Kemoeatu's Agent: 'He's One of the Better Guards In the League'

If you thought there was any chance that Chris Kemoeatu was coming back to the Steelers, there are some pretty strong signs that he will be heading elsewhere in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Steelers already have Kendall Simmons (back from an Achilles injury) and 2008 starter Darnell Stapleton under contract for 2009. They also have a starting right tackle (Willie Colon) who almost every scout/player personnel man not employed by the Steelers believes would be better off playing guard. So the only real reason to bring Kemoeatu back is if he's willing to agree to a very reasonable deal.

But if you listen to Kemoeatu's agent, it sure sounds like he's expecting a landmark offer. And he hopes it comes from the Steelers.

"I would hope so," said Ken Vierra. "Having not spoken with them yet, I don't know where they're at, but he's one of the better guards in the league, he's 26 and has room for improvement. If you have one of the better guards in the league, you try to keep him."

This is laughable. You can't fault an agent for pumping up his client, even if it's pushing the edge of being an outright lie. But I wonder how Ed Bouchette wrote down that quote without breaking into laughter. There is not one member of the Steelers offensive line that can be considered one of the "better" linemen in the league. And Kemoeatu, the guard who led the Steelers with seven sacks allowed by my count (Stats Inc. charged him with 7.5 sacks), ranks as one of the worst starting guards in the league.

In fact, only two guards in the league allowed more sacks -- San Francisco's Adam Snyder gave up 9.5 sacks while Derrick Dockery gave up 8.25 -- and in Snyder's case, he played some right tackle. In Kemoeatu's defense, some of the other sacks leaders Alan Faneca (7) and Steve Hutchinson (7) are some of the highest-paid guards in the league, so maybe that's why Vierra thinks Kemoeatu should be very highly paid. Of course, it's probably a better argument for not overpaying guards.

Kemoeatu does have some physical skills -- at his best, he can bowl over people in the running game -- but he's so erratic that it's hard to really count on him.

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