Who are we developing at OL and CB?

[thumper]

OK, we know our weaknesses: O-line and CB.

I think we can all agree on that. We are pretty solid at QB,
DL (old but with 2 young first round picks to develop), WR
(2 old guys but 3 young, fast guys too), TE (you only need 1
good one and Heath has a few years left), RB (Mendy a top
10 back and lots of guys who could develop in Dwyer,
Redman (1-dimensional but good short yardage back), et al.
We not only have a solid LB corp. (Only Farrior is about done,
other 3 in their prime and very good) and we have tons of
other bodies developing - I like Sly and Worilds a lot. Safety
will need attention soon but if Troy is healthy, he and Clark
make a good unit. We are set at center for 12 years. Have enough
bodies to find a decent OG mix.

So that brings us to OT and CB - our weak units. So, do we have
bodies in the system developing at those spots? Let's say we
are good enough at OT with Starks and The Hotel for this season. If
they can stay healthy, I think we are good enough (but not superior)
with those guys. Do we have anyone on the team that can be reasonably
expected to develop into a solid NFL OT?

Is this all we have?

Willie Colon - Not even a legit OT in my opinion. I heard a guy
say on NFLN (or ESPN) who said, "They say Colon is one of the
Steelers' best OL, but I'm not buying it. He was never a good OT
and there is nothing to indicate he ever will be." I agree. He can
play OG but if we end up with him at OT, as the starter, we are
weak there. Sure he is fat and plays with a 'tude, but he is short
with short arms and can be beat with a fast outside move all
day long.

Ramon Foster - Just a back up. OK guy to have around for depth
but a starting NFL OT? Don't think so.

Marcus Gilbert - 2nd round pick. Nice prospect. Have to feel he is
a legit OT prospect until proven otherwise. If this kid can get and
stay healthy, could be a steal. He got nicked last year and it made
his play suffer, as he was expected to be a higher draft pick prior
to the 2010 season. He is massive. And he can play all OL spots
sans C. This is a legit OT prospect.

Tony Hills - Never liked this pick to begin with. Finally showed a little
potential, but doubtful he will be a solid NFL OT, ever.

Kyle Jolly - I don't know anything about this guy, other than he was
an undrafted FA from NC. I have no idea.

Chris Scott - More of an OG, I thought?

Jon Scott - Don't know much about him other than he played in a few
games. Does anyone know if he has a chance to develop into a legit
OT starter?

From the list above, Gilbert is the best hope of a player who could
develop into a quality OT. The rest? Maybe there is hope for 1 or 2,
possibly. I would say I am not overly optimistic that we have players
on the roster who will turn out to be quality OT other than our 2 current
starters and Gilbert. Better draft another OT next year.

As for our CBs, we don't even know if Ike will be back. And most of you
are down on B-Mac (although I am holding out hope that his poor play
was due to him having injured hip and abs - you try playing CB with
a bad hip and abs. He kept trying to get on the field but obviously was
too injured because we would quickly see Gay playing outside CB in
many games). Let's see what we have in addition to those two, as even
if Ike comes back and B-Mac plays better, we need more DBs since now
everyone knows to beat us, you throw on us, period.

Cortez Allen - Rookie. Total mystery. Said to have NFL caliber physical
skills. But raw. Long shot but have to wait and see.

Curtis Brown - said to not be overly athletic but fairly solid. Will never be
a shut down CB (who is other than Revis right now?) but hopefully could
develop into a solid starter.....we hope. We need this pick to pan out.
He has got some of the "soft" comments (which surprises me, since
Pgh overly emphasizes CBs who can tackle it seems) but he has also
been said to have "cat-like quickness" so who knows. Cross your finges
on this one.

Crezdon Butler - Heard he had serious skills in camp, with position coach
saying "We will be hearing from this guy this season" and then he never
made the field that I can recall. But hoping he makes the leap his 2nd
season (as players often do) and becomes a legit NFL-caliber CB. That
would really help out a ton. He's got a big frame (6'-1") and size. But
is he sharp enough to learn the D? No idea.

Willy Gay - I think Willy is what he is: a scrappy slot CB who is worth having
on the roster if he gets to play his natural spot - nickel back. When forced
to play outside, he struggles and probably always will. Not our future as
far as a starting CB in my opinion.

