heres why steelers drafted a TE....

[tony hipchest]

....and why they will win the superbowl........ again.

for those who really like the x's and o's, and what makes certain schemes work, this is a superb article discussing what may become a trend in offensive formations.

http://nfl.com/news/story/9444769
This is where the offense is headed
By Pat Kirwan
NFL.com Senior Analyst

i brought this up in an earlier post how 3 teams who seemed absolutely solid at the position drafted tight ends. the pats, steelers, and cowboys. look at the head coaches, innovative, ahead of the curve, trend setters, not trend followers, proactive not reactive.

today on their radio show, pat kirwan and tim ryan discussed recent trend in defensive drafting. look at huff and j. allen; 2 cornerbacks who can play the safety position. teams nowadays almost want to start 3 cornerbacks and 1 safety. this is to combat teams like the rams, colts, and pats who have found alot of success in 3 wr formations.

another trend is moving those big strong safeties up and converting them to middle linebackers. and finally there was an abundance of weak side linebackers drafted. todays weak side lb needs to be FAST. these types of players are all designed to stop the advantages teams have found in the passing game in the past 5 years. also the rules have been adjusted to favor the offense (particularly the passing game).

so what is the answer to the adjustment the defenses have been making in philosophy? with all these smaller but faster players on the field you line up in a 2 te set and pound the ball down the throat. they said how you will start to see teams running more on typical passing downs. 2nd and 7, 3rd and 4, downs the steelers have proven they can and will succeed on. they ended the discussion jokingly saying you can hand the steelers sb 41 right now because the new shift in defenses is playing right into their hands and strengths.

the steelers will have the depth to go 3 wide and even 4 wide and find success and we know they will not dump their running image. they will still be able to be a power running team. steelers will be able to dictate the flow of the game much like the pats were able to during their run.

getting back to the article i linked above, heres an exerpt:

"As my coaching friend [parcells] pointed out, "The real winner in the new 'Dallas offense' should be running back Julius Jones. Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Tiki Barber and LaDainian Tomlinson are all great backs, but the running opportunities they get when they set up the offense the right way doesn't hurt their chances. Julius Jones is going to get more rushing plays with a blocker on every defender in the box than he has had in the past."

willie parker is very similar to tiki, julius, priest, and ladainian. look for him to have a huge year.

[Black@Gold Forever32]

Very interesting article and I agree. I think the sky is the limit for Willie Parker and I agree he will have a big year as well. I think his natural instincts will take over more this year since he has a year of starting under his belt. I think at times Willie was thinking to much last year and following the orginal hole instead of maybe cutting it back for a big gain. With the mismatches that two te set can create the Steelers offense is going to be very special.

[DIESELMAN]

Good article.....If a Willie, Ben step up their game and a couple of rookies can contribute immediately its going to be a really good season.....

[Milkman]

I've always wondered what a team with 2 stud TEs could do against a given defense.

This could definitely evolve the game in terms of how to defend a particular offensive alignment.

Great article.

[clevestinks]

Originally Posted by DIESELMAN

Good article.....If a Willie, Ben step up their game and a couple of rookies can contribute immediately its going to be a really good season.....

To me its more "If Ben can stay healthy" Between the knee and the thumb last season, this is when we were losing games. And Willie suffered because of Bens injuries, when Tommy played the oposing defenses knew we could not throw. Willie can be our featured back, in a well balanced attack. I`m not sure if Willie can carry the team when our passing game goes South.

[Black@Gold Forever32]

Originally Posted by clevestinks

To me its more "If Ben can stay healthy" Between the knee and the thumb last season, this is when we were losing games. And Willie suffered because of Bens injuries, when Tommy played the oposing defenses knew we could not throw. Willie can be our featured back, in a well balanced attack. I`m not sure if Willie can carry the team when our passing game goes South.

Totally agree with you. If Ben stays 100 percent healthy. Watch out NFL. The NFL thinks it has seen what Ben can do already. To me they have only seen the tip of the iceberg. If Ben starts 15/16 games this year. I think Terry Bradshaw's single season passing TD will fall. Ben did lead the NFL in TD pass ratio last year. Willie Parker will be fine I see his natural instincts take over more this year. I expect alot more fireworks from "Fast Willie" Parker. I do agree that Wille couldn't carry the team if the passing game does stumble. He isn't that type of back. But our passing game will be fine and I'm saying it Ben will be the first Steelers QB to throw 30 passing TD's in a season.

[SteelShooter]

All I can say is............LET'S GET THE SEASON STARTED ALREADY! :o)

[43FlyingHair]

For that matter, I think the last few years have seen a boost in TE receptions (for the Steelers and across the league). It used to be that either very few teams had a TE that they passed to with any frequency, and most didn't pass to the TE at all (like the Steelers, for the longest time). But now it seems like a lot of big, athletic guys are coming through the college system in that position and making an impact in the receiving game as well as blocking. I saw a lot of TEs last season do a little chuck off the snap then release into a wide-open seam behind the linebackers for nice gains. With sure-handed guys like Heath Miller, it makes for a multidimensional attack. They could line up in a double TE set and run it, throw it, or have either TE go on a little safety valve/dump route. At first glance, you might think that this offense is built for running, but I think it's way more versatile.

[Stlrs4Life]

Good article.