SteelCityMan's 2007 Season Report Card

[Godfather]

Secondary shouldn't be graded too harshly. They were riddled with injuries. The last month of the season shows how valuable Ryan Clark is--we need to sign him to a long term deal (which fortunately won't cost too much). Smith needs to stop committing unsportsmanlike conduct and late hits. He does that next year and he should be on the first bus out of town.

The O-line was horrible. The only good news is we might be able to sign Faneca, because only a moron would give him a monster contract after this year. Oh, wait...Snyder, Dan. Davis, Al. In any case, that's a rebuilding project. It would also be nice to grab a 6-5 receiver with 4.5 speed but we'll probably be picking too low.

I'm pleased with Tomlin--the top two picks this year were intended to be long term projects and not immediate contributors. Plus, I when I saw the debacle at the end of the Cards-Niners game, I knew for sure we were right to hire Tomlin over Grimm...that fiasco was worse than anything I saw the Steelers do this year.

[Michael Keller]

Originally Posted by d2609j

QB- B- , The bottom line is Ben has never stepped up in any big games throughout his time with the Steelers. Including this year. His play was better this year, than last but truthfully how could it not be. I see a arrogant young kid who the steelers are going to spend a boat load on this offseason that needs to work on his game, and professionalism. (ie. Throwing Wiz and Cowher under the bus all year.)

RB- B, The line did not help us out much, but man I miss The BUS. This is an area that definately needs to be improved in the off season.

WR. B- Alot of dropped balls. We need to improve this area also. Washington is a RFA this year. Will they pay him and Wilson? Holmes will be a star in this league. I only hope we extend him and it is with us.

OL. F, First three rounds of the draft should be spent to this position. Mahan is not the answer at C. We should have drafted a Center last year. Move Mahan to G. and draft a C. Thanks for the memories Alan.

DL. C+. Hampton needs to play better. Losing Aaron Smith killed us.

LB. B-, Age is catching up with this group. Woodley is a nice fit. Simmons was a complete no show. Haggans im sure is gone. We will need to get a work in progress guy late in the draft for 2-3 yrs down the road.

DBs C, Injuries hurt us, but can we get some guys that can catch a ball. we need to address the safty position. William Gay will be good down the road

ST. Reed-A Sepulveda-C. Return and coverage tems--F. Accounted for 2-3 losses this year, including the Playoff game.

Coaching. C- Still not sold on Tomlin. I think we might be in for a long 4-5 years. No emotion, no fire, horrible 1st draft, but Big Ben likes him so that counts for something. Play calling this year was terrible from OC. Lebau did ok with all the injuries. Need new special teams coaches. We should have stayed with Grimm.

Offseason. get rid of Wilson or Washington and bring in a WR. OL first 3 rounds of draft. If Ben is so worried about losing Fanaca, he should step up and do what Brady or Manning did. Help the team out a little bit. Keep some of your teamates.

Shocking critique . Gotta be a bartender or a relative of Grimm's . Well different opinions are part of life.

[IslandSteeler]

I thought the year was a positive. B+

Ben had a fantastic year. A

The O-Line sucked, but I didn't expect anything different because they were just as bad last year and didn't really do anything to improve it. D-

Definitely, disappointed with the special teams after all the preseason talk about how much time they would spend on improving. F

Defense was great as usual. Especially considering the injuries. A

I was impressed with Tomlin. He made a few coaching mistakes in games, but I think with a little more time he could become one of the best, right up there with his mentor dungy. B+

My christmas list includes a dominant o-lineman maybe two and a big short yard back.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Originally Posted by d2609j

I stand corrected, His Denver game in 05 was good. But he has far more bad (horrible) games than good in playoffs. Jets 04, Pats 04, Seahawks 05, Jags 07. But lets be honest, he lost as many games this year as he won for us. Including this playoff game. As for Tomlin. Im saying Im not sold on him yet. He won this year with alot of Cowhers players. When your punter gets Team rookie of he year, that does not set well for your 1st draft. I guarantee this team plays harder, works harder, goes farther with Grimm as the coach. And our offensive line doesnt give up 45+ sacks. Thats My Opinion.

pssst........i'm gonna let you in n a little secret.....RUSS GRIMMS 2006 LINE gave up 49 SACKS!!! let me do the math for ya....thats 2 more than this year......i guess your opinion just took a major credibility hit....
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...ue&Submit=Find

[klick81]

Originally Posted by SteelCityMan786

Off-Season Needs=A New Offensive Coordinator

THANK YOU.

[Preacher]

Originally Posted by MasterOfPuppets

pssst........i'm gonna let you in n a little secret.....RUSS GRIMMS 2006 LINE gave up 49 SACKS!!! let me do the math for ya....thats 2 more than this year......i guess your opinion just took a major credibility hit....
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorysta...ue&Submit=Find

Russ Grimm. head coach. yeah.. right!

