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With free agency all but over the pressure shifts to the draft

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Colbert recently said the Steelers are pretty much done in free agency.

2015 was not a good free agency year for the Steelers


We lost McCain, who was a solid #3 type of CB, and did some fine work as the #2 CB. This loss magnifies our need at corner back.

We lost Worilds. By retiring, we do not get a compensatory pick in 2015.

Keisel was let go in favor of Cam Thomas.


The plus moves was brining in DeAngelo Williams. Williams is good enough to start on a few teams, and will needed when Bell is suspended, and as his back up in general.

Harrison was re-signed, but he's be 37 years old in May. Moats was re-signed at a very cap friendly deal.


Outside of addressing the back up running back positon, I think we went backwards on paper. It's only March, but a big 2015 draft is needed.
 
You cannot fix all the holes we have in this one draft that's for sure. Our history has been these early draft picks don't even see the field at least on defense their first season. I think with the 8 mil. in cap space that they appear to have plus the additional coming their way after June 1'st with Troy's departure, there will be a signing or two after June 1'st and possibly the end of camp. Most likely see Heyward and Beachum extended this summer and DeCastro next summer.

I sure hope that Jams can give us one solid final season, Uncle Jarvis stays healthy and is a major contributor and as a bonus the guy from the CFL Lemon doesn't turn out to be like his name.
 
It's a dumb strategy. There are some cheap Vets we could sign for DE depth. I assume we go olb, then cb, or cb, then olb in draft.
 
So by my count, we lost-

1.) An average OLB
2.) A potentially average CB
3.) A below average DE

You could say that we are slightly weaker- but mostly as a result of a lack of depth. We certainly didnt lose any stars or anyone instrumental to the team.
 
BUT - all of those players were the suck last year if you read this board. so, all we essentially did was lose a couple of fringe players.
 
The McCain loss hurts. The rest is probably neither here nor there. I'd feel a lot better if they had a recent history of drafting well. But they don't, so we'll see what happens. Just have to hope Butler can coach guys up.
 
Defense is hurting more with the players that left, long year stopping teams from moving the ball and scoring. We better control the ball and score TD's this year for sure.
 
Bigappleyinzer said:
So by my count, we lost-

1.) An average OLB
2.) A potentially average CB
3.) A below average DE

You could say that we are slightly weaker- but mostly as a result of a lack of depth. We certainly didnt lose any stars or anyone instrumental to the team.
Click to expand...

I think Worilds was above average. The trouble is the next man up ( J Jones ) is well below average.

I think McCain was solid. Now Gay and Blake ( 5'9" tall ) are the projected starters. Gay had a career year. He's not playing like that in 2015. And the depth? What depth?

Keisel was a situational player, but he was also a leader.


You have to have pass rusher and coverage people. We went down two notches here I'll say it. This is our worst set of OLB's in the history of our 3-4 defense, and quite possible our worst set of corner backs. Impact rookies, which are rare are needed. If not, the Offense will need to score as much or more than we did in 2014.
 
Coach said:
This is our worst set of OLB's in the history of our 3-4 defense, and quite possible our worst set of corner backs. Impact rookies, which are rare are needed. If not, the Offense will need to score as much or more than we did in 2014.
Click to expand...

... and every team runs a 3/4 now so all the "sleepers" we relied on getting are long gone now

But we do need another starting weapon on offense - TE or WR that can play right away ...gotta get Ben all the weapons he can get for 30+ every game.
 
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ZACKB said:
I assume we go olb, then cb, or cb, then olb in draft.
Click to expand...

the hell with OLB - they **** in that bed and have to live in it, other neglected areas need more help - we have HUGE holes in the secondary with NOBODY to fill them.

at #22 I'd go Jalen Collins, CB, LSU or Landon Collins, S, Alabama
 
we'll obviously go LG, NT, WR
 
We MAY have gotten better on D by the old 'addition by subtraction' method. We seemed to play better with Troy and Ike out and Deebo and Moats in. We also looked promising with Tuitt and McCullers getting some reps. Blake did better than expected and our ILBs got better as the season went on.

If we start out with a 'better' D than last year, we will be better,IMO. Not saying we don't need some talent on D through the draft. Just saying we looked better when we had Blake, McCain(journeyman), Allen(journeyman), Tuitt(rook), Shazier/Spence(rook,essentially rook) in the line-up.

Cortez may be better (allegedly injured) as well as Mitchell (allegedly injured) if they are healthy too.

