Tight End

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not start Saturday when the Steelers face the St. Louis Rams. Roethlisberger is dealing with a sprained left ankle and did not practice this week after a 20-3 loss to San Francisco on Monday. He will be replaced by veteran Charlie Batch , who is 4-2 as a spot starter since joining the Steelers in 2003. Roethlisberger said Wednesday he would prefer to play and believed his ankle was in pretty good shape after throwing for 330 yards and three interceptions against the 49ers.

Dion Bailey and Hayes Pullard have faced big challenges in their first season as starting linebackers for USC. None were as large as the one awaiting Saturday against unbeaten Stanford. The Cardinal features three tight ends, all 6 feet 6 or taller. Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo form a triple threat that can be deployed along the line, spread out wide and even in the backfield, often at the same time. Stanford has taken full advantage, with 13 of the team's 21 touchdown passes going to the trio.

Check another one off Joseph Fauria's to-do list. The UCLA tight end caught a short pass, turned his 6-foot-8, 252-pound frame up field and did a ballet-like leap over Stanford's Michael Thomas on his way to the end zone. The 13-yard touchdown came in at No. 7 on ESPN's "top 10 plays" of the day. "One of my goals was to get on top 10 plays," said Fauria, a junior. What is left on the list gets a little scary. "Getting on ESPN's 'not top 10 plays,'" Fauria says, smiling at the thought of ending up on that blooper reel.

UCLA rediscovered something during its 45-19 loss to Stanford Saturday night in Palo Alto. At 6 feet 8, you would think tight end Joseph Fauria would be hard to misplace, but it had been a while since the Bruins had used him. Fauria, a transfer from Notre Dame, had six receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown against Houston in the season opener. He had only three receptions for 43 yards in the next three games. But he was back in the Bruins' plans against Stanford, catching three passes for 43 yards and two touchdowns.

Rhett Ellison is a team captain and one of USC's more versatile players. The senior started at tight end in 2010 but was moved to fullback this season. Through two games, however, USC Coach Lane Kiffin seemed apprehensive about calling his number. Ellison finally had a larger role in USC's 38-17 victory over Syracuse on Saturday night at the Coliseum. Ellison caught five passes for 31 yards, including a five-yard touchdown play in the first quarter that helped the Trojans overcome a 3-0 deficit.

To stay or leave. An entire school was seemingly waiting to hear the decision of three-sport athlete Jeremiah Valoaga. After his sophomore football season at Oxnard Channel Islands, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Valoaga said he was wooed by Westlake Village Oaks Christian. It was the worst-kept secret on campus. "One day at school, it was, 'Are you leaving? Are you leaving?' I'm not sure," Valoaga said. His football coach, Gary Porter, admitted, "I didn't think he was going to come back.

Top tight ends (Name, school, height, weight, class, comment) Tre Calahan; Crespi; 6-3; 275; senior; has size and mobility. Josh Cook; Mater Dei; 6-4; 220; senior; basketball player who can block and catch. Nick Hynes; Covina; 6-3; 220; senior; All-CIF honoree. Ainslie Johnson; Servite; 6-0; 215; senior; he isn't big but he does his job. Trevor Kanteman; Royal; 6-3; 215; senior; made good summer impression. Christo Kourtzidis; Orange Lutheran; 6-4; 230; senior; committed to Florida State.

In past seasons, people might have looked at UCLA's Cory Harkey and thought: There's an NFL tight end. They might have watched him block and thought: There's an NFL tight end. Then they might have seen a pass thrown to Harkey and thought: Maybe he can put on weight and play tackle. But Harkey is beginning to alter that last perception. "I want to be an all-around tight end," Harkey said. "I don't want to be recognized as a blocking tight end. I want to be great in all areas of the game.

Athletes today seem bigger, faster and stronger than their predecessors, but they might not be as athletic, or at least not nearly as multitalented. The Times talked to several sports historians and many of them had more difficulty naming contemporary athletic athletes than figures from the past. Because kids today are groomed to be great at a single scholarship-earning sport, historian Richard Crepeau said that questions of athleticism are harder to answer. "At one time this would have been a fairly simple matter," Crepeau said.