I was GLAD he was gone. Believe it or not, our O line was BETTER THIS YEAR then last!

[X-Terminator]

Originally Posted by d2609j

I stand corrected, His Denver game in 05 was good.

Yes it was.

But lets be honest, he lost as many games this year as he won for us. Including this playoff game.

No, he didn't. The Steelers don't win 6 games without Ben. That's just a fact.

As for Tomlin. Im saying Im not sold on him yet. He won this year with alot of Cowhers players. When your punter gets Team rookie of he year, that does not set well for your 1st draft. I guarantee this team plays harder, works harder, goes farther with Grimm as the coach.

No, they don't. More than likely, they get complacent, which familiarity generally does. And if Grimm was such a great HC candidate, how come he has failed to get every job he has interviewed for? There obviously is a reason. And as I've said a million times already, you and many other fans need to get off the "Tomlin isn't emotional" kick, because it does not guarantee success. Bill Cowher is gone. Get over it, and accept that Mike Tomlin is his own man, and is going to be the head coach of your team for a long time.

And our offensive line doesnt give up 45+ sacks. Thats My Opinion.

The OL gave up MORE sacks under Grimm last season, and didn't exactly set the world on fire in the SB season. So you're wrong again.

Next...

[The Duke]

2006 o line may have given us more sacks than 2007, but willie was more successful at running the ball in 06 than 07. so I wouldn't call one better than the other.

I know sometimes willie ran despite the o line's effort, but 2006 was really a breakout season for him and the o line helped him many times. but also did dan kreider( who should be the fullback next year)....

[Steeldude]

QB - B+ (stats are great, but playing smart football is important also. holding the ball too long and forcing unneeded passes are rookie mistakes that BR has yet to fix. his release is also slow and his long passes still hang)

RB - B (it would be nice to have a bruising back again. not necessarily to take parker's job, but for short yardage etc...)

WR - B (better than average. a big WR would be good. spaeth need to work on his blocking. ward might need to restructure his contract. $7,450,000 against the cap is awfully high)

O Line - D (poor protection. losing the battle on the scrimmage too frequently. tackles are need very badly. if stapleton isn't the answer at center then that is a need also. mahan is clearly not a center. address O-line early in draft)

D Line - C- (kiesel is useless on the line in a 3-4. he is too small and too weak to take on linemen. cutting him saves a lot in cap money. hampton needs to lose weight. smith isn't getting any younger, but is still solid. the draft or FA market needs to be looked at here)

LB - D (harrison was the only LB to show up this year. foote is a consant liability. he is either getting mowed down or he is out of position. haggans was doing his best impersonation of porter/gildon. farrior is getting old. hopefully timmons and woodley can fill some spots. if you are running a 3-4 blitz scheme then your LBs better be good to great, not average and below)

DB - B+ (having to pressure the QB, cover WRs and stop the run are a lot of things to have on your plate. townsend is getting any younger. taylor is fine, but can't catch a ball. mcfadden hasn't shown anything but the ability to rack up PI penalties. polamalu has been injury prone. clark might be done. he was sorely missed this season. i wonder if the anthony smith fans see why clark was starting. smith needs to learn how to play football. football isn't just about making a big hits and it certainly isn't dancing around on routine plays. perhaps smith should play SS and polamalu polamalu play FS. the secondary received little help from the LB or D-line in terms of QB pressure. the steelers only have so many draft picks. i don't think the DBs should be addressed in the early rounds)

ST - D (it's only a D because reed lifted the grade. the kick/punt coverage units are just plain horrible. the return units are just as bad. reed gets a B+. would be higher if he could kick the ball in the endzone a little more frequently)

coaching - N/A (too early to tell for tomlin. he needs to stop the "playing not to lose" crap. the O-line coach might need the axe. arians deserves one more year. let's see what the staff does in the offseason/draft )

[d2609j]

Thought I would give it a week before responding in the hopes of cooling down from the Jags loss. But even a week later, and after watching the Jags get blown out my opinion has not changed. Although Big Ben had a better year than last year, he still is just an average + QB right now. He holds the ball way to long, and at time makes horrible decisions. His holding of the ball to long contributed to 2/3rds of this years sacks.

As for Tomlin, for him not make any changes on his staff, most glaring on STs is a joke. This will be a big offseason for the steelers, a crossroad as you would say. He still has to convince me that he is leading this team in the right direction. He hasnt so far.

For all the bashing of Grimm. This guy will be a head coach one day. He has a proven past. Far superior to Tomlin. For his prior interviews, he was up front with who he interviewed with last year that he wanted to be the steelers coach. Which hurt him with those jobs. I still believe he is not the coach of the steelers because the Rooneys didnt want to pay him the $$$. They got off cheaper with Tomlin. Tomlin should thank the Rooneys for being cheap.