Plus, we have a new DC who is supposed to be the 'best and the brightest' to facilitate our new D. Who knows what will happen this year but the advantage is favoring Butler right now because he has some players he has experience with and the ability to use them in a way that they MAY flourish. I don't see us back in the top 5 BUT 'newness and unfamiliarity' favors the defense more than the offense in most cases.
 
I 100% DISAGREE. Harrison is ancient and we have no clue about Jarvis...Moats is a backup. Lemon, who knows. Howard Jones wasn't too bright I heard. You have to draft an OLB in rd 1 or 2. Sadly we have huge OLB issues too. If Cortez plays well you at least can start Gay again. Gay was very good last year.

Landon Collins actually cannot cover very well, so if you draft him he def plays SS. They will give Shamarko his shot. Here is what I would do.

1. OLB, maybe Dupree or even trade down and get Harold
2. Get best corner...maybe PJ Williams may be there. Rollins is too raw and some think he is a safety.
3. I would go cb again, but I think we do this. Gerod Hollman. Guy can't tackle, but can play FS...is a ballhawk. I think our FO likes him. That is why Tomlin said that Mike Mitchell can play SS maybe. If they draft Hollman, and he is good then they have options.


Spike said:
the hell with OLB - they **** in that bed and have to live in it, other neglected areas need more help - we have HUGE holes in the secondary with NOBODY to fill them.

at #22 I'd go Jalen Collins, CB, LSU or Landon Collins, S, Alabama
Click to expand...
 
ZACKB said:
I 100% DISAGREE. Harrison is ancient and we have no clue about Jarvis...Moats is a backup. Lemon, who knows. Howard Jones wasn't too bright I heard. You have to draft an OLB in rd 1 or 2. Sadly we have huge OLB issues too. If Cortez plays well you at least can start Gay again. Gay was very good last year.

Landon Collins actually cannot cover very well, so if you draft him he def plays SS. They will give Shamarko his shot. Here is what I would do.

1. OLB, maybe Dupree or even trade down and get Harold
2. Get best corner...maybe PJ Williams may be there. Rollins is too raw and some think he is a safety.
3. I would go cb again, but I think we do this. Gerod Hollman. Guy can't tackle, but can play FS...is a ballhawk. I think our FO likes him. That is why Tomlin said that Mike Mitchell can play SS maybe. If they draft Hollman, and he is good then they have options.
Click to expand...

I agree with Zack. Harrison will be 37 to start the season, and can only play at one speed. All out! We can't count on him to play a full season.

Howard Jones looked weak as a rookie. I expected him to flash raw ability. Did not see it. I would not count on a CFL guy who has been on many CFL teams. Jarvis Jones? Too weak and not fast enough to be a factor. OLB is a mess. Dupree sounds nice if he is there. If not, I like Orchard in round two.

I agree Collins is a SS/corner hybrid type. I want no part of him in round one. Too much of a gamble. I do like Peters or Olomu in round two. Kevin Johnson would be okay for round two as well.

If the Steelers do not draft a corner and OLB player in the first three rounds you have to wonder why. We are beyond weak. If you can'r rush the passer well, you'd better be able to cover. We can't do either.
 
ZACKB said:
I 100% DISAGREE. Harrison is ancient and we have no clue about Jarvis...Moats is a backup. You have to draft an OLB in rd 1 or 2..
Click to expand...


Steelers defense ranking 26th in passing yards and 29th in passing touchdowns allowed per game.

The Steelers secondary gave up 50 passing plays of 20 or more yards in the regular season. It also gave up 15 pass plays of 40 or more yards, tied for the second-most. Its 30 passing touchdowns allowed is tied for the fourth-most.

Harrison is still better than anyone we could draft...

...and what starting OLB is there for us at #22? they are all lightweight tweeners, none of them are standouts in this draft

enough of that **** - get somebody, anybody, that can start in the secondary

Cortez stinks...we have Gay, Blake and that's about it after losing McCain
 
Dupree in rd 1, plenty of good corners in rd 2.


Spike said:
Steelers defense ranking 26th in passing yards and 29th in passing touchdowns allowed per game.

The Steelers secondary gave up 50 passing plays of 20 or more yards in the regular season. It also gave up 15 pass plays of 40 or more yards, tied for the second-most. Its 30 passing touchdowns allowed is tied for the fourth-most.

Harrison is still better than anyone we could draft...

...and what starting OLB is there for us at #22? they are all lightweight tweeners, none of them are standouts in this draft

enough of that **** - get somebody, anybody, that can start in the secondary

Cortez stinks...we have Gay, Blake and that's about it after losing McCain
Click to expand...
 
