Time to stick a fork in Polamalu and Harrison

[Fire Arians]

Originally Posted by Steelers5895

i think Troy is still a factor and although he has lost a step, he still makes an impact. Same with harrison when he plays. Both are probably 1-3 years from no longer being a steeler.

the concern is LB after LB has filled in for harrison with no sucess.

If Worilds can stay healthy, he would be a good replacement. He's got the talent, but he needs to prove he can stay off the injury list for at least a full season before I put my faith behind him.

[teegre]

Originally Posted by FanSince72

For all his speed and quickness, I think he either overruns a play or misses tackles far more often than most other "slower" safeties in the league. He DOES tend to take bad angles (which contributes to a lot of those missed tackles) and he does take too many risks many of which put him completely out of a play and actually allow an opponent to gain significant yardage.

He's fun to watch, but more in the way that I'd regard watching a juggler or a high-wire act; lots of talent but little practical purpose.

1. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are saying that now that he is slower, he won't be over-running plays any more. By being a tad bit slower, he will actually be in perfect position.

Obviosuly, I'm being toungue in cheek... then again, I hadn't thought about it that way, and that is an interesting idea. A slower Troy might actually be out of position less & make more tackles. Hmmm...

2. In all seriousness, would you reeeeally rather have a slower safety than Troy? Heck, would you rather have ANY other safety? Really? C'mon, man... really?

Aside from Ed Reed, there was a period where I would not have even looked at another safety. Those two were in another echelon.

I could be biased (being a SC homer), but I think Troy was one of the greatest players to ever play football.

Even now, there is barely five other safeties that I'd even consider... Ed Reed, Eric Berry, maybe Eric Weddle... uh... I can't really think of any others off the top of my head. Would you HONESTLY rather have one of them than Troy???

[SoCalFan]

Worilds is no Harrison and Troy we all know is on his own planet!!! I say we keep them both sidelined and bring them back week 13-14! Imagine making the playoffs with these guys rested and hungry!!!

[FanSince72]

Originally Posted by teegre

1. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are saying that now that he is slower, he won't be over-running plays any more. By being a tad bit slower, he will actually be in perfect position.

Obviosuly, I'm being toungue in cheek... then again, I hadn't thought about it that way, and that is an interesting idea. A slower Troy might actually be out of position less & make more tackles. Hmmm...

To be perfectly honest, I've actually had that conversation many times and I've said that maybe getting older will help because he won't be over-running plays as much.
So it's not as tongue in cheek as you might think.

Originally Posted by teegre

2. In all seriousness, would you reeeeally rather have a slower safety than Troy? Heck, would you rather have ANY other safety? Really? C'mon, man... really?

Aside from Ed Reed, there was a period where I would not have even looked at another safety. Those two were in another echelon.

I could be biased (being a SC homer), but I think Troy was one of the greatest players to ever play football.

Even now, there is barely five other safeties that I'd even consider... Ed Reed, Eric Berry, maybe Eric Weddle... uh... I can't really think of any others off the top of my head. Would you HONESTLY rather have one of them than Troy???

I'd rather Troy was more focused and less of an un-guided missile.
Think about it: How many times have you watched a pass play develop and as the camera zooms in, this black and gold blur shoots across the screen, grabs a bit of the receiver's jersey and then continues off screen towards the sidelines?

Now take the same play, with Troy more in position with a solid angle and more deliberate movement and now he's actually part of the play instead of part of the scenery.

I'm not saying he isn't a good player, but I don't think I'd put him in a "Greatest Ever" category. Unique, athletic, interesting - yes.

But "greatest"?

Not so much.

Give me someone like Mel Blount or Donnie Shell any day.

[teegre]

Originally Posted by SoCalFan

Worilds is no Harrison and Troy we all know is on his own planet!!! I say we keep them both sidelined and bring them back week 13-14! Imagine making the playoffs with these guys rested and hungry!!!

That is effing brilliant.

What a concept... allowing a player to actually heal. Why can you & I see that, but Colbert (& Tomlin) are rushing these guys back!?!

Now, I'm not saying that I'd necesarily wait until week thirteen... but, maybe week six or seven. Simply, I agree with the sentiment of your post.

You know what sucks. This was the year where they could have kept Casey, Harrison, Mendy, and Worilds on the pup, until after the sixth game, with NO repurcussions. Yet, Colbert took them all off... and here they are, playing hurt (Casey, Worilds) or not playing (Harrison, Mendy).

They could NOT have put Troy on the PUP list, since he was injured after the start of the season... but, if those other four were on the PUP, then there would have been four other players active on the roster, which would allow Troy to sit & rest. Yet, as it is, five roster spots are taken up by guys who can not "really" play.

[teegre]

Originally Posted by FanSince72

To be perfectly honest, I've actually had that conversation many times and I've said that maybe getting older will help because he won't be over-running plays as much.
So it's not as tongue in cheek as you might think.




