Get familiar with this face, because it's the face of your new starting center. Justin Hartwig has won the job, etching his name in the history books as the starter in an organization that's boasted Ray Mansfield, Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, Jeff Hartings...and Sean Mahan.
"We watched this battle closely. We have a level of comfort with his size, strength and range," said coach Mike Tomlin after today's practice.
Yeah, it's not really surprising news, but it had to be done at some point. The blog Post Game Heroes, which always does a great job breaking down Steeler O-line play, "tackled" the issue in depth a few weeks ago and summarized after conclusive research that it was a no-brainer in Hartwig's favor, stating that "Mahan was actually MUCH worse than you even thought."
That's not hard to believe, given the disaster of line play we watched for the duration of the 2007. And while it's true that center is an important position to have undecided to this point, it could be worse, all things considered. Look around at what's gone on around the league: Peyton Manning has missed the entire preseason, Arizona doesn't know who their starting QB is going to be, Shawne Merriman might have a career-threatening injury, both of the Bengals' receivers are hurt, Derek Anderson suffered a concussion, Carson Palmer broke his nose, Osi Umenyiora is out for the season, et al. What I'm saying is that I know it's a major deal to have issues on the line but things could be much worse.
Steelers name Hartwig starting center, make first cuts [PG]
Justin Hartwig vs Sean Mahan = No Contest [Post Game Heroes]
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