Pittsburgh fire sale: The Steelers could lose every one of their FAs

[TheVet]

Originally Posted by steeltheone

I thought we took Spence too high. I hope he is a contributor.

I'm a bit worried about Spence also. Right after we drafted him, I watched his videos. I liked his movement; he seemed to be everywhere, he's got a real nose for the ball. But he has real trouble tackling - it seemed like he would try to wrap up a back, but he'd just wind up getting carried along for the ride for another 10 yards down the field. He's so light; I wonder how he'll be able to bring down NFL players.

Still, technique can be taught, and players can beef up. So I'll try to remain hopeful.

[teegre]

Originally Posted by TheVet

teegre, I usually agree with your posts. But I gotta admit, I look at the same recent drafts that you do, and I see them as being fairly mediocre. We seem to have difficulty finding young players who can step right in and contribute - at least compared to other teams. Granted, there have been many injuries (DD, Adams, Spence most recently), but there also seems to be quite a bit of disappointment (Gilbert, Hood, so many of our LBs), along with excessively long development time (so many examples to pick from).

And of courser, there's the supersize whiff of the Mendenhall, Sweed year ... even when Mendy departs (oh please, put this to an end), it will still take a year or so for the smell of that draft to dissipate from Heinz field ...

As some of us were discussing in another thread, part of the reason that some teams play their rookies earlier, is due to need. The best example that I can give is Tim Dobbins of the Chargers. He started more games than Timmons... because Timmons was stuck behind Foote & Farrior. But, Timmons is the better LB. (Make sense?)

And, admittedly, if LeBeau has a flaw, it's underutilizing young players.

Currently, Heyward is stuck behind Keisel. Allen is stuck behind Ike (rightfully so). And, McClendon was behind Casey the Hutt.

The O-line will be good. Adams & Gilbert need time to develop, and DD needs a full off-season to regain his form. I am confident that those picks will make this unit into a strength.

Yes, we all agree: 2008 was a bad, bad draft.

In closing, while casual fans point to the Troy pick in 2003 & the BB pick in 2004, most experts have pointed to the 2002 draft as being the draft that set up the 2005 SuperBowl victory (Randel El, Hope, Foote, Keisel)... and I think that these past three drafts have been every bit as good. Ergo, I foresee a run during the next few years: multiple Lombardis.

[TheVet]

Originally Posted by teegre

As some of us were discussing in another thread, part of the reason that some teams play their rookies earlier, is due to need. The best example that I can give is Tim Dobbins of the Chargers. He started more games than Timmons... because Timmons was stuck behind Foote & Farrior. But, Timmons is the better LB. (Make sense?)

And, admittedly, if LeBeau has a flaw, it's underutilizing young players.

Currently, Heyward is stuck behind Keisel. Allen is stuck behind Ike (rightfully so). And, McClendon was behind Casey the Hutt.

The O-line will be good. Adams & Gilbert need time to develop, and DD needs a full off-season to regain his form. I am confident that those picks will make this unit into a strength.

Yes, we all agree: 2008 was a bad, bad draft.

In closing, while casual fans point to the Troy pick in 2003 & the BB pick in 2004, most experts have pointed to the 2002 draft as being the draft that set up the 2005 SuperBowl victory (Randel El, Hope, Foote, Keisel)... and I think that these past three drafts have been every bit as good. Ergo, I foresee a run during the next few years: multiple Lombardis.

Well I hope you're right, especially on the multiple Lombardies!
OK, leaving aside the many cases of underperformance, let's talk about those players who had to wait behind others who were ahead of them. OK, sure - but during the same time, we had huge positions of crying need that we didn't even attempt to fill - our OL for example, and CB for quite a few years. So if huge needs were left unaddressed while we brought in folks to wait behind positions of strength, were those really great drafts?

I'm glad that we've finally focused on the OL (with the jury still out, but I'm hopeful - although Gilbert's 2nd year regression really has me worried). But let's not forget that the OL has been in shambles for six, maybe even seven years now - it actually began when Faneca was still here (but in shutdown mode due to his contract dispute). All those years with our franchise QB running for his life and laying on his back ... not good! Why weren't we addressing critical needs in the draft?