I understand your point Zack but I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

Yes, Harrison is ancient BUT he is our BEST OLB by far (short term solution but I was only referring to where we are this year vs last). He is our best run stuffer and pass rusher=improvement over last year at the start of the season.

You're right about Jarvis but I am leaving him out of this because Deebo will start UNLESS Jones is better (to this point, Deebo wins).

On the other side, we know next to nothing about HOW Moats would do on this side of the line. (Granted) BUT Worilds, the guy he is replacing had a whopping 2 sacks in the first 9 games playing nearly every snap. Moats had 2 sacks in the same 9 games playing less than 1/3 of the snaps of Worilds. Plus, it really was Moats' first year at this position. He will be an upgrade, IMO. The problem is, we have NO DEPTH now and NO solid starters beyond 2015. That's where we need to focus on in the draft. No rookie is going to come in and start at OLB and be an improvement over Moats/Harrison I'm afraid. Rarely does a rookie DL/OLB have much of an impact. Maybe we get a good prospect who can support the run well now (like Odighizuwa or Mauldin) who isn't as strong at getting to the passer right away OR maybe we get a prospect who is better at rushing the QB who needs work on his run support. We won't be in position to get someone good at both,IMO.

As far as a CB, we haven't had a rookie come in and have an impact at CB since Rod Woodson (and he only played a little due to holdout). We ARE much more likely to see a rookie start now BUT for the wrong reasons. It's not because rookie Cbs have a great track record for starting out very well. It's because we lack talent in front of the rookies.

As far as The overall D...I think we will see Butler use the athleticism of some of our LBs and DL and stunt the **** out of them and even use Shazier outside/inside on blitzes and stunts. He did this in Memphis when he was DC.

Also, we have some guys on our roster who might surprise who we haven't yet seen. I like the signings of Isaiah Lewis (S), Ian Wild (S), Roosevelt Nix (OLB) and L'Damian Washington (WR). NORMALLY I wouldn't get too excited about any of the JAGs but given what we have seen on the field over the past few years...I'm optimistic!
 
Spike said:
Steelers defense ranking 26th in passing yards and 29th in passing touchdowns allowed per game.

The Steelers secondary gave up 50 passing plays of 20 or more yards in the regular season. It also gave up 15 pass plays of 40 or more yards, tied for the second-most. Its 30 passing touchdowns allowed is tied for the fourth-most.
Click to expand...

And that was with an easy 2014 schedule full of bad QB's and rookie QB's. Next year the schedule is murder. This bad defense could really kill the season, and force the offense into making too many mistakes. Ben will need to play near perfect...again.
 
Honestly, the best VALUE for the spot might be:

WR in round 1
CB/DB in round 2
OLB in round 3

I think Colbert will love someone like Strong, Parker or Green-Beckham in round 1 and just look at them as BPA

Come back in round 2 and force a "need" selection like Collins, Darby or Jones at CB

Then in round 3 maybe get an OLB like Mauldin, Tull or Kikaha.

Then blow the rest of the draft on special teamers and undersized guys.

Not saying it's bad, just completely what I would expect this regime to do.
 
The team needs defenders badly. Right now as far as wide outs we have Bryant, Brown, Wheaton, as starters, Bell in the backfield, Miller on the end. That is all 5 eligible positions. Miller is also part of our blocking so getting him off the field will be tough. Bell is a great receiver as well as a runner. Who do you want the rookie to replace? Granted he might be important in the future but you are looking for a rookie to replace Wheaton, as he is the weakest link of the five. Not a big upgrade in most cases, simply because you will have Brown and Bryant and Bell getting the ball most often.

Now if there are no worthy picks at corner or linebacker or defensive line or safety and a real top drawer wide out is there maybe. Right now the defense is in major trouble and needs lots of help.
 
deljzc said:
Honestly, the best VALUE for the spot might be:

WR in round 1
CB/DB in round 2
OLB in round 3

I think Colbert will love someone like Strong, Parker or Green-Beckham in round 1 and just look at them as BPA

Come back in round 2 and force a "need" selection like Collins, Darby or Jones at CB

Then in round 3 maybe get an OLB like Mauldin, Tull or Kikaha.

Then blow the rest of the draft on special teamers and undersized guys.

Not saying it's bad, just completely what I would expect this regime to do.
Click to expand...

I would agree...and i would be okay with that if they did. If we miss on a CB/OLB with this thinking, we just need to sign a 'late FA' and try again next year. This regime hasn't had the best record of drafting CBs and OLBs and may actually be better off signing a known player to the position anyway.
 
Maybe the first four picks need to be divided between corner, safety, outside linebacker, getting the best available in each of the first four rounds.
 
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