Now that the dust is settling,ARE WE better this year?

[SoCalFan]

Im not worried about the super bowl loss hangover...Most teams would be affected,not a veteran team like the Steelers who are up in the hunt every year,those hangovers are for teams that happen to sneak in once in a blue moon! WOW,not much mention of one of my biggest concerns,BA.....

[DanRooney]

Losing Randle El didn't hurt us at all. You could argue it made us better actually with more reps being given to our younger/better receivers. Sylvester will take the backup ILB role from Fox which is an upgrade. The loss of Starks will hurt a little unless Gilbert is a quick learner. Our draftees like Cameron Heyward and Brown make us younger on defense, which is something we needed to do. Other than that, we're pretty much status quo. I'd say no better, no worse.

[pancake]

I don't think the dust has settled yet. I think it could go either way, but I am optimistic that we will be better...

[theplatypus]

They're just finishing up the 1st week of practice and the sky is already falling? wtf !! Way too early to tell where this team stands, but here are my thoughts anyway.


QB- Hopefully Ben hasn't lost the focus he found last offseason.
WR-should be improved with experience
TE- Lost Spaeth, but signed a decent vet. That UDFA TE could be huge for us.
RB- Mendy and Redman are very good 1-2.
OL- If we can bring back Hotel and move Colon to guard we should be set. Our main problem for years has been the interior line, guard is Colon's natural position and would provide an instant upgrade.
DL- An aging but outstanding D-line.
LB- Harrison and Farrior are aging, but Woodley and Timmons are monsters. Also have Worilds and Sylvester showing promise as 2nd year players.
CB- Ike is top 10, a healthy bmack and Gay are at least avg. Butler has had a year too learn the system after showing promise in limited opportunity. Hopefully Lewis has matured a bit after spending last year in Tomlin's doghouse.
S- Need Troy healthy

[DanRooney]

Originally Posted by theplatypus

TE- Lost Spaeth, but signed a decent vet. That UDFA TE could be huge for us.

I don't know what about John Gilmore makes you think he's decent. His age? His 1 career touchdown? Career journeyman who hopefully doesn't make the team.

Originally Posted by theplatypus

RB- Mendy and Redman are very good 1-2.

Mendenhall is a good every down back. Redman should exclusively be used if we have big leads to run the clock or when we're in need of a tough yard or two. We still need a decent #2 back imo. Glad Baron Batch is doing well and might win a job over Moore.

Originally Posted by theplatypus

OL- If we can bring back Hotel and move Colon to guard we should be set. Our main problem for years has been the interior line, guard is Colon's natural position and would provide an instant upgrade.

I agree. Colon has alligator arms.

Originally Posted by theplatypus

DL- An aging but outstanding D-line.

I don't even consider them old anymore with the addition to Heyward, who was a steal at 31. If we find a NT we're set for the next 10 years.

Originally Posted by theplatypus

LB- Harrison and Farrior are aging, but Woodley and Timmons are monsters. Also have Worilds and Sylvester showing promise as 2nd year players.

Harrison and Timmons are monsters. Harrison is a young 31 because he has only started for 4 years. He shows no signs of slowing down. Woodley is decent. Farrior is on his last leg.

Originally Posted by theplatypus

CB- Ike is top 10, a healthy bmack and Gay are at least avg. Butler has had a year too learn the system after showing promise in limited opportunity. Hopefully Lewis has matured a bit after spending last year in Tomlin's doghouse.
S- Need Troy healthy

Ike isn't a top 10 corner. Maybe top 30. Mcfadden is below average and Gay is bordering horrible.

[Dodens Grav]

Originally Posted by DanRooney

I don't know what about John Gilmore makes you think he's decent. His age? His 1 career touchdown? Career journeyman who hopefully doesn't make the team.

He's a blocking tight end. And he has a solid reputation of being such. That said, he's not a lock to make the roster.

Originally Posted by DanRooney

Mendenhall is a good every down back. Redman should exclusively be used if we have big leads to run the clock or when we're in need of a tough yard or two. We still need a decent #2 back imo. Glad Baron Batch is doing well and might win a job over Moore.

What makes you think that Redman is not the #2 back we're looking for? He's answered the bell just about every time Tomlin has rung it.

Originally Posted by DanRooney

I agree. Colon has alligator arms.

Regardless, he hasn't played guard in a long time, if ever. He is set mentally at tackle.

Originally Posted by DanRooney

Harrison and Timmons are monsters. Harrison is a young 31 because he has only started for 4 years. He shows no signs of slowing down. Woodley is decent. Farrior is on his last leg.

