top pairs of receivers in the league, but Burress slipped last season and this could be his final year in a Pittsburgh uniform. Despite problems in the backfield and in the line, Ward went over 1,000 yards for the third consecutive time and made his third consecutive Pro Bowl.

Burress fell off last year with only 860 yards. He is entering the final year of his contract, and there's talk the Steelers will not re-sign him. Antwaan Randle El remains the No. 3 receiver, but his production also slipped in 2003. Chris Doering re-signed to serve as the No. 4 receiver.

Injuries hindered tight end Jay Riemersma from fulfilling expectations, but he will get a chance at that job again this season.

The line appears healthy again after a disastrous 2003. Marvel Smith, who missed more than half of the season with a pinched nerve, returns to left tackle. That allows the team to move three-time Pro Bowl left guard Alan Faneca back to his spot after he filled in for Smith. Right guard Kendall Simmons has his diabetes under control and his weight and strength back. He was diagnosed days before training camp opened, lost more than 30 pounds and had an awful season. Center Jeff Hartings had his best season, but a chronic knee injury will always hang over him.

The Steelers have the makings of a good line again if they can answer the question they could not last season: Who will play right tackle? Oliver Ross will get the first chance.

No area of the team played better last season. Casey Hampton, a squat, 320-pound wrecking ball, made his first Pro Bowl, an unusual accomplishment for a nosetackle in the 3-4. Right end Kimo von Oelhoffen had one of his best seasons and led the team with eight sacks. He remains in good shape at 33. Left end Aaron Smith can stop the run and push the pocket.

The Steelers lost their top backup, end Rodney Bailey, to the Patriots in free agency and signed Travis Kirschke from San Francisco to replace him. They also hope end Brett Keisel, who spent last season on injured reserve, will make his move in his third season.

Once the absolute strength of the team, the linebacking corps is showing some cracks. Gildon, the team's all-time sack leader and co-captain, is gone. Backup Clark Haggans, re-signed as a free agent, will replace him on the left outside.

Joey Porter had been one of the best outside linebackers in the league before he was shot in the backside, as an innocent bystander, one week before the 2003 season opened. He was not the same, but the Steelers expect him to return to form on the right outside. They desperately need the old Porter.

Pittsburgh is steady on the inside with Kendrell Bell and James Farrior, who had the best season of his career last year. Farrior moves into a middle linebacker position in Pittsburgh's pass defense. Depth is a big problem. They pray Alonzo Jackson will show more in 2004 than he did as a rookie.

A makeover that started midway through the 2003 season will continue. Two starters, free safety Alexander and cornerback Washington, were released. Chad Scott, who missed the last month of the season with a hand injury, returns at one cornerback. Deshea Townsend, in his seventh season, will replace Washington at the other corner after playing well in his place in the second half of last year.

Troy Polamalu, who did not start a game after the Steelers drafted him in the first round last year, will start at strong safety. Mike Logan, who started at strong safety in 2003, will compete with Chris Hope to replace Alexander at free safety.

Ike Taylor improved enough as a rookie that he could become the No. 3 cornerback or even press the starters for a job. Second-round draft pick Ricardo Colclough could be a factor at cornerback as well.

In a surprise move, the Steelers dumped punter Josh Miller and replaced him with free agent Chris Gardocki, a reliable veteran. There's concern about kicker Jeff Reed, who had surgery on his plant-side hip after a season (23-of-32 on field goals) that did not equal his excellent rookie year (17-of-19).

Randle El returned two punts for touchdowns and averaged 12.0. He also returns kicks. Taylor remains their most dangerous kickoff return man, although Colclough will get a chance too.

The Steelers look like a team in decline, and their record indicated it last season. Their defense is not feared as it has been for most of Cowher's regime. The key this season is for the Steelers' offensive line to return to form, so they can get back to what they do best -- run the ball, use the play-action pass and play better defense. The Steelers are fortunate to play in a division without a dominant team; 10–6 or 9–7 could win the AFC North. However, both Baltimore and Cincinnati are on the rise.

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