Larry Tharpe (71/OT) - Tharpe played in Detroit when Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert was associated with the Lions. He brought Tharpe over as a free agent, and Tharpe excelled as a backup to Marvell Smith, and Shar Pourdanesh. Tharpe has size at 6'4", 305, but has been around of eight seasons. He should make the team without a problem in 2001. 

Donnel Thompson (90/LB) - Thompson was forced to play on special teams because of the depth at Linebacker in 2000, but he did play well in that area. He will be serving the same role next season, but may get a closer look now that Levon Kirkland is gone. 

Deshea Townsend (26/CB) - See comments on Jason Simmons. The only difference between Townsend and Simmons is that Townsend is a little better and gets more playing time at DB. Townsend is just not good enough to win a starting job with Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington manning the two spots at the corners. Townsend should have no problem making the team in 2001. 

Jerame Tuman (84/TE) - Known as a Tight End with great hands with minimal blocking skills coming out of the University of Michigan in 1999, Tuman has yet to see much action on the field. He won't get much use either as long as Mark Bruener is the starter. 

Rich Tylski (65/OG) - After years of losing players to other teams, the Steelers finally grabbed someone else's free agent in 2000 by signing the Jaguars' Rich Tylski. Tylski took the place of the departed Brendan Stai, and had an up and down season. Considering he was still getting adjusted to the Steelers' offensive scheme most of the way through the season, Tylski should be comfortable with the playbook heading into the 2001 season and should be ready to make a name for himself on the Steelers' offensive line. 

Hines Ward (86/WR) - At the start of the season last year, the starting Wide Receivers for Pittsburgh were supposed to be second-year man Troy Edwards and the #1 choice in 2000, Plaxico Burress of Michigan State. When opening day arrived Edwards has been unseated by Hines Ward, and Ward went on to become the big play-making Wide Receiver that both Ward and Burress were supposed to be. Still, Ward could not be counted on for the long pass play consistently. Also, he was the only receiver making big plays, and that brought added pressure of being the "go-to-guy." Plaxico Burress, Troy Edwards, Courtney Hawkins and Bobby Shaw did not do enough to relieve that pressure. Hopefully, Burress will improve in his sophomore season, and the Steelers can count on Troy Edwards to stop dropping the ball as much and return to the form he showed in 1999 so that Hines Ward can operate more freely in the offense. 

Dewayne Washington (20/CB) - In a course of a few seasons, the Steelers had lost players to free agency at the Defensive Back position like Rod Woodson, Deon Figures, Willie Williams, and Carnell Lake. Replacing excellent players was difficult, and draftee Chad Scott although getting off to a slow start after being thrown into the fire, learned quickly. The next season Dewayne Washington came to town from Minnesota and got off to a very poor start. He began to catch on to AFC football however as each game passed, and by the end of the 2000 season could easily be considered one of the top 10-15 Cornerbacks in the AFC. 

Amos Zereoue (21/RB) - Here we have a guy at 5'8", 202 pounds is one of the best athletes on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Zereoue is very strong, quick, but has yet to get a real shot at showing his skills as an NFL Running Back. Of course, playing behind Jerome Bettis does not give anyone much of a chance to play. But just when fans were yelling for his name to get more playing time, Zereoue got arrested for D.W.I. and Cowher has never looked at "Famous Amos" the same way since. Now, there are rumors about Zereoue getting traded, and that could be a shame, because the guy has obvious talent.