News: The Steelers placed linebacker Chris Carter on injured reserve Thursday because of an abdominal injury.
Analysis: Carter appeared in eight games this season and made three starts, but you could hardly tell since he had just eight tackles and one pass defense. He was far more important to the Steelers than Fantasy IDP owners.
News: The Steelers signed RB Chad Spann to take the place of LB Chris Carter, who was placed on injured reserve
Analysis: Neither player is expected to impact Fantasy owners at this stage of the game. Keep both off rosters.
News: The Steelers announced on Wednesday that they signed rookie LB Chris Carter to a contract. The terms of the deal were not announced.
Analysis: Carter was drafted in the fifth round this summer. He is still not guaranteed to make the team out of training camp and is not a player we expect to make an impact in IDP formats in 2011.
News: In addition to first-round pick Cameron Heyward, the Steelers drafted three other defenders: Texas CB Curtis Brown (Round 3), Citadel CB Cortez Allen (Round 4) and Fresno State linebacker Chris Carter (Round 5). Cornerback is one of the Steelers' greatest needs, what with their top player at the position, Ike Taylor, an unrestricted free agent, and No. 3 corner William Gay a restricted free agent. Brown, 6-foot, 185 pounds, was named to the All-Big 12 Conference second team last season. He started 28 games, and appeared in 52 for the Longhorns over the past four seasons. Allen, 6-foot-1, 197 pounds, was a 2010 second-team All-Southern Conference pick (22 tackles, two INTs, five PBUs). Carter, 6-foot-1, 248 pounds, was the Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the year as a senior after leading the WAC with 11 sacks and 16 1-2 tackles for loss.
Analysis: There's some long-term appeal to Carter, but it's going to take him a while to crack the Steelers' starting lineup on a regular basis. We'd pass on the cornerbacks in all drafts and give Carter a late-round look in deeper rookie-only drafts.
