Our "replacement " players
The replacements.
This has been a year of injuries. Usually the next man up is not as good as the initial starting player, but the Steelers have smashed Murphy's law.
Below is a review of the replacement players, who in many cases have upgraded the position, and in many cases will save us a ton of cap space.
Chris Boswell. Few knew his name before the Steelers signed him. Boswell had perhaps the most pressure as the Scobee experiment was an utter failure. If Boswell was a rookie, he's win rookie of the year. His kicking has been excellent for accuracy and distance on field goals.
Boswell is 20-22, with no missed inside of 40 yards. 90.9% accuracy. He has the range to hit 55+ yard field goals and has been solid on his kickoffs.
Grade A+
http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/Chris-Boswell/8fa5893a-778b-447f-8129-5232f184be2a
Deangelo Williams. Simply stated Wiliams is paying excellent. He adds a bit more speed and power running in comparison to Bell, and can thrive with an FB or TE as the extra blocker. Williams is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, which is outstanding! As a pass catcher, he's averaging 10.2 yards per catch ( 4.5 yards more than Bell as a pass catcher ). Williams also scored 6 times, compared to Bell's 3 with just 25 more attempts in the pass catching and rushing department.
A+
http://www.nfl.com/player/deangelowilliams/2495979/profile
Alejandro Villanueva
Villanueva flashed good skills in camp, but the questions remained on how effective he would be as the starting left tackle. When Beachum went down, many Steelers fans feared the worst. Villanueva has been solid to good as a the starter. Early on his had some issues with speed rushers ( and still does ), but he seems to have improved a bit with more experience. Tall with extremely long arms, Villanueva has already proven to be a better run blocker in comparison to Beachum. Army tough, he hasn't committed many penalties either which is somewhat rare for a new starting left tackle. Beachum is a free agent next year, and could command 8-10 Million a year on the open market. The Steelers could have an upgrade here, and saved themselves 7+ million in projected cap space, in addition to picking up a likely compensatory pick in 2017 for Beachum.
Grade A-
http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/Alejandro-Villanueva/400af53b-4c9c-4fea-a1cc-0fe89b1f325a
Cody Wallace
A known commodity, Wallace isn't very skilled or big. However, he is experienced, and gritty. Often overmatched vs. bigger Defensive Tackles or Nose Guards, Wallace's play has been good enough to win with and has not held the offense back as a run blocker at all. He's not an upgrade over a healthy Pouncey, but he is a valuable reserve.
Grade C+
http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/Cody-Wallace/09476fa5-5ad1-42da-9fd6-7efea6d6bda3