Tuff Harris - who? Never heard of him, but he is a safety regardless.

Keenan Lewis - Sorry but this guy sucks. I don't know what they ever
saw in him, but he shouldn't even be on an NFL roster.

Looking at the DBs we have drafted in the last 5 years, they have failed
pretty badly to find guys who can develop into legit NFL-caliber starting
CBs. Gay and B-Mac are the best of the lot. We need Brown and Butler
to emerge - really badly.

If things remain as they appear, OT and CB need to be addressed the
next draft, it would appear, unless Gilbert, Brown and a few others
end up proving to be legit.

[SteelBlaze1]

Nice write-up and I would agree with your accessment. I hope this is something they can address in FA this summer (whenever that happens) or at the worst in the next draft.

[BIGNASTY91]

I am really hoping that Butler can break out this year and show us all something. Somebody is going to have to step up at CB or we might be in trouble down the stretch.

[tunes4life]

Originally Posted by thumper

If things remain as they appear, OT and CB need to be addressed the
next draft.

Man, I'm sick of hearing this every year. It seems like the organization overlooks these two positions.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by tunes4life

Man, I'm sick of hearing this every year. It seems like the organization overlooks these two positions.

I've been waiting since 2006 for them to seriously address both. 2005 was
the last time we had a solid OL.

[Fire Arians]

we drafted pouncey last season and got good values on some cb picks this year. butler's waiting in the wings.

of course picking 31st meant we couldn't pick a CB without reaching. DL youth was a NEED also. heyward was the best pick for rd 1

[55BaileyFan]

Did I hear someone say address via FA? How long have you been a Steelers fan? We don't access anything in FA, look at all our FA pick ups over the last couple years (none of them are impact players)

This past year we brought in quite a few Arnaz Battle, Will Allen, Jonathan Scott...an none of them are very good. Scott played some but none are really any good. The Steelers will develop their drafted players and I think that Tony Hills and Marcus Gilbert have some huge upside. Kyle Jolly was great in college but OL are found in all corners by every team. Lots of late round and undrafted players become starters.

We will be fine, every year we hear these same old concerns and we will be okay. We always overcome it and win at least 10 games.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by 55BaileyFan

Did I hear someone say address via FA? How long have you been a Steelers fan? We don't access anything in FA, look at all our FA pick ups over the last couple years (none of them are impact players)

This past year we brought in quite a few Arnaz Battle, Will Allen, Jonathan Scott...an none of them are very good. Scott played some but none are really any good. The Steelers will develop their drafted players and I think that Tony Hills and Marcus Gilbert have some huge upside. Kyle Jolly was great in college but OL are found in all corners by every team. Lots of late round and undrafted players become starters.

We will be fine, every year we hear these same old concerns and we will be okay. We always overcome it and win at least 10 games.

Bailey, it depends what your version of "OK" is. If making the play offs
and winning 10 games is "OK" then you are right. But one could argue
both the OL and CB spots costs us the SB win. On Ben's first int.,
Kemo got owned and Ben's arm got hit. 7 points. Possibly 14 as if
Ben had got that ball off it looked like Wallace had the CB beat to go
for a bomb. Arm is hit, ball flutters, and it's 7 the other way. Perhaps
(and it's all speculation, I get that) better OL play, BB gets that pass
off cleanly, Pgh is up 7-0 instead of down 7-0 and it's a totally different game.

Also, Rogers torched our secondary for most of the game. Had we used
a few more picks on CB instead of TEs (Speath is a bust) and LB projects
(Bruce Davis, anyone) and we might have had just that ONE more quality
DB who could have made a difference.

In 2007 we took Spaeth and then a punter in the 3rd and 4th. I am
thinking there were some solid CB and OL prospects who had a
better change of working out.

In 2008 we took Sweed, who had done NOTHING. Players who were
still available? Then we took Bruce Davis. Total bust. What OT or
CB could have been taken before these fools?

They did try using a 2nd rounder on Urbik in 2009. It was a miss,
but at least they tied using a higher pick to add to the OL.
And they used a 4th on Keenan Lewis, who also sucks, but
they tried.

I still maintain they have ignored the two positions in the last
5 years. And we may very well lost a SB because of it.