Youth to be served

On September 20th 2015 there will be a clash of youth vs. the experienced. The Pittsburgh Steelers feature a gully two times Super Bowl winning quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger and his favorite deadly wide receiver Antonio Brown. On the other side the San Francisco 49ers will feature a lot of youth and inexperience. The cornerbacks responsible for covering Brown and others will be from the 2014 NFL draft. Kenneth Acker a 6th round draft pick won the starting cornerback job opposite of the veteran Tramaine Brock during the preseason. In his first regular season game Acker showed tight coverage and aggressive run support against the Minnesota Vikings. Keith Reaser a 5th round pick who lost out on the starting job to Acker will most likely get his first snaps of the season vs. Pittsburgh after receiving 0 snaps against Minnesota. Instead of Reaser, Dontae Johnson a fourth round pick got his snaps against the Vikings because of their height at wide receiver. At 6’2 Johnson was a simply a better fit but against the Steelers quick wide receivers, Reaser will be a better option since he’s supremely athletic and Johnson struggles against smaller quick receivers. Last of all, last year’s first round pick Jimmy Ward will man the slot on nickel downs. After re breaking his foot for the second time last year he only recently returned to the field and started playing the slot against Minnesota. A hybrid player who can play slot corner and safety, he brings a different element from Acker, Reaser, and Johnson. Of course the whole load is not on these young cornerbacks, the rest of the team will have to step up, after all it’s a team game. Going into tomorrow’s game at Pittsburg; Acker, Reaser, Johnson, and Ward combine for 27 games of experience vs. Roethlisberger’s 160 games of experience not including playoff games. Of course they will have help from the Defensive Coordinator Eric Mangini who has faced Roethlisberger plenty of times when he was the Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns and Defensive Coordinator of the New England Patriots. The question is, whether he blitzes a HOF quarterback and leaves his young cornerbacks on an island against Brown and rest of the Steelers’ wide receivers? Will the veteran wolf feast on Sunday or will he be served some youthful humble pie?