Harrison is 33 and coming off of two back operations. He's not a young anything. Don't forget that he also played in Europe. Woodley is much better than decent. He's 10 top at his position unquestionably. And Farrior has at least one more season at a high level in him. The Steelers used him very intelligently last year and it resulted in him having a career high in sacks while allowing Timmons to take on the role of the dominant tackler.

Ike isn't a top 10 corner. Maybe top 30. Mcfadden is below average and Gay is bordering horrible.[/QUOTE]

I think that you overestimate the quality of the average cornerback in the NFL. McFadden and Gay are probably right about average in their respective roles. And don't forget that they play within a specific zone blitz system and do not play cover corners. Their primary objective is to keep the ball in front of them and make sure tackles, not to jump every route. The Steelers were second in the league last year in passing yards per attempt and were first in scoring defense, so they can't be all that bad as a unit.

[DanRooney]

Nobody has ever heard of John Gilmore. Ever. A decent reputation for blocking would be guys like Vickers and McClain. Not John Gilmore.

Do you see any signs of Harrison slowing down with stats 100 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 6 FFs, 2 INTs? I don't think age is an issue with him. If his stats are down or he played scurried like Farrior, then we'd have a big issue. Farrior hasn't played at a high level since 2008.

Top 10+average+average+all-pro+2010 pro bowler sounds like a pretty damn good secondary to me. Especially when you consider our pass rush. Do you think this is true about our secondary?

[WickedSteel]

Here is my take.

QB-Ben is getting older, slower and more banged up. He has been sacked something like 82 times in his last 27 games. Add to the fact that all of our young receivers are deep threat speed guys and Ben is going to need more time to let those guys get open and deliver a good throw.

RB-Mendy is pretty good considering the OL that he has to work with. He is getting better with the fumbling issue but it reared its ugly head at the worst possible time in the SB. Redman is decent too and deserves a few more touches per game.

WR-We now have a receiving corps made up of young, small, speedsters that are primarily deep threats. Hines can still do his work in the slot but he is fading fast and it will be up to the young guys to step up this year. As I said, Ben needs the time to let these guys get open and deliver a good throw. I believe that Wallace can out run nearly everyone if he has the time to do it. We are going to need a good slot receiver to be affective especially in the red zone. I think Ward still has some in the tank but we need more,

TE-Miller is solid as they come with very good hands but I fear that his effectiveness will go way down this year if the O line is shaky. They will need to keep him in in max protect mode to give Ben time to throw and protect him from being wiped out. They have a decent veteran now too that will perform his job well.

O line-This is one of the two glaring problems with the Steelers. It had been for years now and they never seem to do anything about it. This unit must perform solidly this year if the Steeler offense is to have any chance. They need to be able to run block well to get the running game going and they need to be able to pick up blitzes effectively to protect Ben and give him the time to deliver accurate passes.

DL-Still strong on the line but we have to hope that Hood is ready to be a playmaker. Big snack is still a force and Hoke is good too. Keisel is a monster at times as well.

LB-Harrison is probably going to show a decline in his play from his age and back surgeries. Woodley has been a force and I predict another good year from him. Farrior still has some left but he is fading fast. Need to see how Worlids and Sylvester stack up.

DBs-Here is the other glaring problem with this team as evidenced in the SB. Ike is a good CB but he is not world class and has stone hands. McFadden is not good IMO and he got burned badly last year numerous times. Gay looks pretty good sometimes and then looks horrible other times. No consistency. We'll see how Lewis progresses. Troy can look unstoppable at times but he gets more and more injury prone every year. he also tends to guess wrong a lot lately and overpursues the ball carrier. Clark is good at lighting up people across the middle but Chairman Goodell says no no to that anymore. He isn't a very good cover guy.

All in all, the same problems that the Steelers have had for 5-6 years now are still there. The Rooneys refuse to pick up free agents and instead want to build through the draft thus guys like Ashmouga slip through the cracks. We will see how it progresses this year but I predict that teams will still expose the glaring weaknesses.

[DanRooney]

Originally Posted by WickedSteel

Here is my take.

QB-Ben is getting older, slower and more banged up. He has been sacked something like 82 times in his last 27 games. Add to the fact that all of our young receivers are deep threat speed guys and Ben is going to need more time to let those guys get open and deliver a good throw.

While I agree with most of what you said I absolutely disagree here. Emmanuel Sanders and Brown have the ability to get open quicker because they are faster. Every time Hines makes a play, it's usually only after Ben runs around in the pocket. He is way too damn slow to be an every down receiver.

[Dodens Grav]

Sanders is likely to replace Ward as the slot receiver once Ward is gone. He has the skill set to do it I believe, but he also has the added advantage of his speed, making defenders question if he'll go deep, catching them on their heels for an open seem in the middle of the field. If he stays healthy, I really like him as the future slot guy.