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by TheVet

Well I hope you're right, especially on the multiple Lombardies!
OK, leaving aside the many cases of underperformance, let's talk about those players who had to wait behind others who were ahead of them. OK, sure - but during the same time, we had huge positions of crying need that we didn't even attempt to fill - our OL for example, and CB for quite a few years. So if huge needs were left unaddressed while we brought in folks to wait behind positions of strength, were those really great drafts?

?

in defense of the FO, they never really expected 2nd round picks ricardo colclough and bryant mcfadden to be complete busts, and we did lose william gay in free agency. its not like they purposefully neglected the position.

[teegre]

Originally Posted by TheVet

Well I hope you're right, especially on the multiple Lombardies!
OK, leaving aside the many cases of underperformance, let's talk about those players who had to wait behind others who were ahead of them. OK, sure - but during the same time, we had huge positions of crying need that we didn't even attempt to fill - our OL for example, and CB for quite a few years. So if huge needs were left unaddressed while we brought in folks to wait behind positions of strength, were those really great drafts?

I'm glad that we've finally focused on the OL (with the jury still out, but I'm hopeful - although Gilbert's 2nd year regression really has me worried). But let's not forget that the OL has been in shambles for six, maybe even seven years now - it actually began when Faneca was still here (but in shutdown mode due to his contract dispute). All those years with our franchise QB running for his life and laying on his back ... not good! Why weren't we addressing critical needs in the draft?

I agree: the O-line was ignored for far too long... which is why I love the past few drafts.

Pouncey in R1 in 2010
Gilbert in R2 in 2011
DD & Adams in R1 & R2 in 2012

Now... why was the O-line ignored until 2010? They seemed to like The Colon... and when not playing like an ass, Kemo was a great blocker. Lastly, Starks has been solid for a long while. Now, the other spots on the O-line have been horrid... which makes me wonder how Urbik was let go.

Regardless, I'm happy now.

[Steeldude]

Originally Posted by TheVet

- it seemed like he would try to wrap up a back, but he'd just wind up getting carried along for the ride for another 10 yards down the field.

Sounds like Foote. At least Spence can cover. Spence is only inferior to Foote in terms of experience.

[SteelersCanada]

Originally Posted by Steeldude

Sounds like Foote. At least Spence can cover. Spence is only inferior to Foote in terms of experience.

Or we could not settle for a Linebacker that gets his ass handed to him and draft a guy that can stuff the run and also has decent coverage abilities. I don't understand why our options here are either a guy that hasn't proven himself in any capacity and, on film, shows he can't handle bigger backs and shed blocks at the line. On the other side, we have a guy that is much too old to be effective.

How about neither?

[kan_t]

Originally Posted by SteelersCanada

Or we could not settle for a Linebacker that gets his ass handed to him and draft a guy that can stuff the run and also has decent coverage abilities. I don't understand why our options here are either a guy that hasn't proven himself in any capacity and, on film, shows he can't handle bigger backs and shed blocks at the line. On the other side, we have a guy that is much too old to be effective.

How about neither?

I won't give up Spence yet. But I will draft someone like Nico Johnson for insurance.

[steeltheone]

Originally Posted by Steeldude

Sounds like Foote. At least Spence can cover. Spence is only inferior to Foote in terms of experience.

Name 1 thing Spence has accomplished in the NFL ? Your statement is a bit premature.

[VaDave]

Originally Posted by TheVet

I'm a bit worried about Spence also. Right after we drafted him, I watched his videos. I liked his movement; he seemed to be everywhere, he's got a real nose for the ball. But he has real trouble tackling - it seemed like he would try to wrap up a back, but he'd just wind up getting carried along for the ride for another 10 yards down the field. He's so light; I wonder how he'll be able to bring down NFL players.

Still, technique can be taught, and players can beef up. So I'll try to remain hopeful.

RE: Weight

Spence is heavier than Farrior.......... Being honest, I really didn't see enough of him to see if he had glaring deficiencies tackling. I'll defer to your observation.