I'd rather Troy was more focused and less of an un-guided missile.
Think about it: How many times have you watched a pass play develop and as the camera zooms in, this black and gold blur shoots across the screen, grabs a bit of the receiver's jersey and then continues off screen towards the sidelines?

Now take the same play, with Troy more in position with a solid angle and more deliberate movement and now he's actually part of the play instead of part of the scenery.

I'm not saying he isn't a good player, but I don't think I'd put him in a "Greatest Ever" category. Unique, athletic, interesting - yes.

But "greatest"?

Not so much.

Give me someone like Mel Blount or Donnie Shell any day.

1. The tongue in cheek came from my side. I was the one being tongue in cheek... but, maybe, to a degree, you are correct. Now, I'm not going to say that he'd be "better" as a "slower" player, but maybe his role changes.

Less of the spinning dervish.
More of a Carnell Lake.

2. I disgree... I like the unguided missle style. It confuses the offense... and creates havoc.

[This might be a vanilla versus chocolate type of debate, where we have our own personal preferences. But, I shall go forth regardless.]

My complaint is not Troy flying into the screen... it is with him using his shoulders to tackle (as opposed to wrapping up).

I'd take Mel Blount over Troy... barely. But, I'd definitely take Troy over Shell.

As far as modern safeties... would you take anyone over Troy? (Ed Reed aside.)

[jjpro11]

Lets wait and see how Harrison performs on the field first. People were pissy last year when he got hurt. Once he returned; he was his usual dominating self. The one mistake the Steelers and Harrison made was not getting the knee operated on sooner.

[FanSince72]

Originally Posted by teegre

1. The tongue in cheek came from my side. I was the one being tongue in cheek... but, maybe, to a degree, you are correct. Now, I'm not going to say that he'd be "better" as a "slower" player, but maybe his role changes.

Less of the spinning dervish.
More of a Carnell Lake.

2. I disgree... I like the unguided missle style. It confuses the offense... and creates havoc.

[This might be a vanilla versus chocolate type of debate, where we have our own personal preferences. But, I shall go forth regardless.]

My complaint is not Troy flying into the screen... it is with him using his shoulders to tackle (as opposed to wrapping up).

I'd take Mel Blount over Troy... barely. But, I'd definitely take Troy over Shell.

As far as modern safeties... would you take anyone over Troy? (Ed Reed aside.)

Troy may have confused defenses a few years back, but since he isn't the world's greatest tackler and since he often over-runs plays, I think his presence is less of an issue for offenses than it used to be because teams now have a book on him and know his weaknesses (he's not the novelty he once was).

On the other hand, when Troy plays in the box against a running play or a short pass situation he still is quite the novelty.
He is exceptional in those situations even if he doesn't actually hit anyone because he does tend to "blow up" plays and force QB's or running backs to do things that were not part of their original plan.

But as a safety in the open field, I think Troy is just slightly above average especially when it comes to tackling.

As far as who else I'd like to see?
Reed would be my first choice but since he's off the table I wouldn't mind having either Antrel Rolle or Dashon Goldson.
I think I'd lean a bit more towards Goldson as an overall safety but for hard tackling I'd go with Rolle.

[Hawaii 5-0]

The Steelers had a lot of potential starters out of practice Wednesday. The full list: RB Jonathan Dwyer (toe), T Marcus Gilbert (groin), LB James Harrison (knee), TE Heath Miller (abdomen), S Troy Polamalu (calf), WR Emmanuel Sanders (knee), and WR Mike Wallace (groin).

We'd be surprised if Harrison or Polamalu play this week.

http://m.nfl.com/news/0ap10000000641...-need-to-know/

[teegre]

Originally Posted by FanSince72

On the other hand, when Troy plays in the box against a running play or a short pass situation he still is quite the novelty.
He is exceptional in those situations even if he doesn't actually hit anyone because he does tend to "blow up" plays and force QB's or running backs to do things that were not part of their original plan.

That is what I love about him... exactly that... "blowing stuff up."

But as a safety in the open field, I think Troy is just slightly above average especially when it comes to tackling.

I will agree to that. That said, I think that him moving around gets into QBs' heads. They "have" to locate him... which makes them hesitate, even for a second... which disrupts timing routes. Ergo, he "blows up" secondary play by being "out there... somewhere."

As far as who else I'd like to see?
Reed would be my first choice but since he's off the table I wouldn't mind having either Antrel Rolle or Dashon Goldson.
I think I'd lean a bit more towards Goldson as an overall safety but for hard tackling I'd go with Rolle.

Q: Are you saying that you'd take these guys over Troy now?... or, Troy in his prime?

In his prime, I wouldn't even take Ed Reed over Troy. But, currently... well... Eric Berry is the only one who I know for sure that I'd take over Troy.